Factories Act,1948 & COSHWC, 2019

Object of the Factories Act :-

1. Ravi Shankar Sharma Vs. State of Rajasthan

(It seeks to provide protection to the worker from being

exploited by the greedy business establishments and it also
provides for the improvement of working conditions within the
factory premises)

2. State of Bombay Vs. Ardeshir H. Bhiwandiwala

(The object was to regulate labour and the said regulation was
intended for the benefit or welfare of the workers)

Interpretation of the Factories Act, 1948 :-

Hindustan Machine Tools Vs. Labour Court

(As the act is a piece of welfare legislation, the interpretation which

favours the working class and which fulfils the object of the
legislation has to be adopted by the court. An interpretation which
restricts or curtails the benefits admissible to workers under the act
has to be avoided)
Section 2(ze) "manufacturing process"1means any process for-
(i) 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; or
(ii) pumping oil, water, sewage or any other substance; or
(iii) generating, transforming or transmitting power; or
(iv) composing, printing, printing by letter press, lithography, offset,
photogravure screen printing,3-Dimensional printing, prototyping,
flexography or other types of printing process or book binding; or
(v) constructing, reconstructing, repairing, refitting, finishing, or
breaking up ships or vessels; or
(vi) preserving or storing any article in cold storage ; or
(vii) such other purposes as the Central Government may notify;

Case Laws :-
Ardeshir H. Bhiwandiwala Vs, State of Bombay, 1961
(Production of salt is included. It is not an automatic process rather
requires human agency for the same)
G.L. Hotels v. T.C. Sarin, 1993
(Preparation of food stuffs and other eatables in restaurant kitchen is
included as Kitchen is an integral part of the Hotel business)

1
2(k) “manufacturing process” means any process for-
(i) 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; or
(ii) pumping oil, water, sewage, or any other substance; or
(iii) generating, transforming or transmitting power; or
(iv) composing types for printing, printing by letter press, lithography, photogravure or other similar process or
book-binding; or
(v) constructing, reconstructing, repairing, refitting, finishing or breaking up ships or vessels; or
(vi) preserving or storing any article in cold storage.
Employers’ State Insurance Corporation Vs. Triplex Dry
Cleaners, 1998
(Washing, cleaning & Dry cleaning of clothes is not included).
Lal Mohammad v. Indian Rly. Construction Co. Ltd.,1999
Construction of Railway Line falls within the ambit of 2(k). It is not
required that the end product which resulted after adapting any raw
material or article “with a view to its use” must be a movable product
or commodity.
Ravi Kumar Sharma Vs. State of Rajasthan
(One Test may be that whether the finished article is different from
what it was before.)
M/S. Kores India Ltd., Chennai vs Commissioner Of Central Excise, 2004

'Manufacture' is a transformation of an article, which is commercially

different from the one, which is converted. The essence of
manufacture is the change of one object to another for the purpose of
making it marketable. The essential point thus is that in manufacture
something is brought into existence, which is different from that,
which originally existed in the sense that the thing produced is by
itself a commercially different commodity whereas in the case of
processing it is not necessary to produce a commercially different
article. 
To put differently, the test to determine whether a particular activity
amounts to 'manufacture' or not is: Does new and different goods
emerge having distinctive name, use and character. The moment there
is transformation into a new commodity commercially known as a
distinct and separate commodity having its own character, use and
name, whether be it the result of one process or several processes
'manufacture' takes place and liability to duty is attracted.
Etymologically the word 'manufacture' properly construed would
doubtless cover the transformation. It is the transformation of a matter
into something else and that something else is a question of degree,
whether that something else is a different commercial commodity
having its distinct character, use and name and commercially known
as such from that point of view is a question depending upon the facts
and circumstances of the case.
U.F.D. Corporation v. Jabar Singh, 2007
Activity of cutting, removal, disposal and sale of trees falls within the
ambit of 2 (k).

Other Examples – Servicing of Vehicle

Beedi Making
Cutting Forest Trees and changing their shape
Activities of Pathology Labs