On 21 February 1978, a seven-judge Constitution Bench laid down the triple test for 'industry' under s.2(j) of the Industrial Disputes Act, sweeping hospitals, clubs, and charities into its coverage.
On 5 November 2024, a nine-judge Constitution Bench held by 7:2 that not every private property qualifies as a 'material resource of the community' under Article 39(b) of the Constitution — and overruled Sanjeev Coke Manufacturing Co. v. Bharat Coking Coal (1983), which had adopted Justice Krishna Iyer's expansive minority position in Ranganatha Reddy as the rule. The judgment recalibrates the relationship between private property and the State's redistributive power, and sets out a multi-factor inquiry for what falls within Article 39(b)'s reach.
Forty-eight years after Justice Krishna Iyer's expansive reading of 'industry' under Section 2(j) of the Industrial Disputes Act, a nine-judge Constitution Bench led by the Chief Justice has reserved judgment on whether the test in *Bangalore Water Supply* lays down correct law. A practitioner's preview of the reference, the bench, the questions, and what an answer either way would mean for labour and HR practice.