The dispute concerns the status and relationship of canteen workers employed in the Indian Overseas Bank Staff Canteen vis-à-vis the Bank. The canteen was initially run through a contractor but ... later transitioned to a Co-operative Canteen managed by Bank staff. The canteen's financial viability depended on the Bank's subsidies. When the Bank showed indifference to increasing subsidies, the canteen closed, leading to the termination of 33 canteen employees. The workers union raised an industrial dispute claiming that the canteen workers should be treated as employees of the Bank and restored to work. The Industrial Tribunal ruled in favour of the workers, but the High Court quashed this award, leading to the appeal before the Supreme Court.