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TMI Blog1984 (10) TMI 242X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... any contributions under the Act in respect of the employees up to that date. They however admit their liability to make contributions during that period in respect of persons employed by them for wages in the printing presses belonging to them. The dispute regarding the liability of the appellants to make contributions under the Act in respect of the members of the administrative and editorial staff arose on the Assistant Regional Director of the Employees' State Insurance Corporation calling upon them by notice issued on October 1, 1975 to make contributions in respect of the said members also with effect from January 28, 1968 on which date the amended definition of the expression 'employee', in section 2 (9) of the Act as per the Amending Act No. 44 of 1966 came into force. After the above demands were made, the appellants filed applications before the Employees' Insurance Court, Nagpur under section 75 of the Act questioning their liability to make contributions in respect of their employees working in the administrative and editorial sections of their presses during the period between January 28, 1968 and November 19, 1976. They, however, did not dispute the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of a factory or establishment to which this Act applies and- (i) who is directly employed by the principal employer on any work of, or incidental or preliminary to or connected with the work of, the factory or establishment whether such work is done by the employee in the factory or establishment or elsewhere: or (ii) who is employed by or through an immediate employer on the premises of the factory or establishment or under the supervision of the principal employer or his agent on work which is ordinarily part of the work of the factory or establishment or which is preliminary to the work carried on in or incidental to the purpose of the factory or establishment; or (iii) whose service are temporarily lent or let on hire to the principal employer by the person with whom the person whose services are so lent or let on hire has entered into a contract of service; and includes any person employed for wages on any work connected with the administration of the factory or establishment or any part, department or branch thereof or with the purchase of law materials for, or the distribution or sale of the products of, the factory or establishment; but does not include- ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the Act states that the contribution payable under it shall comprise contribution payable by the employer and contribution payable by the employee. The contributions have to be paid at the rates specified in the First Schedule to the Act except where the employees concerned are excluded from some of the benefits under the Act in which case the Corporation is authorised to fix the rates of the contributions. Now reverting to section 2 (9) of the Act it is seen that the expression 'employee' means any person employed for wages in a factory or any person employed for wages in connection with the work of a factory, it also means any person employed for wages in or in connection with the work of an establishment to which the Act applies. If it is held in these cases that the employees in the administrative or editorial sections of the printing presses are employed in connection with the work of the printing presses which are admittedly factories, then they have to be treated as employees under section 2 (9) of the Act even though no notification is issued under section 1 (5) of the Act making the Act applicable to those sections. The fact that such a notification has been ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tive staff and of the editorial staff in each of the printing presses in question have to be treated as employees under section 2(9) of the Act. These persons are directly employed by the management concerned on work incidental or preliminary or connected with the work of the factory. The work of the factory in each case being printing and publication of a newspaper, its work cannot be carried on without the assistance of the members of the editorial staff who are engaged in preparing the material for printing the newspaper and of the administrative staff which is needed for managing the affairs of the factory. It is a matter of common knowledge that the members of the editorial staff work almost round the clock at the premises where the printing press is situated or at the precincts thereof. Their principal job is to pick up and select from out of the mass of information which flows in to the press, messages which have news value, trim them and make them fit for communication through newspaper. Even though they may not be actually engaged in operating the printing machines, their presence at the spot is essential right upto the moment the 'strike order' is given for the pr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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