What is a controlled industry ?
- (a)Any industry the control of which by the Union has been declared by any Central Act to be expedient in the public interest
- (b)Any industry the control of which by the State has been declared by any State Act to be expedient in the public interest
- (c)Any industry the control of which by the Municipal bodies has been declared by any Municipal Rules to be expedient in the public interest
- (d)Any industry the control of which by the State has been declared by any Central Act to be expedient in the public interest
Answer
Why
Correct — A, (a) Any industry the control of which by the Union has been declared by any Central Act to be expedient in the public interest. That is section 2(ee) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 almost word for word. Two things have to be right for an industry to be a controlled industry, and the option gets both: the controller is the UNION, and the instrument is a CENTRAL ACT. The wording is not accidental — it tracks Entry 52 of the Union List in the Seventh Schedule, which gives Parliament 'industries, the control of which by the Union is declared by Parliament by law to be expedient in the public interest'. Industry is otherwise a State subject under Entry 24 of the State List, expressly made subject to Entries 7 and 52 of the Union List, so an industry moves into Union control only when Parliament makes that declaration by law. The Central Act principally contemplated is the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951, whose section 2 declares it expedient in the public interest that the Union take under its control the industries listed in its First Schedule. The definition earns its place in a labour statute because of what it decides: clause (ee) and the words 'or concerning any such controlled industry as may be specified in this behalf by the Central Government' in the definition of 'appropriate Government' in section 2(a) were inserted by the same amending Act in 1951, so declaring an industry controlled is what makes the Central Government, rather than the State, the authority that runs conciliation and refers disputes in it.
Why the others are wrong
- (b)Any industry the control of which by the State has been declared by any State Act to be expedient in the public interest — This inverts both halves at once — State control, declared by a State Act. It describes something the constitutional scheme does not provide for. A State legislature cannot make the Entry 52 declaration, because that entry is in the Union List and reserves the declaration to Parliament; and if a State were doing the controlling there would be nothing for the Union to take under its control, which is the entire content of the expression.
- (c)Any industry the control of which by the Municipal bodies has been declared by any Municipal Rules to be expedient in the public interest — Municipal bodies acting under 'Municipal Rules' are the wrong order of government and the wrong kind of instrument. Municipalities are constituted under State law and exercise the functions a State entrusts to them, of the kind listed in the Twelfth Schedule — urban planning, water supply, public health, street lighting, regulation of slaughter houses. Taking an industry under control in the public interest is nowhere among them, and a set of municipal rules is subordinate legislation, not an Act declaring anything.
- (d)Any industry the control of which by the State has been declared by any Central Act to be expedient in the public interest — The half-right option, and the one worth slowing down for. It uses the correct instrument — a Central Act — but hands the control to the State. The declaration under Entry 52 exists precisely so that control passes to the Union; a Central Act declaring State control of an industry would be doing the opposite of what the entry authorises. In an item where all four choices share a sentence frame and differ in two slots, checking each slot separately is faster than reading the four sentences whole.
Concept
'Controlled industry' is a term of art, defined in section 2(ee) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 as any industry the control of which by the Union has been declared by any Central Act to be expedient in the public interest. It sits at the join between the labour law and the Constitution's division of powers. Industry is a State subject under Entry 24 of the State List, but that entry is expressly subject to Entry 7 of the Union List, which covers industries declared necessary for defence or the prosecution of war, and Entry 52, which covers industries whose control by the Union Parliament has declared expedient in the public interest. Parliament made the general declaration in the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951, listing the industries concerned in its First Schedule. Within the Industrial Disputes Act the label has one operational consequence: under section 2(a) the appropriate Government for a dispute in a controlled industry specified by the Central Government is the Central Government, which decides who conciliates the dispute and who may refer it for adjudication. Both the definition and that limb of 'appropriate Government' were inserted by the same amending Act in 1951, which is the clearest evidence that the one exists to serve the other.
For an Enforcement Officer the practical question behind this definition is jurisdictional: whose machinery handles a dispute, the Centre's or the State's. The EO/AO paper accordingly tests it as a straight definition item, with four options built on one sentence frame in which only the controlling authority and the enacting body change. That construction is common in this paper's labour-law blocks, and it rewards a candidate who reads options slot by slot rather than as whole sentences, because three of the four differ from the answer in only one or two words.
Key facts
- Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, section 2(ee): 'controlled industry' means any industry the control of which by the Union has been declared by any Central Act to be expedient in the public interest. The clause was inserted by Act 65 of 1951.
- Entry 52 of the Union List, Seventh Schedule: industries the control of which by the Union is declared by Parliament by law to be expedient in the public interest.
- Entry 24 of the State List gives industries to the States, but expressly subject to Entries 7 and 52 of the Union List; Entry 7 covers industries declared necessary for defence or the prosecution of war.
- The Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951 is the principal Central Act making the Entry 52 declaration, and it lists the industries covered in its First Schedule.
- Section 2(a) of the Industrial Disputes Act makes the Central Government the appropriate Government for a dispute concerning a controlled industry specified in that behalf by the Central Government, which is what the definition is for.
- The definition speaks of control by the UNION declared by a CENTRAL Act; changing either half describes something the Constitution does not provide for.
Study next
Common traps
- Swapping the Union for the State while keeping the Central Act. It is the closest wrong answer and reverses the point of the declaration.
- Assuming industry is simply a Union subject. It is a State subject that Parliament may take over by declaration, which is why the definition is phrased as it is.
- Confusing a declaration by law with an executive notification. Entry 52 requires Parliament to declare by law; the notification under section 2(a) then specifies which controlled industries the Centre will handle disputes in.
- Treating 'controlled industry' as a description of any regulated or licensed business. It is a defined expression with a constitutional trigger.
- Reading four long options as whole sentences when they share a frame. Compare the slots that differ.
EPFO papers ask this family of question as bare definition recall, and they build the wrong options by changing one element of the correct sentence — the authority, the instrument, or the purpose. The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 is the single most quarried statute in these blocks, and its section 2 supplies more items than any other provision. Expect the neighbouring definitions — industry, industrial dispute, public utility service, appropriate Government — to appear the same way in other sittings.
Related PYQs
EPFO_EOAO_2020_Q61Open & attempt →Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the code given below the lists : List I (Term) A. Closure B. Workmen C. Strike D. Lockout List II (Explanation) 1. Permanent closing down of a place of employment 2. Any person employed in any industry to do skilled, unskilled or manual work 3. Temporary closing down of workplace by the management 4. Cessation of work by employees
- (a) A-1, B-2, C-4, D-3
- (b) A-3, B-4, C-2, D-1
- (c) A-1, B-4, C-2, D-3
- (d) A-3, B-2, C-4, D-1
Answer(a) A-1, B-2, C-4, D-3
The Match List immediately before this item, built out of four more definitions from the same section 2 of the Industrial Disputes Act — closure, workmen, strike and lock-out.
EPFO_APFC_2023_Q98Which one of the following statements relating to conclusion of conciliation proceedings under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 is not correct?
- (a) It is concluded on the date when a memorandum of settlement is signed by the parties.
- (b) It is concluded on the date when it ends in failure resulting in no memorandum of settlement signed between the parties.
- (c) It is concluded on the date when the report of the Conciliation Officer is received by the Appropriate Government when no settlement is arrived.
- (d) It is concluded on the date when the reference is made by the Appropriate Government to the Labour Court/Industrial Tribunal under Section 10 of the Act during pendency of the conciliation proceedings.
Answer(b) It is concluded on the date when it ends in failure resulting in no memorandum of settlement signed between the parties.
Moves from the definitions to the machinery they feed: when conciliation proceedings under the Industrial Disputes Act are concluded, which is the process the appropriate Government controls.
EPFO_EOAO_2023_Q100Under the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, right of legal representation before a Labour Court, or Industrial Tribunal or National Industrial Tribunal is :
- (a) A statutory right
- (b) Not at all permissible
- (c) Can be permitted by the forum if the other party does not object or gives consent
- (d) May be permitted if such permission is granted by the High Court of the State/Union Territory
Answer(c) Can be permitted by the forum if the other party does not object or gives consent
Another jurisdictional question under the same Act — whether legal representation is available as of right before a Labour Court or Industrial Tribunal.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
Under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, the appropriate Government in relation to an industrial dispute concerning a controlled industry specified in that behalf is :
- (a)The State Government
- (b)The Central Government
- (c)The District Magistrate
- (d)The Municipal Corporation concerned
Answer(b) The Central Government
- practice — not a real PYQ
The declaration that the control of an industry by the Union is expedient in the public interest is made under which one of the following entries of the Seventh Schedule ?
- (a)Entry 24 of the State List
- (b)Entry 33 of the Concurrent List
- (c)Entry 52 of the Union List
- (d)Entry 45 of the State List
Answer(c) Entry 52 of the Union List