TMI Blog1966 (4) TMI 72X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... #39;. The respondent was prosecuted under para 70 of the Coal Mines Provident Fund Scheme (hereinafter called the 'Scheme') 'for violation of cls. (a), (d) and (f) of paragraph 70 read with paragraphs 33A, 38, 42 and 69A of the Scheme. An Inspector appointed under the Act filed a complaint against the respondent alleging that he was the owner of the Bhowra Coke Plant and that he had contravened certain provisions of the Scheme. It was alleged that the respondent had failed 'to pay the contribution for the Provident, Fund, both employer's and employees' from April, 1960 to November, 1960 and had failed to submit returns in Form H with corresponding declaration in Form A and the statement in Form 'P' as pro ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ke Plant is situated, (4) The Coke Plant is not only adjacent to the coal mine but is also situated on the surface land, which forms part of the coal fields which and beneath which the coal mine is worked by the Bhowra Kankanee Collieries Ltd., (5) The respondent does not carry on the work of any coal mine therein, he does not excavate any coal by carrying on any operation for the purpose of obtaining coal, (6) The Coke Plant is a bye- product coke plant in which hard coke as well as some other bye-products are manufactured. The question to be considered is whether, in this state of facts, the respondent is the owner of a coal mine within the meaning of the Act and the Scheme. Under S. 2(e) of the Act the expression Employer means ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ess such process is a process for coke-making or the dressing of minerals-. As a matter of construction it must be held that all works, machinery, tramways and sidings, whether above or below ground, in or adjacent to a coal mine will come within the scope and ambit of the definition only when they belong to the coal mine. In other words, the word or occurring before the expression belonging to a coal mine in the main definition has to be read to mean and . Any other interpretation would lead to an anomalous and startling consequence. Any works, machinery, tramways and sidings which do not appertain to the coal mine in the sense of ownership cannot come within the meaning of the expression coal mine as given in the first part of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... es Provident Fund and Bonus Schemes (Amendment) Act, 1965 (Act 45 of 1965) which reads as follows: (2) for clause (b), the following clause shall be substituted, namely: (b) 'coal mine' means any excavation where any operation for the purpose of searching for or obtaining coal has been or is being carried on, and includes (i) all borings and bore holes-, (ii) all shafts, in or adjacent to and belong to a coal mine, whether in the course of being sunk or not; (iii) all levels and inclined planes in the course of being driven: (v) all conveyors or aerial rope-ways provided for bringing into or removal from a coal mine of coil or other articles or for the removal of refuse there from; (vi)all adits, levels, planes ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nging to a coal mine, whether in the course of being sunk or not . Similarly, cl. (xiii) of s. 2(b) provides that the word coal mine includes any premises in or adjacent to and belonging to a coal mine, on which any plant or other machinery connected with a coal mine is situated or on which any process ancillary to the work of a coal mine is being carried on . In our opinion, the change in the language of s. 2(b) of the earlier Act brought about by the amending Act (Act 45 of 1965) was not meant to bring about a change Sup5CI-19 of law in this respect but was meant to fix a proper interpretation upon the earlier Act. It is a well- recognised principle in dealing with matters of construction that subsequent legislation may be looked at in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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