Manufacturing process and LPG as power bring establishments within Employees' State Insurance coverage under the statutory definition of factory.

Preparation of sweets, savouries and beverages was treated as a manufacturing process, and where the requisite number of employees is present, an establishment may fall within the statutory definition of factory under the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948. LPG supplied through a cylinder, tube and valve mechanism was read as mechanically transmitted energy and therefore as power for the Act, by reference to the corresponding definition in the Factories Act, 1948. On those principles, establishments using LPG in the manufacturing process were held covered by the Act.

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Issues: (i) Whether the appellants' establishments were covered by the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948. (ii) Whether the use of LPG gas amounted to use of power within the meaning of the Act.

Issue (i): Whether the appellants' establishments were covered by the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948.

Analysis: The Act applies to factories where a manufacturing process is carried on with the aid of power and the requisite number of employees is employed. Preparation of sweets, savories and beverages was held to constitute a manufacturing process. The number of employees was found to satisfy the statutory threshold. Once the question of power was answered in the affirmative, the establishments answered the definition of factory under the Act.

Conclusion: The issue was decided against the appellants and it was held that their establishments were covered by the Act.

Issue (ii): Whether the use of LPG gas amounted to use of power within the meaning of the Act.

Analysis: The definition of power in the Act was read with the corresponding definition in the Factories Act, 1948 to include electrical energy and any other form of energy mechanically transmitted. LPG stored in a cylinder and supplied through a tube and valve mechanism was treated as a source of energy transmitted through an appliance or device. On that basis, LPG was held to be mechanically transmitted energy and therefore power within the statutory definition.

Conclusion: The issue was decided against the appellants and it was held that LPG gas amounted to use of power.

Final Conclusion: The establishments were held to fall within the statutory coverage of the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948, and the appeals failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Energy supplied through an appliance or device in a manner comparable to transmission machinery constitutes power when it is mechanically transmitted, and an establishment carrying on a manufacturing process with such power and the requisite workforce is a factory under the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948.

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