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TMI Blog2004 (9) TMI 653X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to a contract of apprenticeship. How a contract of apprenticeship would be entered into is to be found in sub-section (1) of Section 4 of the 1961 Act. The embargos placed in this regard are: (i) entering into a contract of apprenticeship with a minor in which event the contract must be executed by his guardian; and (ii) on such terms or conditions which shall not be inconsistent with any provision of the Act or any rule framed thereunder. A 'workman' within the meaning of Section 2(s) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 must not only establish that he is not covered by the provisions of the Apprenticeship Act but must further establish that he is employed in the establishment for the purpose of doing any work contemplated in the definition. Even in a case where a period of apprenticeship is extended, a further written contract carrying out such intention need not be executed. But in a case where a person is allowed to continue without extending the period of apprenticeship either expressly or by necessary implication and regular work is taken from him, he may become a workman. A person who claims himself to be an apprentice has certain rights and obligations under the st ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t are found satisfactory, you will be appointed as a Development Officer on probation on a monthly basic pay of ₹ 700/- and such other allowances as are admissible in accordance with staff Regulations. 4. During the period of apprenticeship, you shall be liable to be discharged from service without any notice. 7. You are not entitled to any travelling allowance for joining the Training Centre at Division Office, Life Insurance Corporation of India, Kanpur. 4. The services of the Respondent were terminated purported to be in terms of para 4 of the said offer of appointment by a letter dated 14.7.1988. Contending that he has been retrenched in contravention of Section 25F of the Industrial Disputes Act, the Appellant herein raised an industrial dispute whereupon the Central Government by a notification dated 23rd August, 1991 referred the following dispute for adjudication of the Central Government Industrial Tribunal cum Labour Court, Pandu Nagar, Kanpur (for short the Tribunal ): Whether the action of the Divisional Manager, LIC of India, Kanpur, in discharging Sri Mukesh Kumar Tripathi from service w.e.f. 14.7.88 is legal and justified? If not to what relief the concerned wo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he Life Insurance Corporation of India (Apprentice Development Officers) Recruitment Scheme, 1980 (for short the Scheme ) for the purpose of showing that an Apprentice Development Officer is a person recruited for training and subsequent appointment to the cadre of Development Officers. It was submitted that as the Appellant was appointed in terms thereof, unless he was appointed and confirmed as a Development Officer the question of his becoming a workman would not arise. 12. The Scheme framed by the Corporation although is not a statutory one but the same governs the terms and conditions of appointment of Apprentice Development Officer. An Apprentice Development Officer is a person recruited for training and subsequent appointment to the cadre of Development Officer. Clause 4 of the Scheme lays down the eligibility criteria for recruitment as also the recruitment procedure. Clause 5 of the said Scheme provides for apprenticeship and training. The period of apprenticeship is one year. During the said period, the Apprentice is required to undergo theoretical training at training centre for two months, training in a selected rural branch for one month and a field training for a peri ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . 2 (s) as it stood at the relevant time. We find from the nature of the duties assigned to Mukerjee that his main work was that of canvassing and any clerical or manual work that he had to do was incidental to his main work of canvassing and could not take more than a small fraction of the time for which he had to work. In the circumstances the tribunal's conclusion that Mukerjee was a workman is incorrect. The tribunal seems to have been led away by the fact that Mukherjee had no supervisory duties and had to work under the directions of his superior officers. That, however, would not necessarily mean that Mukerjee's duties were mainly manual or clerical. From what the tribunal itself has found it is clear that Mukerjee's duties were mainly neither clerical nor manual. Therefore, as Mukerjee was not a workman his case would not be covered by the Industrial Disputes Act and the tribunal would have no jurisdiction to order his reinstatement 15. A similar view was taken by this Court in Western India Match Co. Ltd. Vs. Workmen [(1964) 3 SCR 560], Burmah Shell Oil Storage Distribution Co. of India Ltd. Vs. Burmah Shell Management Staff Assn. [(1970) 3 SCC 378] and in othe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 808 : 1985 Supp (1) SCR 282) cases did not notice the earlier decisions in May Baker ((1961) 2 LLJ 94 : AIR 1967 SC 678 : (1961) 2 FLR 594) WIMCO ((1964) 3 SCR 560 : AIR 1964 SC 472 : (1963) 2 LLJ 459), and Burmah Shell ((1970) 3 SCC 378 : (1971) 2 SCR 758 : AIR 1971 SC 922 : (1970) 2 LLJ 590) cases and the very same contention, viz., if a person did not fall within any of the categories of manual, clerical, supervisory or technical, he would qualify to be workman merely because he is not covered by either of the four exceptions to the definition, was canvassed and though negatived in earlier decisions, was accepted. Further, in those cases the Development Officer of the LIC, the Security Inspector at the gate of the factory and Stenographer-cum-Accountant respectively, were held to be workmen on the facts of those cases. It is the decision of this Court in A. Sundarambal case ((1988) 4 SCC 42 : 1988 SCC (L S) 892) which pointed out that the law laid down in May and Baker case ((1961) 2 LLJ 94 : AIR 1967 SC 678 : (1961) 2 FLR 594) was still good and was not in terms disowned. 19. The Constitution Bench although noticed the distinct cleavage of opinion in two lines of cases but held ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t the duties and obligations of a Development Officer, as noticed in paragraph 8 of S.K. Verma (supra), are applicable in the instant case, it would be evident that the Appellant herein could not have organized or developed the business of the Corporation without becoming a full-fledged officer of the Corporation. Only an officer of the Corporation duly appointed can perform the functions of recruiting agents and take steps for organizing and developing the business of the Corporation No area furthermore could be allotted to him for the purpose of recruiting active and reliable agents drawn from different communities and walks of life in view of the categorical findings of the Tribunal that he had been working as an apprentice. If organizing and developing the business of the Corporation and to act as a friend, philosopher and guide of the agents working within his jurisdiction were the primary duties and obligations of a Development Officer, an apprentice evidently cannot perform the same. 26. We may consider the matter from another angle, viz., the appointment of the Appellant as an apprentice under the Scheme vis-`-vis the Apprentices Act, 1961. 27. The expression 'Apprentic ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ant. A contract of apprenticeship is binding on a minor only if it is on the whole beneficial to him. It is not essential that the master should execute a deed of apprenticeship, but where a master had in fact executed one part of an instrument of apprenticeship, a recital in that part of the instrument that the apprentice had bound himself apprentice to the master is evidence against the master that the apprentice had executed the other part of the instrument. A corporation may take an apprentice. 30. 'Apprentice', as noticed hereinbefore, is defined to mean a person who is undergoing apprenticeship training pursuant to a contract of apprenticeship. How a contract of apprenticeship would be entered into is to be found in sub-section (1) of Section 4 of the 1961 Act. The embargos placed in this regard are: (i) entering into a contract of apprenticeship with a minor in which event the contract must be executed by his guardian; and (ii) on such terms or conditions which shall not be inconsistent with any provision of the Act or any rule framed thereunder. 31. Furthermore, the apprentice must satisfy the statutory requirements as regard qualification to be appointed as an appr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... any person raises a contention that his status has been changed from apprentice to a workman, he must plead and prove the requisite facts. In absence of any pleading or proof that either by novation of the contract or by reason of the conduct of the parties, such a change has been brought about, an apprentice cannot be held to be workman. 38. It is true that the definition of 'workman' as contained in Section 2(s) of the Industrial Disputes Act is exhaustive. 39. The interpretation clause contained in a statute although may deserve a broader meaning having employed the word 'includes' but therefor also it is necessary to keep in view the scheme of the object and purport of the statute which takes him out of the said definition. Furthermore, the interpretation section begins with the words unless the context otherwise requires . 40. In Ramesh Mehta Vs. Sanwal Chand Singhvi Ors. reported in 2004 (5) SCC 409, it was noticed : A definition is not to be read in isolation. It must be read in the context of the phrase which would define it. It should not be vague or ambiguous. The definition of words must be given a meaningful application; where the context makes the defin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... said definition for hire or reward, whether the terms of employment be express or implied. 42. The question as to who would answer the description of the term 'workman' fell for consideration before this Court in Dharangadhra Chemical Works Ltd. vs. State of Saurashtra and Others [AIR 1957 SC 264], wherein this Court held : The essential condition of a person being a workman within the terms of this definition is that he should be employed to do the work in that industry, that there should be, in other words, an employment of his by the employer and that there should be the relationship between the employer and him as between the employer and employee or master and servant. Unless a person is thus employed there can be no question of his being a workman within the definition of the term as contained in the Act. 43. Yet again in Workmen of Dimakuchi Tea Estate vs. Management of Dimakuchi Tea Estate [AIR 1958 SC 353], this Court held : A little careful consideration will show, however, that the expression 'any person' occurring in the third part of the definition clause cannot mean anybody and everybody in this wide world. First of all, the subject matter of dispute m ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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