2Interpretation

In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,--

¹[(a) "appellate authority" means an authority appointed by the appropriate Government by notification in the Official Gazette to exercise in such area as may be specified in the notification the functions of an appellate authority under this Act:

Provided that in relation to an appeal pending before an Industrial Court or other authority immediately before the commencement of the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Amendment Act, 1963 (39 of 1963), that court or authority shall be deemed to be the appellate authority;]

(b) "appropriate Government" means in respect of industrial establishments under the control of the Central Government or a ²[Railway administration] or in a major port, mine or oil-field, the Central Government, and in all other cases, the State Government:

³[Provided that where any question arises as to whether any industrial establishment is under the control of the Central Government, that Government may, either on a reference made to it by the employer or the workman or a trade union or other representative body of the workmen, or on its own motion and after giving the parties an opportunity of being heard, decide the question and such decision shall be final and binding on the parties;]

⁴[(c) "Certifying Officer" means a Labour Commissioner or a Regional Labour Commissioner, and includes any other officer appointed by the appropriate Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, to perform all or any of the functions of a Certifying Officer under this Act;]

(d) "employer" means the owner of an industrial establishment to which this Act for the time being applies, and includes --

(i) in a factory, any person named under ⁵[clause (f) of sub-section (1) of section 7, of the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948)], as manager of the factory;

(ii) in any industrial establishment under the control of any department of any Government in India, the authority appointed by such Government in this behalf, or where no authority is so appointed, the head of the department;

(iii) in any other industrial establishment, any person responsible to the owner for the supervision and control of the industrial establishment;

(e) "industrial establishment" means--

(i) an industrial establishment as defined in clause (ii) of section 2 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 (4 of 1936), or

⁶[(ii) a factory as defined in clause (m) of section 2 of the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948), or]

(iii) a railway as defined in clause (4) of section 2 of the Indian Railways Act; 1890 (9 of 1890), or

(iv) the establishment of a person who, for the purpose of fulfilling a contract with the owner of any industrial establishment, employs workmen;

(f) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made by the appropriate Government under this Act;

(g) "standing orders" means rules relating to matters set out in the Schedule;

(h) "trade union" means a trade union for the time being registered under the Indian Trade Unions Act, 1926 (16 of 1926);

⁷[(i) "wages" and "workman" have the meanings respectively assigned to them in clauses (rr) and (s) of section 2 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (14 of 1947).]