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TMI Blog1976 (10) TMI 147X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r of the association. The question that falls to be determined in this appeal by special leave is whether entry 22 added by the Gujarat Government by notification dated March 27, 1967 to Part 1 of the Schedule to the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 covers Mangalore pattern roofing tiles. Entry 22 reads as follows; "Employment in potteries Industry. Explanation: For the purpose of this entry potteries industry includes the manufacture of the following articles of pottery, namely:-- (a) Crockery (b) Sanitary appliances and fittings (c) Refractories (d) Jars (e) Electrical accessories (f) Hospital ware (g) Textile accessories .... (h) Toys (i) Glazed Tiles" We may also refer to certain other provisions of the Minimum wages Act which3 provi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 19 authorises the Government to appoint Inspectors for the purposes of the Act, Sections 22 and 22-A lay down the penalties for paying to an employee any amount less than what is due-to him under the Act, or contravening any provision of the Act or any rule or order made thereunder; the punishment may extend to imprisonment for six months with a fine of Rs. 500/-. Under section 27 the appropriate Government after giving by notification in the official gazette not less than three months' notice of its intention to add to either Part of the Schedule any employment in respect of which-it is of opinion that minimum rates of wages should be fixed, add such employment to the schedule by another notification and the schedule in its application to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Court affirmed the acquittal on merits but observed that the manufacture of roofing tiles was included in entry 22. In 1974 the Gujarat Government appointed another committee under section 5' of the Act to revise the minimum wages in potteries industry. This time the committee treated the manufacture of roofing tiles as included in item 22 and sent its report to the Government. On May 12, 1975 the State Government issued a notification accepting the recommendations of the committee and gave effect to the revised rates from the next day, i.e. May 13, 1975. The appellants filed a writ petition in the Gujarat High Court challenging the validity of the notification dated May 12, 1975. By its order dated October 9, 1975 the High Court dismissed ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... is used in interpretation clauses to enlarge the meaning of words or phrases in the statute "these words or phrases must be construed as comprehending, not only such things as they signify according to their natural import but also those things which the interpretation clause declares that they shall include". Thus where 'includes' has an extending force, it adds to the word or phrase a meaning which does not naturally belong to it. It is difficult to agree that 'includes' as used in the Explanation to entry 22 has that extending force. The Explanation says that for the purpose of entry 22, potteries industry includes the manufacture of the nine "articles of pottery" specified in the Explanation. If the objects specified are also "articles ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... -106. is well-known that where the legislature wants to exhaust the significance of the term defined, it uses the word 'means' or the expression 'means and includes', and that if the intention was to make the list exhaustive, the legislature would not have used the word 'includes' only. We-do not think there could be any inflexible rule that the word 'include' should be read always as a word of extension without reference to the context. Take for instance entry 19 in the schedule which also has an Explanation .containing the .word 'includes'. Entry 19 is as follows: "Employment in any tobacco processing establishment, not covered under entry No. 3. Explanation.--For the purpose of this entry, the expression "processing" includes packing o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... xt. In that sense it is not a word of extension, but limitation; it is exhaustive of the meaning which must be given to potteries industry for the purpose of entry 22. The use of the word 'includes' in the restrictive sense is not unknown. The observation of Lord Watson in Dilworth v. Commissioner of Stamps,(1) which is usually referred to on the use of 'include' as a word of extension,' is followed by these lines: "But the word 'include' is susceptible of another construction, which may become imperative, if the context of the Act is sufficient to show that it was not merely employed for the purpose of adding to the natural significance of the words or expressions defined. It may be equivalent to 'mean and include', and in that case it may ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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