Inclusive statutory definition of seasonal factory enlarged the class and preserved the exclusion under labour insurance law

An inclusive amendment to the definition of "seasonal factory" under the Employees' State Insurance Act was construed as enlarging, not restricting, the category. The word "include" was treated as a word of enlargement, so factories already within the original seasonal-factory definition continued to retain the statutory exclusion from the Act's operation. On that construction, the amendment did not withdraw the pre-existing exemption, and factories engaged in the specified seasonal processes remained outside the Act.

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Issues: Whether the amendment to the definition of "seasonal factory" under the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 altered the pre-existing exclusion from the operation of the Act.

Analysis: The amended definition introduced an inclusive part covering factories engaged for not more than seven months in specified processes, including blending, packing or repacking of tea or coffee and other processes notified by the Central Government. The amendment was intended to enlarge the scope of the definition, not to narrow it. The use of the word "include" in the statutory definition operated as a word of enlargement, extending the meaning of the expression rather than restricting the original category of seasonal factories. On that construction, factories already falling within the original definition continued to remain outside the operation of the Act.

Conclusion: The respondents' factories did not lose the benefit of exclusion and remained seasonal factories outside the Act.

Ratio Decidendi: An inclusive amendment to a statutory definition, introduced by the word "include", enlarges the scope of the definition and does not restrict or take away an existing exclusion unless the statute clearly so provides.

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