Supreme Court in Sabu M. Jacob vs. The State of Kerala & Anr. S.L.A No. 2374/2022, declined to entertain Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed against the judgment of the Kerala High Court wherein the Kerala High Court dismissed the contentions put forward by the Managing Director that prosecution contemplated under Section 92 of the Factories Act, 1948 (“Factories Act“) is against the ‘occupier’ of the premises and in the absence of any specific documents indicating the same, the petitioner who is the Managing Director of the Company, cannot be treated as an occupier.
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The High Court observed that question as to whether the Managing Director was the occupier even in terms of deeming provision, is a matter to be adjudicated at the time of trial and after evaluating the evidence adduced since the deeming provision as contemplated under Section 2(n) of the Factories Act, 1948 is confined to only one of the directors, which would indicate that, the director who is in control of the factory shall be held responsible as an occupier and therefore, in the absence of any nomination or intimation to the contrary, any of the directors can be prosecuted for the offences.
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