AJAY RAJ SHETTY
Vs.
DIRECTOR AND ANOTHER
( Before : Sudhanshu Dhulia and Ahsanuddin Amanullah, JJ. )
Criminal Appeal No. ….of 2025 [@ Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 3743 of 2024]
Decided on : 17-04-2025
Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948 — Section 2(17) — ‘Principal Employer’ — Scope and Determination — The definition of ‘principal employer’ under Section 2(17) is wide and includes not only the owner or occupier of a factory (or head of department in government establishments) but also the managing agent or any person responsible for the supervision and control of the establishment — Designation is immaterial if the person functions as a managing agent or supervises/controls the establishment — Where concurrent findings of fact by the Trial Court, First Appellate Court, and High Court, based on company records (which were not controverted by the appellant with evidence like appointment letter/payslips), established that the appellant was functioning as General Manager/Principal Employer/Managing Agent, he falls within the ambit of S. 2(17) and is liable for offences under the Act. (Distinguished: Employees’ State Insurance Corpn., Chandigarh v Gurdial Singh, AIR 1991 SC 1741; J K Industries Limited v Chief Inspector of Factories and Boilers, (1996) 6 SCC 665)
