Skip to main content

Meaning of 'grocery' extended

The term 'grocery' would include soft drinks and bottled water, not merely food items, the Supreme Court stated extending the meaning of the word grocery. This interpretation would benefit manual labourers in Maharashtra, as the court has dismissed the appeal, PepsiCo India Holding P Ltd vs Grocery Market & Shops Board, against the Bombay high court judgment. The loaders got only wages and were deprived of provident fund contribution, paid holidays, house rent, workmen's compensation, bonus and other medical benefits. It was to protect such workers that the welfare legislation titled Maharashtra Manual Workers Welfare Act and a scheme were introduced. When the authorities applied the law to PepsiCo, which produces soft drinks like Pepsi, Mirinda, 7 Up and mineral water, it objected to it and moved the Bombay high court. PepsiCo's argument was that the expression grocery would only comprise articles, which are required as daily necessities such as oil and grain in households, and not soft drinks. The high court dismissed the petition stating that "now-a-days, soft drinks are available in the grocery shops and supermarkets. They are items of food and, therefore, they are all grocery items. In all the manufacturing process, loading and unloading activities are carried out, which are the activities of the manual workers." The Supreme Court upheld this view to the benefit of manual workers.

Article referred: http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/tangle-over-withdrawal-of-incentives-116022100751_1.html

Comments

Post a Comment

Most viewed this month

Partition proceedings are vitiated even if single co-sharer is not made party or is not served in accordance with law

Cause Title :  Bhagwant Singh vs  Financial Commissioner (Appeals) Punjab, Chandigarh,  CWP-2132-2018 (O&M), High Court Of Punjab & Haryana At Chandigarh Date of Judgment/Order : 31.08.2022 Corum : Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sudhir Mittal Background A large parcel of land was owned by the Nagar Panchayat. Thereafter, some of the co-sharers sold their shares to third parties including the petitioners herein. On 22.11.1995, respondents No.3 to 5 filed an application for partition of the land. The petitioners were not impleaded as parties.  On completion of proceedings, sanad was issued on 28.08.1996. Vide two separate sale deeds dated 28.05.2008 respondents No.3 and 5 sold some portion in favour of respondent No.6 and 7. These respondents sought implementation of the sanad resulting in issuance of warrants of possession dated 05.06.2008. Allegedly, it was then that the petitioners realized that joint land had been partitioned and that proceedings h...
Post a Comment
Read more

Power of Attorney holder can also file cheque bounce cases: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has held that a criminal complaint in a cheque bounce case can be filed and pursued by a person who holds a power of attorney (PoA) on behalf of the complainant. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam gave the "authoritative" pronouncement on the issue, referred to it by a division bench in view of conflicting judgements of some high courts and the apex court. "We are of the view that the power of attorney holder may be allowed to file, appear and depose for the purpose of issue of process for the offence punishable under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act (which deals with cheque bounce cases)," the bench, also comprising justices Ranjana Prakash Desai and Ranjan Gogoi, said. The bench, in its judgement, said, "...we clarify the position and answer the questions in the following manner: "Filing of complaint petition under Section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act through PoA holder is perfectly legal...
1 comment
Read more

Christian who reconverts as Hindu SC will get quota benefits

Amid the controversy over “ghar wapsi”, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a person who “reconverts” from Christianity to Hinduism shall be entitled to reservation benefits if his forefathers belonged to a Scheduled Caste and the community accepts him after “reconversion”. Citing articles by B R Ambedkar and James Massey, and reports by Mandal Commission and Chinappa Commission, the court said: “There has been detailed study to indicate the Scheduled Caste persons belonging to Hindu religion, who had embraced Christianity with some kind of hope or aspiration, have remained socially, educationally and economically backward.” The bench of Justices Dipak Misra and V Gopala Gowda held that a person shall not be deprived of reservation benefits if he decides to “reconvert” to Hinduism and adopts the caste that his forefathers originally belonged to just because he was born to Christian parents or has a Christian spouse. Expanding the scope of a previous Constitution benc...
1 comment
Read more