DIRECTOR CENTRAL PLANTATION CROPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE Vs. SECRETARY GOVERNMENT THOTTAM THOZHILALI UNION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Is the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasaragod, (referred to as 'the Institute' for short) an 'industry' within the meaning of the Industrial Dispute Act is the question raised in this writ petition. That question was provoked by the decision of the Industrial Tribunal on certain issues regarding the conditions of service of workers under the Institute on a reference made to the Tribunal by the Government. The Tribunal by Ext. P1 award held that the Institute was an 'industry'. The Institute has challenged the decision and the award in this writ petition.

(2.) The Institute was established by the Government of Madras in the year 1916. Its management and administration were taken over in 1947 by the Coconut Committee, a statutory body, established under the Coconut Committee Act, 1944. Later, by notification dated 18 3 1966, issued under S.17 of the Coconut Committee Act the Committee was dissolved. The Institute, thereafter passed into the control and management of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, a Society, registered under the Societies Registration Act. The object of the Society, as stated in the writ petition, was:

(3.) It is unnecessary to embark on a historical survey of the evolution of the meaning of the term 'industry,' through the judicial decisions rendered under the industrial law. The same was done by the Supreme Court in The Secretary, Madras Gymkhana Club Employees' Union v. The Management of the Gymkhana Club ( AIR 1968 SC 554 ). Briefly stated, the position is this. The term 'industry' is defined in S.2(j) of the Act as: