CLUBBING OF MORE THAN ONE ESTABUSHMENT

Whether more than one establishment situated within the common boundary can be taken to constitute a single unit for coverage under E.S.I. ?

The E.S.I. Act aims at conferring various benefits 'on the employees and as such should be construed that the employees get the intended benefits. The definition of the factory does not indi­cate that the factory will have to be located within a single premise of the building as it lays emphasis on the use of power for manufacturing process carried on in any part of any premises and number of employees engaged in the process of manufacture. Where a firm was running three establishments located at three different municipal premises namely, 1, 2 and 21 in Synagogue Street, Calcutta and the work of printing carried on with the aid of electricity although the machine section was housed only in premises Nos.1 and 2, it was held that the three premises were not only closely located but also the industry connected with the identi­cal manufacturing process carried on by the firm and as such the different units would be covered under the E.S.I. Act.

E.S.I. Corporation vs. Bengal Priming Works, 1984 Lab. LIC 1.