Undertaking - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition undertaking

Definition :

Undertaking, denotes 'any business or any work or project which one engages in or attempts as an enterprise analogous to business or trade, Secretary Madras Gymkhana Club Employees Union v. Manage-ment of Gymkhana Club, AIR 1968 SC 554: (1968) 2 SCJ 138: (1968) 1 SCA 379: (1967) 2 SCWR 618: (1967) 2 Lab LJ 720: 33 FJR 157: (1968) Lab JC 547: (1968) 2 Andh WR (SC) 6: (1968) 2 Mad LJ (SC) 6: 15 Fac LR 411: 16 Law Rep 140.

Undertaking, denotes, with reference to company law, all the assets of the company past present and future, and is a mortgageable interest being commonly charged by the debentures of the company. 'Undertaking' means a unit, such as a factory or a granary, Industrial Disputes Tribunal (in re:), (1956) 3 All ER 111.

Undertaking, in a compromise decree does not mean a promise to a court. It is merely a solemn promise by one party to the other when it appears in an agreement between the two, Nisha Kant Roy v. Sandji Bashnai, Goho, AIR 1948 Cal 294: 49 Cr LJ 567.

Undertaking, includes any trade, business or profession and, in relation to a public or local authority, includes any of the powers or duties of that authority, and, in relation to any other body of persons, whether corporate or unincorporated, includes any of the activities of that body, Words and Phrases Legally Defined, 3rd Edn., see also Mor Modern Coop. Transport Society Ltd. v. Financial Commr. & Secy. to Govt. of Haryana, (2002) 6 SCC 269.

Means a going concern with all its rights, liabilities and arrest as distinct from the various rights and arrests which compose it, Shri Krishna Gyanoday Sugar Ltd. v. State of Bihar, AIR 2003 SC 3436.

Means although various ingredients go to make up an undertaking, the term describes not the ingredients but the completed work from which the earnings arise, Halsbury's Laws of England, 3rd Edn., Vol. 6, Art. 75, p. 43.

Means an enterprise engaged in production, sale or control of goods, etc., Carew & Co. Ltd. v. Union of India, AIR 1975 SC 2260.

Means the act of one who undertakes or engages in a project or business; the business of an undertaker; a business, work, or project which one engages in or attempts, Webster's Third New International Dictionary, See also Mor Modern Coop. Transport Society Ltd. v. Financial Commr. & Secy. to Govt. of Haryana, (2002) 6 SCC 269.

Means the entire organization. Whether a company or a plant or an organization, it is the entire business of the going concern that is embraced within the meaning of this term, Rustom Cowasjee Cooper v. Union of India, AIR 1970 SC 564: (1970) 1 SCC 248: (1970) 1 SCJ 564: (1970) 2 SCA 37: (1970) Mor LR 42: 40 Comp Cas 325: (1970) 1 Comp LJ 244.

Undertaking, must mean a separate and distinct business or commercial or trading or industrial activity. If cannot comprehend an infinitely small part of the manufacturing process, Avon Services Production Agencies Pvt. Ltd. v. Industrial Tribunal Hanpur, 1979 (1) SCC 1.

The term 'undertaking' must be defined as any business or any work or project resulting in material goods or material services and which one engages in or attempts as an enterprise analogous to business or trade, Secretary, Madras Gymkhana Club Employees' Union v. Management of the Gymkhana Club, AIR 1968 SC 554 (563): (1968) 1 SCR 742. [Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, s. 2(i) & (v)]

(ii) The word 'undertaking' as used in s. 25FFF seems to us to have been used in its ordinary sense connoting thereby any work, enterprise, project or business undertaking. It is not intended to cover the entire industry or business of the employer, Workmen of the Straw Board Manufacturing Co. Ltd. v. Straw Board Manufacturing Co. Ltd., AIR 1974 SC 1132: (1974) 4 SCC 681: (1974) 3 SCR 703.

(iii) The word 'undertaking' is a coat of many colours, as it has been used in different sections of the Act to convey different ideas. In some of the sections, the word has been used to denote the enterprise itself while in many other sections it has been used to denote the person who owns it. The definition of the word 'undertaking' in s. 2(v) of the Act would indicate that 'undertaking' means an enterprise which is engaged in production, sale or control of goods, etc. Carew and Company Ltd. v. Union of India, AIR 1975 SC 2260: (1975) 2 SCC 791: (1976) 1 SCR 379. [MRTP Act, 1969, s. 2(v) 23(4) and 22]

(iv) According to its dictionary meaning as given by Webster, 'undertaking' means anything under-taken; any business, work or project which one engages in or attempts; an enterprise. Workmen of Indian Standards Institution v. Management of Indian Standards Institution, AIR 1976 SC 145: (1975) 2 SCC 847: (1976) 2 SCR 138.

(v) The expression 'undertaking' is not defined in the Act. It finds its place in the definition of the expression 'industry' in s. 2(j) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. While ascertaining the amplitude of the expression 'undertaking' in the definition of the expression 'industry', noscitur a sociis cannon of construction was invoked and a restricted meaning was assigned to it in Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board v. A. Rajappa, (1978) 3 SCR 207, 227: (1978) 2 SCC 213: 1978 SCC (L&S) 215. While thus reading down the expression, in the context of s. 25FFF it must mean a separate and distinct business or commercial or trading or industrial activity. It cannot comprehend an infinitesimally small part of a manufacturing process, Avon Services Production Agencies (P) Ltd. v. Industrial Tribunal, AIR 1979 SC 170 (179): (1979) 1 SCC 1: (1979) 2 SCR 45.

(vi) 'Undertaking' means a concern in any industry, Gopal v. Administrative Officer, Madhya Pradesh Khadi and Village Industries Board, AIR 1986 SC 504 (505): (1985) 4 SCC 138: (1985) Supp 2 SCR 641.

(vii) The word 'undertaking' in s. 25FFF connotes any work, enterprise, project or business undertaking and covers the closure or stoppage of a part of the business or activities of the employer, Isha Steel Treatment v. Association of Engg. Workers, AIR 1987 SC 1478: (1987) 2 SCC 203: (1987) 2 SCR 414.

The term 'undertaking' is not defined in the Act. The relevant provisions use the term 'industry'. Undertaking is a concept narrower than industry. An undertaking may be a part of the whole, that is, the industry. It carries a restricted meaning, see Bangalore Water Supply & Sewerage Board v. A. Rajappa, (1978) 2 SCC 213; see also S.M. Milajkar v. Telecom Dist. Manager, (2003) 4 SCC 27 (38).

1. A promise, pledge, or engagement; 2. A bail bond, Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 1528.