M/S. HOTEL NEW NALANDA vs REGIONAL DIRECTOR, E.S.I. CORPN.

The Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Employees' Insurance Court, affirming that M/s. Hotel New Nalanda was indeed a factory under Section 2(12) of the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948, as it employed 14 persons. The Court clarified that the presence of a refrigerator and an electric grinder indicated a manufacturing process, thus falling within the purview of the Act. The appeal was dismissed, confirming the applicability of the ESI Act to the establishment.