ALAGHU PHARMACY Vs. REGIONAL PROVIDENT FUND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Regional Provident Fund Commissioner held that the three units, viz., Alagu Pharmacy 'B' at Krishna Towers in Nanjappa Road, the appellant herein, Alagu Pharmacy at Mettupalayam Road and Alagu Pharmacy - C at R.S.Puram are one unit and there is functional integrality and therefore, the employees of the respective units should be treated as employees of one unit and so calculated, the number of persons working in all the three units are 20. The appellant is, therefore, aggrieved.

(2.) The appellant established the proprietary concern pharmacy on April 14, 1991. There are two other concerns and it is seen that the husband of the appellant A.L.Jayabalan is connected with the other two concerns, in the sense that Alagu Pharmacy is a proprietary concern where the proprietor is A.L. Jayabalan himself and Alagu Pharmacy - C is a partnership firm where the minor son of the appellant is a partner, who is represented by the father A.L. Jayabalan. However, it was contended by the appellant that the three establishments are distinct and different and there are clinching materials to show that. It was also specifically averred that each concern has separate licence from the Drug Controller, separate balance sheets and profit and loss account and they are separately assessed under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax and Central Sales Tax as well as under the Income Tax Act.

(3.) The Commissioner filed his counter stating that though the quasi-judicial authority had accepted the case of the appellant and found that the Act cannot be made applicable to the establishment, it was found that there was financial integrality between the different units and unity of management and therefore, had decided to examine the possibility of clubbing the 3 units. It is specifically stated that in the balance sheet for the Mettupalayam road unit, the shop building of the proprietary concern in Nanjappa Road was included and since all the three units purchase and sell medicines and have the same name and enjoy the same goodwill, the factum of functional integrality stands proved. The Commissioner was also persuaded by the fact that A.L. Jayabalan had managerial control over the three units.