IN RE: CHANDRASEKARAN Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS revision petitioner was convicted of an offence under Clauses 1 and 7 of Rule 16 read with Rule 18 of the Rules framed under Section 49 (1) of the Madras Shops and Establishments Act (XXXVI of 1947), and sentenced to a fine. The matter comes before us on a reference by Ramaswami J. who felt that an important point was involved, namely, whether the small unit set up by the lorry company in this case for the servicing of their vehicles could be properly designated as a "shop" or "commercial establishment" within the ambit of the Act.

(2.) WE might immediately set forth here the definition of "shop" occurring in Section 2(16) of the Act, which is as follows: -

(3.) THE point would appear to be fairly clear, even from a prima facie scrutiny of the definition that we have extracted above. As the learned Public Prosecutor argues, the words "trade or business" have to be interpreted in a fairly wide sense, and would include any business, as distinct from an avocation or profession carried on for profit, and any subsidiary part of such business which is integrally related to the main business itself. Adopting this reasoning, a premises devoted to the repair of these transport vehicles would certainly be a place where a portion of the main business of employing transport vehicles for passenger traffic is being conducted.