M.N. Roy, J. - (1.) P.C. Chanda & company (Pvt) Limited (hereinafter referred to as the said Company), is one incorporated under the Indian Companies Act and carries on business inter alia of manufacturing and sale of paints, pigments and varnishes with its registered office at Budge Budgs Road, (7, Taratalla Road extension), Calcutta 60. In this Rule, the said Company has impeached orders and notices in Annexures B, C, D and E to the petition and the ultimate order or notice in Annexure F. The particulars of the above orders would be mentioned hereafter.
(2.) It is the case of the said Company that apart from its Head office at Budge Budge Road as mentioned above, it has its factory at 31, Harekrishna Tagore Road, Calcutta-36, Sales/Branch Offices at Calcutta, Bombay and Delhi. It is the further case of the said Company that the above establishments viz., the Head office, Factory and the Sales/Branch Offices are independent units having separate administration and accounts. It has been stared that the employers at the Factory, are engaged in the manufacturing process of the Company's products and sale of such products are not made ex-factory. Such sale, it has been stated, are conducted by the Sales/Branch Offices as aforesaid and as would appear from the statements as made hereinbefore, those Sales/Branch Offices are scattered in different parts of India. It has been categorically stated by the said Company that its factory has no concern with or control over the Sale and the staff at employed at the Sales/Branch Offices. In fact, Sales/Branch Offices, it has been contended, have no nexus with the Factory of the said Company. These apart, the said Company has stated that the staff employed by the Sales/Branch Offices, have nothing to do with the purchase of new materials or the manufacturing process as carried on at the said Company's factory nor are they in any way connected with the administration of the said Company's factory. It has also been contended that the nature of the duties of the staff employed by the Sales/Branch Office are neither identical to nor connected with that of the factory nor with the manufacturing process as carried on therein, apart from the fact that the services of the employees as employed are not interchangeable.
(3.) It is also the categorical case of the said Company that its factory has its own muster rolls, which do not contain the names of staff appointed at the Head Office nor the names of those, who are appointed at the Sales/Branch Offices throughout the country. In fact, the said Company has stated that its Head Office, and Sales/Branch Offices, are separate entities and establishments and are registered under the local Shops and Establishments Acts in the respective States. It is also the specific case of the Company that the employee engaged by them in their factories are covered by the Employees State Insurance Scheme and they have been implementing such scheme to the extent of the employees as engaged in their factory. It should be noted here that Section 1(4) of the Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 (hereinafter referred to as the said Act), provides that the same would apply in the first instance to all factories other than the seasonal factories and Section 1(5) of the came provides that the appropriate Government may by notification extend the provisions of the said Act to any other establishments. It is the case of the said Company that no notification under Section 1(5) of the said Act has been issued.;