Judgment :- 1. The Tailors of Thiruvambady are before Court. They feel aggrieved by the imposition of licence fee by the Panchayat. 2. It is not disputed that the Panchayat Bye-laws enable the levy of the licence fee. Those bye-laws have the approval of the Director; and were published in the Gazette dated 14-8-1984. Entry 111(16) relates to tailoring shops. Those with two machines have to pay Rs. 20/- as licence fee; when the machines are more in number, the fee is Rs. 35/-. 3. One of the petitioners, presumably on behalf of the association of tailors, sought exemption from the licence fee. That was rejected under Ext. P2 reply dated 17-8-1984. When coercive proceedings commenced, the petitioners approached this Court. 4. In proceedings under Art.226 of the Constitution, this Court can ordinarily consider only basic and fundamental challenges. Factual issues have to be agitated along the hierarchy of authorities provided under the Kerala Panchayats Act. 5. The basic issue agitated in the original petition is that the bye-law enabling the licence fee on tailoring shops is ultra vires of the Act and the Rules. That has to be examined in the backdrop of the relevant provisions of the Act and the Rules. 6. S.96 empowers the Panchayat to insist on a licence to be taken by a person who intends to deal with any dangerous or offensive purposes as indicated in that section. The section contemplates Rules to be framed by the Government in that behalf. Rules have been so framed by the Government, the Kerala Panchayat (Licensing of Dangerous and Offensive Trades and Factories) Rules, 1963. R.3 refers to the schedule detailing the purposes which are likely to be offensive or dangerous to human life or health or property. The schedule contains an imposing array of items starting from'aerated waters' and ending with'Yarn-dyeing'. Many entries may not, under ordinary notions, be dangerous or offensive to human life, health or property; biscuits and bread, candies, carpets and cashew nuts, meat or molasses, sugar or sweet meats, silk or soap, and the like. Yet it is for the Government to enumerate various items under S.96. There is no challenge to R.3 or the schedule. 7. The petitioners contend that item 111(16) in the bye-law, would not be covered by any of the entries in the schedule. Yet it is for the Government to enumerate various items under S.96. There is no challenge to R.3 or the schedule. 7. The petitioners contend that item 111(16) in the bye-law, would not be covered by any of the entries in the schedule. This contention had necessarily to encounter entries 37 and 107 of the schedule which respectively deal with, among other things, "manufacturing by any process whatever", of cotton or of silk. Could it be said that no manufacturing process whatever takes places in a tailoring establishment having two machines? 8. The answer calls for an advertence to the concept of 'manufacturing' as understood in law and the tailor's activities as gatherable from diverse sources of information. 9. The concept of a manufacturing process has now been discussed by judicial decisions in diverse contexts. Even in relation to embroidery and allied activities in relation to cloth, this Court had expressed its views in Mis. Radha's Fancy Piece Goods Merchants v. State of Kerala, ILR 1982 (1) Kerala 193. A recent decision is that reported in Empire Industries Ltd., v. Union of India, 1985 (3) SCC 314. Perhaps the latest one as on today may be Sterling Foods v. The State of Karnataka & Ann, reported in one of the latest legal publications 'judgments Todays 1986 SC 155'. It is unnecessary to have a detailed reference to all the discussions and the decisions so available in general profusion. It is sufficient to approach the question on hand bearing in mind the relevant principles. 10. Now to Tailor's shop. 11. There are thick layers of social history, when one lifts the veil of the garment making industry. Modern damsels are no longer satisfied with barks of trees as did the shining Shakunthala, in days of old. Nor are now people satisfied with the skins of animals, which in some climates were used essentially to keep them warm. From the loin clothes of Egypt 5000 years ago to the bikkinis in the busy beaches is a long period of history. Minoans, the pre-bistoric people (between 2000 and 1500 BC) were reputedly experts in sewing and tailoring. Their statue of snake goddess wears a bodice to show off her slender figure. From the loin clothes of Egypt 5000 years ago to the bikkinis in the busy beaches is a long period of history. Minoans, the pre-bistoric people (between 2000 and 1500 BC) were reputedly experts in sewing and tailoring. Their statue of snake goddess wears a bodice to show off her slender figure. The 'Chiton' of Greeks, the himation of their women and older men, the 'Toga' of the Remans, the 'stola' of Roman women, and the Chinese dress with different patterns of embroidery (the wild bird showing a civil servant and a wild animal, a soldier or sailor), the 'kaza' and 'kimono' of Japan, the sari of the Indian woman (C.F. Andrews referred to it as the grace of the Indian woman's dress, a true symbol of her inner character and spirit) and the sarong of Far East, are only some among the multitudinous varieties of dress which mankind has sewn all through these ages. The jeans and jackets, the breeches and the braziers, the smocks and the skirts all pass through the tailor's hands. 12. The tailor's job has varied from time to time, with changing fashions. Very many imponderable factors have affected the fashions. 13. The women in England bad dresses snort and straight in the 1920s. There was a change to the plain and business like dresses between 1939 and 1945 when everyone was working for the war effort and when material was scarce. With the'New Look' of the peaceful times thereafter, women began to wear clothes with tight waists and long full-skirts. And like that in every other country. These are not times when the fashion slowly percolates from the Paris show to other parts of the world. It spreads with much speed; and people anywhere, whether in Tahiti or in Thiruvambady, catch up with current fashions. The smart tailor, closely follows the fashion and makes or mars his business according to the soundness of his judgment. 14. Simple clothes no doubt, "are always right at any age, for any type and for any occasions": but even in India, where Mahatma Gandhi lived and died, everyone is not that simple. "Elaborate clothes can be smart, if they are well designed, and made and worn by the right person at the right time." Many yearn to have the elaborate apparel, feeling that he is the right person and is having the right time. "Elaborate clothes can be smart, if they are well designed, and made and worn by the right person at the right time." Many yearn to have the elaborate apparel, feeling that he is the right person and is having the right time. And that makes the Tailor's business thrive. 15. Changes have been revolutionary in the mechanics of dress making. As with the appearance, so with the machines, One need not now tarry long with the nimble finger and the thimble. Machines invented about 1755 were developed to considerable efficiency when the first singer machine worked by a treadle with the foot, got into the market. "The present-day sewing machine is much more automated, catering for such sewing techniques as buttonholing, sewing on buttons and special flexible stitching suited to new man-made stretch fabrics." Multi-needle version of lockstitch and chain-stitch machines are used now. Sewing machines today use over 2,000 techniques for specific operators. It is with these mechanical gadgets that the modern tailor works in his field. 16. Every activity of the tailor has its manual and mechanical aspects. The cloth has to be cur, having in mind the pattern presented by the customer. That is not an easy job. You have to mark out many things. You have to take into account the shape of the dress. Then comes stitching at the seams and at the sleeves, and at many other places. There are many fasteners for the clothes: Buttons and buttonholes, hooks and eyes, press studs or zib fasteners. Many kinds of buttonholes are there including the "worked and bound." In relation to all activities, meticulous attention and careful handling are necessary. One has to pin and tack the seams, match the notches as given in the pattern, make 'gathers' or 'pleats' at the waist, turn up the hem, tack it and finish it using hem stitch, and do many such things, even before a simple skirt is made. Activities increase in more complicated garments. The totality of these activities, necessarily add up to a manufacturing process, between the time the customer hands over a piece of cloth with necessary instructions on the fashions and patterns, and the time he takes delivery of the finished garment. It was sometimes said that apparel makes the man. The man who makes the apparel is important that way too; and he is one engaged in a manufacturing process. It was sometimes said that apparel makes the man. The man who makes the apparel is important that way too; and he is one engaged in a manufacturing process. The finishing touch makes all the difference. The tailor should not forget that the dress has to be pressed before it is packed in a comely cover to the eager customer. 17. As for the Kerala State, tailors' activities had a massive increase in its volume with social upheavals and revolutions. Time was not too remote when many did not have the inclination, and some, at any rate did not have the right, to cover the upper part of their body frame. When in 1498 the Portugese arrived at Calicut, the anonymous eye-witness in Gama's ship described the people thus: They go naked down to the waist, covering their lower extremities with very fine cotton stuffs. But it is only the most respectable who do this, for the others manage as best as they are able." (emphasis supplied). (See "Sail the Indian Sea" by Vincent Jones, Page 74.) As for the Travancore area of the State, the women in the backward communities did cot have the right to wear upper garments. The Government had even issued orders that any attempt on the part of the women of the lower strata to cover their breast would be punishable under law. The Royal Proclamation of 1829 enabled only the Christian converts to have the privilege of wearing an upper garment. Another proclamation had to be promulgated in 1860 to extend that benefit to such women who still remain unconverted into Christianity. Finally it required organised resistance to establish such a right. By the dawn of the 20th century, the women of the backward sections finally established the right to stitch and use a blouse or a bodice like their sisters in the higher social strata. The progress in the society and that which has taken place in the post-constitutional period, has made most of the people dress conscious. And with that, the demand for the tailor's expertise had manifold increase. 18. A tailor may not be a mere manufacturer. There is an artistic additive to his product. There is a conscious endeavour to convert a plain piece of cloth into an attractive attire. The process involves intensive and imaginative activity coupled with aesthetic sense and artistic touch. And with that, the demand for the tailor's expertise had manifold increase. 18. A tailor may not be a mere manufacturer. There is an artistic additive to his product. There is a conscious endeavour to convert a plain piece of cloth into an attractive attire. The process involves intensive and imaginative activity coupled with aesthetic sense and artistic touch. The garment as it comes out from the tailor's shop, should suit the face, and add to the grace of the wearer. It must fit in with the person and his purse. It must pay attention to the current fashion. In a sense, the sartorial finesse transforms what is otherwise a drab piece of cloth into an enchanting dress, pleasing to the persons who wear it and to those who gaze at the wearers. 19. It is difficult to conceive now of a tailoring establishment, without that little machine Singers or Merritts or of Usha. Many establishments do have other mechanical gadgets too. Only those having two or more machines are subject to licence fee. These establishments, indubitably come within the definition of establishments where manufacturing processes take place. 20. In that view of the matter, the larger contention has to fail. 21. The writ petition therefore fails and it is accordingly dismissed.