In Brief
A statutory warehousing corporation denied liability to pay provident fund contributions for workers engaged in loading and unloading in its godowns, claiming no employer-employee relationship existed. The Provident Fund authorities and appellate tribunal held the corporation liable. The High Court set aside these orders, relying on a previous Labour Court finding favouring the corporation under the Industrial Disputes Act. The Supreme Court held that the High Court erred by applying findings from Industrial Disputes Act proceedings to an Employees' Provident Funds Act case. The Court stressed that 'employee' has different definitions under different statutes and must be applied independently. The case was remanded for the High Court to re-examine the employer-employee question using the EPF Act's own definition.
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