Number of persons working being less than twenty.

This Civil Miscellaneous Appeal is against the Order of the Court of the Employees’ Insurance, Coimbatore, in Proceedings No. 1 of 1956 on the file of that Court. The respondent in this appeal took out an application on 21st June, 1956, under section 77, read with section 75 of the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948, praying for a declaration that the appellant, Pakshiraja Studios, Coimbatore, is a factory and that the opposite party, namely, the appellant before me, was liable to pay the employer’s special contribution and the employees’ contribution in respect of all the employees employed, and to direct him to pay the same to the corporation.

The application was heard by the learned Judge, S. Ganapatia Pillai, presiding over the Court of the Employees’ Insurance, Coimbatore, and after considering both the oral and documentary evidence in the case, the learned Judge came to the conclusion that the respondent was entitled to a declaration in terms of clause (a) of paragraph 12 of the petition and issued an order directing the appellant to pay the contribution both in respect of employers’ special contribution and employees’ contribution as indicated in Exhibit B-12. He also directed costs to be paid by the appellant to the respondent. The opposite party namely the owner of the Pakshiraja Studios has preferred this appeal being aggrieved by the said order.

It is common ground between the parties that the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948, applies to factories. "Factory" is defined under sub-clause (12) of section 2 of the Employees’ State Insurance Act. That definition is in the following terms: —

" ‘Factory’ means any premises including the precincts thereof whereon twenty or more persons are working or were working on any day of the preceding twelve months, and in any part of which a manufacturing process is being carried on with the aid of power or is ordinarily so carried on but does not include a mine subject to the operation of the Indian Mines Act, 1923 (IV of 1923) or a railway running shed".

The definition contained in the Factories Act, 1948 (Act XLIII of 1948) is in the following terms:

Clause (m), Section 2. — ‘Factory’ means any premises including the precincts thereof: (1) whereon ten or more workers are working or were working on any day of the preceding twelve months, and in any part of which manufacturing process is being carried on with the aid of power, or is ordinarily so carried on, or (ii) whereon twenty or more workers are working, or were working on any day of the preceding twelve months, and in any part of which a manufacturing process is being carried on without the aid of power, or is ordinarily so carried on — but does not include a mine subject to the operation of the Mines Act, 1952 (XXXV of 1952), or a railway running shed."

The question that is argued before me by the learned counsel on both sides is whether the appellants’ studio is a factory within the meaning of sub-clause (12) of section 2 of the Employees’ State Insurance Act (XXXIV of 1948) as modified up to the 1st May, 1955.

A study of the two definitions contained in the said Factories Act and also the Employees’ State Insurance Act does not in my opinion appear to make any great difference Between the two definitions, except for the fact that in the Employees State Insurance Act, in order to constitute certain premises, including its precincts, a factory it should have 20 or more persons and there should also be power employed in the manufacturing process. Though the terms under section 2, clause (m) are somewhat different from those under sub-clause (12) of section 2 of the Employees’ State Insurance Act, in substance there appears to be very little difference, except for the fact that for making any premises and its precincts a factory under the Employees’ State Insurance Act there should be 20 people and there should be power with the aid of which manufacturing process should be carried on. The common feature in the definitio