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- The villagers of the villages surrounding Nilgiris, for their livelihood depend on growing of vegetables and tea. To ensure that the small vegetable growers are not exploited by the vegetable merchants, a society known as ‘Nilgiris Cooperative Marketing Society Limited’ was formed in 1935 with only 116 members, and now has grown to 22000 members. There are two classes of members – voting and non voting members. Any disputes between sellers and purchasers of goods are settled through arbitration.
- All members are entitled to participate in auction mela to sell their goods. During this time, third parties are hired to pack, load, unload vegetables in the auction organized by the society. These workers are made available for use by the members and payments are made by the members usually and the society maintains no wage registers, attendance records etc.
- These workers have asked to be regularized as employees of the society and be given the same benefits.
- The tribunal held that they are not workers and the High Court agreed.
- The SC held that this case presents a peculiar situation. The society is a service society which has been formed with the object of protecting the growers from being exploited at the hands of the traders. It has been found that the employment of the workmen for doing a particular piece of work is at the instance of the producer or the merchants on an ad hoc basis or job to job basis and, thus, the same may not lead to the conclusion that relationship of employer and employee has come into being. Furthermore, when an employee has a right to work or not when an offer is made to him in this behalf by the producer or by the merchants will also assume significance.
- The workmen are engaged both by the growers as also the traders. On some occasions, payment is made to the workmen through third parties in a case the grower is not in a position to pay the same immediately. The totality of the circumstances clearly go to show that although certain activities are carried out in the market yards, the Society in general does not have the necessity of employing any workman either for the purpose of loading, unloading or grading. Ultimately, the remuneration to the concerned workmen are borne either by the farmers or by the merchants. The workers are therefore not workmen in our view.
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