PRABHAKAR DEV Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Does the Plantations Labour Act, 1951 (for short 'the Act') contemplate (or rule out) the existence of plurality of employers for a plantation Does the deemed employer under Sec. 2(e) oust the real employer from his chair Does the deemed employer continue to be the sole employer for the purposes of the Act

(2.) These are the interesting questions that are raised in these petitions where the Managing Director of the owner a public limited company as well as Manager of its plantation face indictment in various prosecutions under the Act and the Managing Director seeks quashing of proceedings against him.

(3.) The area of dispute is limited. It is unnecessary to advert to the specific facts in each prosecution. The prosecution relates to various acts of omission and commission in the plantation or contravention of the provisions of the Act and the Kerala Plantations Labour rules, 1959 (for short 'the Rules'). The alleged violations include the failure to make vital, essential facilities and requirements like drinking water, available to the employees in the plantation.