Hand-operated weaving looms are not "machinery" for licensing purposes where the statute targets power-driven apparatus.

For licensing under Schedule V(q), the term "machinery" was construed in context with Section 250 and the statute's reference to mechanical power. The provision was read as covering apparatus operated by power other than human or animal force, consistent with the schedule's focus on dangerous or objectionable trades. Hand-operated weaving looms, which depend on the worker's own strength and skill, were therefore held outside that category. On that construction, a handloom of the type described was not machinery within Schedule V(q), and no licence was required on that basis.

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Issues: Whether hand-operated weaving looms used in a weaving factory fall within the meaning of "machinery" under Schedule V(q) so as to require a licence under Section 249 of Act V of 1920.

Analysis: The expression "machinery" in the licensing schedule was read in the context of the statute as a whole, especially the reference in Section 250 to mechanical power. The relevant machinery was treated as apparatus worked by power other than human or animal power. On that construction, the schedule was confined to machinery in the same category as dangerous or objectionable trades, and not to hand-operated devices whose operation depends on the workman's own strength and skill. A handloom of the type in question was therefore outside the intended scope of the clause.

Conclusion: The handlooms were not machinery within Schedule V(q), and no licence was required on that footing.

Ratio Decidendi: For the purposes of the licensing provision, "machinery" means power-driven apparatus and does not include hand-operated implements whose operation depends on human or animal force.

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