THE REGIONAL PROVIDENT FUNDCOMMISSIONER, BOMBAY vs SHREE KRISHNA METAL MANUFACTURINGCO., BHANDARA

The Supreme Court held that the Employees’ Provident Funds Act, 1952, specifically Section 1(3)(a) and Section 2(g), applies to composite factories engaged in multiple industries, including those with common employees across different manufacturing processes. The Court clarified that the definition of 'factory' encompasses establishments engaged in scheduled industries, and the qualification regarding the number of employees applies to the factory as a whole, not to individual industries. The Court upheld the applicability of the Act to the first respondent while ruling that the second respondent was primarily engaged in an industry not specified in the Schedule, thus not covered by the Act.