The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by the Employees' State Insurance (ESI) Corporation, upholding a 2008 Kerala High Court order that ruled that pathological laboratories would be covered by The Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948, from 2007 and not from 2002. The case revolved around the application of the Act to the respondent establishment, the Endocrinology and Immunology Lab.

The ESI Corporation contended that the respondent should be covered under the Act due to a 1976 notification issued by the State Government, which included establishments with 10 or more employees, such as "shops." 

They also argued that a 2002 Circular issued by the Corporation further supported their claim. However, the Respondent argued that the 1976 notification did not apply to their laboratory, and it was only the 2007 government notification that brought medical institutions, including pathological laboratories, under the ambit of the Act.

The Apex Court, in its judgment, cited the 2007 notification as the determining factor for the applicability of the Act to pathological laboratories. The notification explicitly covered these establishments under the Act, and the respondent's laboratory, having employed 20 or more individuals, fell within its scope.

The Court rejected the ESI Corporation's contentions and affirmed the High Court's order, ruling that the respondent laboratory was indeed covered under the Act from 2007 onwards.

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