'Industry' Definition Reference : Live Updates From Supreme Court 9-Judge Bench Hearing

J Narasimha: rather you leave it and today, whole thing depends upon how we define that expression

ASG: that is a very challenging task

J Narasimha: instead of burdening the court to identity which is a sovereign activity, like the contracts act and many other statute, whenever you think an industry is necessary to be excluded, indicate in the schedule

ASG: the sovereign function which has been interpreted in bangalore water supply has been rendered keeping in mind the common law system or the colonial or applying colonial jurisdiction, which may not apply to our system.

CJI: if that interpretation was wrong, if that provision has been completely misconstructed by giving such a wide meaning, then we will correct our mistakes.

CJI: that does not mean we are helpless. There is a reference before us. We are directly examining the question that whether the interpetation of the original provision itself in bangalore was correct or not.

CJI: issue is simple, a provision which never came into force, a provision which never saw light of the day, we can't probably rely upon that. 2020 we can't consciously because it has already been put that it is under challenge.

J Bagchi: now, in this interpretation, the danger is that disputes in existence at various stages of adjudication, will now be covered by our interpretation, which will be binding as per Article 141

J Bagchi: once we interpret bangalore in the shadow of the 2020 code and we carve out sovereign functions by giving it a wider interpretation, we are importing the restrictions of the 1982 and the 2020 labour code althought the legislature did not introduce them retrospectively

ASG: I cautiosly submitted it is not a clarificatory law but in a nature of clarificatory law

J Bagchi: are you going to pass of a wolf in a sheep clothing?

J Bagchi: you used the word clarificatory law, do you really wish to press that argument that the labour code is a clarificatory law or it is a law which redefines labour relationships between the employer and employee where the early vested rights were defined in the 1947 Act