Judgment

Nanavati, J.-Leave granted. Heard learned counsel for the parties.

2. A short but an interesting question of law arises for consideration in these appeals. The question is : who is to be deemed ‘occupier’ of a factory of a government com­pany incorporated under the Indian Compa­nies Act? If the government company is to be treated like any other company then according to clause (ii) of the first proviso to Section 2(n) of the Factories Act, 1948 any one of the directors of that company is deemed to be the occupier; but, if its factory is consid­ered as a factory owned or control­led by the Govenment as provided by clause (iii) of the proviso the person appointed to manage the affairs of the factory by the Government is to be deemed the occupier.

3. The appellant, Indian Oil Corporation Limited, is a government company as defined by Section 617 of the Companies Act. It is almost wholly owned and controlled by the Government. It is, inter alia, engaged in the supply and distribution of petroleum and petroleum products including L.P.G. In order to ensure an effective and effi­cient supply system it is required to establish and maintain storage facilities at many places in the co