SC's 9-Judge Bench To Pronounce Verdict On Aug 20 On Definition Of 'Industry'

On August 20, India's Supreme Court is set to announce its decision on the complex matter of defining the term "industry" under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. The nine-judge constitutional bench, led by Chief Justice Surya Kant and including Justices B V Nagarathna, P S Narasimha, Dipankar Datta, Ujjal Bhuyan, Satish Chandra Sharma, Joymalya Bagchi, Alok Aradhe, and Vipul M Pancholi, reserved its judgment on March 19.

The 1978 ruling by a seven-judge bench had expanded the definition of "industry" to include a wide range of organizations, thereby extending labor rights to employees in various sectors such as hospitals, educational institutions, clubs, and government welfare departments. The nine-judge panel is tasked with examining the legal validity of this expansive interpretation and determining if it adheres to the correct legal principles as established in the 1978 judgment.

The bench has already clarified that its ruling will apply to ongoing and pending disputes under the old Industrial Disputes Act regime. On February 16, the Apex Court laid out the key issues for the nine-judge bench to address. These include whether the legal test outlined in Justice V R Krishna Iyer's opinion in the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board case of 1978 correctly defines "industry," and whether the Industrial Disputes (Amendment) Act, 1982 or the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, enacted to come into effect on November 21, 2025, have any bearing on the interpretation of "industry" within the principal Act.