SC's 9-Judge Bench To Pronounce Verdict On Aug 20 On Definition Of 'Industry'

New Delhi: A nine-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court is scheduled to deliver on Thursday its verdict on the contentious issue of defining the term "industry" under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices B V Nagarathna, P S Narasimha, Dipankar Datta, Ujjal Bhuyan, Satish Chandra Sharma, Joymalya Bagchi, Alok Aradhe and Vipul M Pancholi had on March 19 reserved its judgement in the matter.

During the hearing in the matter, the bench had said it would examine the legal correctness of a 1978 judgment of a seven-judge bench giving an expansive interpretation of the term "industry" to govern labour relations.

The 1978 Verdict

On February 21, 1978, a seven-judge bench delivered a verdict on the definition of the term "industry" while deciding the plea of Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board and expanded the definition which brought millions of employees in hospitals, educational institutions, clubs and government welfare departments under the protection of the now-repealed Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

The nine-judge bench had clarified that its ruling will govern pending and existing disputes under the old regime.

On February 16, the top court had formulated the broad issues to be adjudicated by the nine-judge bench.

"Whether the test laid down in paragraphs 140 to 144 in the opinion rendered by Justice V R Krishna Iyer in Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board's case (of 1978) to determine if an undertaking or enterprise falls within the definition of 'industry' lays down correct law? "And whether the Industrial Disputes (Amendment) Act, 1982 (which seemingly did not come into force), and the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 (with effect from November 21, 2025), have any legal impact on the interpretation of the expression 'industry' as contained in the principal Act?" the bench had said.

It had said one of the issues to be adjudicated by the nine-judge bench would be whether social welfare activities and schemes or other enterprises undertaken by government departments or their instrumentalities can be construed to be "industrial activities" for the purpose of Section 2(j) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

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