- (1.) Leave granted in CA No. 12552 of 1996 Special Leave Petition (Civil) No. 12498 of 1996.
(2.) In this batch of cases, both in the writ petitions and in the appeals by special leave, short facts, which are not in dispute and are relevant for the discussion hereinafter, are that the Chief Inspector of Factories called upon the petitioners/appellants to file applications seeking renewal of the registration of licence of their respective factories, signed by a director of the company in his capacity as the occupier of the factory and stated that a nominee of the Board of Directors, other than a Director, could not make such an application as an occupier. The correctness of that direction/opinion has been put in issue in all these cases. The petitioners/appellants have also called in question the constitutional validity of proviso (ii) to Section 2 (n) of the Factories Act, 1948 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') as amended by Act 20 of 1987, as violative of Articles 14, 19 (l) (g) and 21 of the Constitution of India.
(3.) The basic question which requires our consideration is whether in the case of a company which owns or runs the factory, is it only a director of the company who can be notified as the occupier of the factory within the meaning of proviso (ii) to Section 2 (n) of the Act, or whether the company can nominate any other employee to be the occupier by passing a resolution to the effect that the said employee shall have "ultimate control over the affairs of the factory". If the answer to the question is that in the case of a company, only a director can be notified as an occupier under the Act, the next question which would require our consideration is about theconstitutional validity of proviso (ii) to Section 2 (n) of the Act as introduced by the Amending Act of 1987. The answer to these questions would depend upon the interpretation of amended Section 2 (n) of the Act. It would, therefore, be appropriate to first notice the provisions of Section 2 (n) as it stood prior to the amendment and as it stands today. Section 2 (n) as it stood prior to Amendment of 1987 "2.(N) 'occupier' of a factory means the person who has ultimate control over the affairs of the factory, and where the said affairs are entrusted to a managing agent, such agent shall be deemed to be the occupier of the factory;section 2 (n) as it is after Amendment of 1987 "2.(N) 'occupier' of a factory means the person who has ultimate control over the affairs of the factory: Provided that (i) in the case of a firm or other association of individuals, any one of the individual partners or members thereof shall be deemed to be the occupier; (ii) in the case of a company, any one of the directors shall be deemed to be occupier; (iii) in the case of a factory owned or controlled by the central government or any State government, or any local authority, the person or persons appointed to manage the affairs of the factory by the central government, the State government or the local authority, as the case may be, shall be deemed to be the occupier; * * *";