GUJARAT HEAVY CHEMICALS LTD. Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The challenge in this writ petition is to the notification issued by the respondent No.1 dated March 17, 1993 in exercise of its power under Section 10(1) of the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970 ("Act" in short), whereby the respondent No.1 prohibited from the date of publication of the notification, the employment of contract labour in the following works in the limestone and dolomite mine in the country:-

(2.) The facts as culled out from the record are, the petitioner is a company within the meaning of Companies Act, 1956 with its registered office at Ahmedabad and the factory is situated at Sutrapada Virawal, District Junagarh, Gujarat. It is a Joint Sector Enterprise with the State Government of Gujarat holding 18.02% shares of the petitioner through Gujarat Industrial Investment Corporation. The petitioner is the manufacturer of Soda Ash and has a capacity of 4,20,00 MT of Soda Ash per annum, which has been categorized in the grade of "Heavy Chemical Industry". The main activity of the petitioner company is the manufacturing and sale of Soda Ash. The limestone is the main raw material for the manufacture of Soda Ash. The petitioner company own mines for the excavation of limestone for the captive consumption. The operation of the petitioner company is restricted to the manufacture of Soda Ash only. Gujarat accounts for 95% of total production of Soda Ash in the country, primarily on account of availability of chemical grade limestone and salt in Gujarat. Apart from the petitioner, there are three other Soda Ash factories in the State of Gujarat namely (i) Swarashtra Chemicals Ltd. (ii) Tata Chemicals Ltd. and (iii) D.C.W. Ltd.

(3.) The petitioner has eight mining leases for mining of chemical grade limestone for the requirement of its Soda Ash factory. These mines meet 55% of the petitioner's requirement of limestone. The balance 45% requirement is met by the purchases from private mines.