Oil mill classification under minimum wage law upheld for vanaspati manufacturing and sale of refined oil.

Vanaspati manufacture and sale of vegetable oil and refined oil were treated as an "oil mill" for item 5 of Part I of the Schedule to the Minimum Wages Act, because vanaspati was held to retain the essential character of oil despite processes such as neutralisation, bleaching, deodorisation, hardening and hydrogenation. The Court also relied on the unchallenged finding that oil and refined oil were sold in the ordinary course of business, showing that a substantial part of the undertaking was connected with oil-mill activity. Once the employment fell within the Schedule, objections based on the wage-fixation committee and the alleged non-application of sections 5 and 9 failed, and the Act applied.

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Issues: Whether a vanaspati manufacturing concern carrying on manufacture and sale of vegetable oil and refined oil is an "oil mill" within item 5 of Part I of the Schedule to the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, and whether the appellants were therefore liable for contraventions of the Act and the Gujarat Minimum Wages Rules, 1961.

Analysis: The expression "oil mill" was construed in the context of the Schedule by reference to the ordinary meaning of "oil". Vanaspati, though subjected to processes such as neutralisation, bleaching, deodorisation, hardening and hydrogenation, was held to retain its essential character as oil. The Court also accepted the unchallenged factual finding that oil and refined oil were sold in the regular course of business, so that a substantial part of the undertaking was connected with oil-mill activity. Once the concern fell within the scheduled employment, the objections based on the composition of the wage-fixation committee and the alleged non-application of sections 5 and 9 failed.

Conclusion: The concern was an oil mill within item 5 of Part I of the Schedule, the Act applied to it, and the convictions and sentences under section 22A were sustained.

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