Manufacturing process in the factory of cutting ends drying arecanuts are garbling of pepper.

Varadaraja Iyengar, J.-

This appeal is by the Public Prosecutor, on behalf of the State, against the judgment of acquittal, dated 30th September, 1957, passed by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Alleppey, in a complaint before him under the Factories Act LXIII of 1948.

The accused is B. Madhogaria, Manager of the Firm of Tharachand Sivkumar at Alleppey. On 11th September, 1956, at 1 p.m., the Inspector of Factories, Alleppey, visited the premises of the firm and there found 33 workers engaged in cutting and drying arecanuts and garbling pepper. This, according to the Inspector, constituted the conduct of a manufacturing process by 20 and more persons and so amounted to the running of a factory. And as the accused had not registered his premises as a factory or obtained the requisite licence or permission and had not also given the due notices, he was liable to be prosecuted for various offences under the Factories Act and the rules thereunder. So he obtained permission, dated 6th December, 1956, from the Chief Inspector of Factories and Boilers and filed the complaint herein on 10th December, 1956. The accused pleaded not guilty.

The Inspector of Factories as P.W. 1 testified to the facts and also proved the mahazar Exhibit P-1 which he had prepared at the time of his inspection. P.Ws. 2 and 4 were workers who were actually engaged in the process of drying arecanuts when P.W. 1 visited the premises. They gave evidence that there were 32 persons employed at the time. P.W. 3 was the welfare assistant who accompanied P.W. 1 at the time of the inspection. He also proved Exhibit P-1 and further swore that there were then 32 workers engaged in cutting and drying arecanuts and garbling pepper. The accused gave a statement that he had not employed more than ten persons at a time in the business and also examined D.W. 1 to confirm him.

On this evidence, the Magistrate framed for himself two points for determination: (i) whether the company was a factory under the Act, and (ii) whether the accused had complied with the provisions of the Act. On the first point the Court found that the business which the accused was admittedly carrying on did not amount to a ‘manufacturing process’ within the meaning of section 2(k) of the Act and this was enough, without consideration of the next question as to the number of persons employed, to say that the accused was not running a factory. The second point did not in the circumstances, also arise for consideration and so the Court entered its verdict of acquittal as above-mentioned.

Learned Public Prosecutor urges before us that the Court below had not correctly applied to the facts of this case, the definition of ‘manufacturing process’, and he submitted that the case will have to go back, for full and final decision. We think this argument is entitled to succeed.

Now sub-clause (1) of section 2 (k) which alone is relevant for our purpose says:

“(k) ‘Manufacturing process’ means any process for making, altering, repairing, ornamenting finishing, packing, oiling, washing, cleaning, breaking up, demolishing or otherwise treating or adapting any article or substance with a view to its use, sale, transport, delivery or disposal.”

The learned Magistrate in arriving at his conclusion thought that

“to constitute a manufacture, there must be a transformation. Mere labour bestowed on an article, even if the labour is applied through machinery will not make it amanufacture unless it has progressed so far that transformation ensues and the article becomes commercially known as another and different article from that as which it begins its existence.”

The learned Magistrate was here quoting from a decision of Ramaswami, J., in In re Chinniah, Manager, Sangu Soap Works1. But that case did not turn upon any aspect of ‘manufacturing process’, it depended rather upon the number of workers employed. It is not clear either, why any question of transformation is material at all in view of the very comprehensive scope of the defin

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