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

J Joymalya: would it not in effect give a retrospective operation to the labour code when the legislature gave operative to the labour code from a posterior date of its passing, that is 2025? in order to interpret or revisit the judgment, use 2020 as interpretative rules, would be not fall in relislating a prospective law as a retrospective law?

J Nagarathna: if you say it is not industry, then were will the employees go?

Nataraj: if state, file a suit under Article 226

J Datta: then other departments would be included?

Nataraj: then relatable comes, whether relatable to sovereign fucntions

J Narasimha: even a small canteen run by defence research?

Nataraj: completely kept out of the new one

Nataraj: the intent was to keep the welfare functions out of the purview of the definition. as time changes, we get into welfare legislatives, activities and so many other regulatory mechanism where under the gov never wanted to bring it under the definition of industry

Nataraj: 2020 excludes not just sovereign functions but also those relatable to sovereign functions

Nataraj: the 2020 code defining industry has retained what has been said in the Bangalore case.

Nataraj: 3. the interpretation must also consider the consequences that follows from an overly broad construction and the need for an appropriate balancing competing consideration of both employer and employee

2. the concept of sovereign functions ought not be understood in a narrow colonial sense but must be interpreted in the context of constitutionally government democratic state. In the judgments or till such time, how it has been understood, that can't be the approach that has to be understood in the indian context

Nataraj: 1. subsequent legislative developments, including the unnotified amendments and the enactments of the industrial relations code 2020 may be as clarifactory in nature, reflecting the intent of the parliament regarding the scope and ambit of the industry definition