An accident can be said to arise out of and in the course of employment only if there is a causal connection between the employment and the accident, and the risk of the accident is incidental to the employment as distinguished from a risk to which all members of the public are alike exposed.

P. RAMACHANDRA RAJU, J.

( 1 ) THE appellant in this Civil miscellaneous Appeal is the proprietor of Asoka Talkies, Rajahmundry, against whom the Commissioner for workmen s compensation. Visakhapatnam, passed an order directing him to deposit a sum of rs. 7,000/- as compensation payable to the dependants of one Y. Papa Rao. who happened to die due to an accident while in the employment of the appellant as asst. Manager of the Asoka Talkies. The respondent herein, viz. the wife of the deceased Y. Papa Rao, filed application under Section 22 of the Workmen s compensation Act, 1923 claiming compensation of a sum of Rs. 7,000 - alleging that the death of her husband was due to an accident arising out of and in the course of employment with the appellant.

( 2 ) THE hours of work of Y. Papa rao at the Talkies at the relevant time were from 5 p. m. till I a. m. with an interval of one hour between 8. 30 and 9. 30 p. m. On t. e date of the occurrence, as usual he left Asoka Talkies at 8. 30 p. m. and went home to take his food. On his way back to the Talkies at about 9. 30 p. m. after starting from his house while he was walking in a public street and covered only a short distance from his house, one Syed Kamaluddin stabbed him. When Papa Rao raised cries, his wife and others rushed there and he was taken to the Government Hospital. But he died on the way even before he was taken to the Hospital. Kamaluddin was prosecuted and he was convicted for the offence of murder.

( 3 ) THE allegations made in the application are that Kamaluddin was in the habit of purchasing cinema tickets in bulk and selling them in black market and the deceased in his capacity as Assistant manager of thetaklies did not allow him to do so, Kamaluddln was also running an illicit arrack shop by the side of the asoka Talkies. There was a raid on the shop by the Excise people three or four days prior to the accident and Kamalud- din suspected that the said raid was conducted at the instance of the deceased. On these allegations the application claiming compensation was filed.

( 4 ) IT is provided under Sec. 3 of the Workmen s Compensation Act that if personal Injury is caused to a workman by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment, his employer shall be liable to pay compensation. According to the definition of "establishment" as defined under Sec 2 (10) of the Andhra Pradesh Shops and Establishments Act, 1966, a theatre or any place of public entertainment is an Establishment. Therefore Y. Papa Rao was an employee to whom the A. P, Shops and establishments Act applied. It is provided under Sec. 66 of the Shops and Establishments act that the provisions of the workmen s Compensation Act, 1923 and the rules thereunder shall so far as they may be apply to every employee to whom the Act applies. Therefore, the provisions of the Workmen s Compensation act were also applicable to the deceased y. Papa Rao. Therefore, If the accident in which the death of Y. Papa Rao occurred had taken place as provided under section 3 of the Workmen s Compensation Act as arising out of and in the course of his employment, the employer, viz, the appellant would be liable to pay the compensation.

( 5 ) IF the appellant is liable to pay the compensation, the quantum of it is not in dispute. But the case of the appellant is that the accident in which the death of Y. Papa Rao took place did not arise out of and in the course of his employment and therefore he is not liable to pay compensation. Therefore the only question for consideration is whether, in the circumstances of the case, it can be said that the accident in which the death of Y. Papa Kao took place has arisen out of and in the course of his employment with the appellant.

( 6 ) TO bring the case under Sec. 3 of the Workmen s Compensation Act the circumstances relied on by the respondent are that on that day having attended to his work in the Talkies T. Papa Rao went home only to take his food during the interval

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