1984 (10) TMI 44 - SUPREME COURT

Whether the Tribunal was not right in holding that hospitals and nursing homes were not industries?

Held that:- 'Industry' ordinarily means the process of manufacture or production. The new definition given to the word 'industry' by Parliament in the Industrial Disputes (Amendment) Act, 1982 (46 of 1982) specifically excludes 'hospitals or dispensaries' from the category of 'industry'. It shows that the meaning given to the expression 'industry, in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 cannot be depended upon while construing other statutes or statutory instruments and it should be confined to the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. We are of the view that in the notification dated July 15, 1977 under which the exemption is claimed by the petitioner, the word 'industry' means only the place where the process of manufacture or production of goods is carried on and it cannot in any event include 'hospitals, dispensaries or nursing homes'. The Tribunal does not call for any interference.