India, Aug. 24 -- The Supreme Court's nine-judge Constitution Bench judgment on what constitutes an "industry" under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, raises an important question that the judgment itself does not answer with sufficient clarity: does the Chief Justice of India's reformulation of the 1978 Bangalore Water Supply test command a majority of the nine-judge bench?

The operative portion, read out on August 20, was understood as a 5:4 verdict, with CJI Surya Kant and justices Satish Chandra Sharma, Alok Aradhe, Vipul M Pancholi and PS Narasimha forming the majority on the need to refine the law. But the judgment released subsequently reveals a more complicated picture.

The CJI's opinion is expressly authored "on behalf of hims...