The Supreme Court will pronounce its judgment on reconsideration of the expansive definition of "industry" given in Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board v. A. Rajappa (1978).

A 9-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and comprising Justices BV Nagarathna, PS Narasimha, Dipankar Datta, Ujjal Bhuyan, Satish Chandra Sharma, Joymalya Bagchi, Alok Aradhe and Vipul M Pancholi will pronounce the verdict. The bench had reserved judgment on March 19.

The Constitution Bench was examining whether the broad interpretation of “industry” adopted in the 1978 judgment authored by Justice VR Krishna Iyer requires reconsideration.

In the Bangalore Water Supply case, a seven-judge bench had laid down a sweeping interpretation of the term “industry” under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. The Court held that any systematic activity organised by cooperation between employer and employee for the production or distribution of goods and services could fall within the definition of industry, even if the organisation was not engaged in profit-making.

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