Offices of the State Government are exempted from the operation of the Rajasthan Shops & Commercial Establishments Act, 1958, under Section 3, and authorities under the Act have no jurisdiction to entertain applications for relief under Section 28-A from employees of such offices.

1. - In all these petitions, the petitioner i.e. The Sriganganagar Sugar Mills Ltd., Sriganganagar has challenged various orders made by the authorities under the Rajasthan Shops & Commercial Establishments Act, 1958. All petitions have been made under Section 28-A of that Act given by different employees for different reliefs. However, one common question arises in all these petitions and on the decision of that question the fate of all these cases lies. All these petitions are being decided by this common order as the question is common to all and the jurisdictional question comes to the root of all the matters.

2. The relationship of master and servant between the petitioner and the respondent is not disputed. That the respondents are employees of the petitioner Sugar Mills is not disputed. That particular 'workman' as contemplated by the Industrial Disputes Act or some other beneficial Legislation cannot be disputed. The only question which arise in these cases for adjudication is whether under the provisions of the Rajasthan Shops & Commercial Establishments Act, 1958, the relief claimed by the respondents can be granted by the authorities under Section 28-A of that Act when by reason of Section 3 the Establishment of the petitioner is exempted from the operation of the Act itself.

3. Mr. D.S. Shishodia, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner submitted that a bare perusal of the provisions of Section 3 would bear out the contention. He pointed out by relying on the definition of the words 'Commercial Establishments & Shops' in the said Act, and claimed that the petitioner Mills is certainly an Establishment or Office or Undertaking of the Government entitled to the exemption contemplated by Section 3 of the Act.

4. Opposing these submissions, it was stated by the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondents that on the plain reading of Section 3 of the Act what is exempted from the operation of the Act is Offices of the Central or State Government and not a Commercial Establishment established by the State Government.

5. In order to appreciate the rival contentions, it would be better to take into consideration the several provisions of law quoted to this issue. Section 2(3) of the Rajasthan Shops & Commercial Establishments Act, 1958 hereinafter referred to as the Act reads thus:

"Section 2(3) "commercial establishment" means a commercial or trading or banking or insurance establishment, an establishment or administrative service in which the persons employed are mainly engaged in office work, a hotel, a restaurant, boarding or eating house, cafe or any other refreshment house, a theatre or any other place of public amusement or entertainment and includes every such establishment as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare to be a commercial establishment for the purposes of this Act;"
Section 2(7) defines "establishment" to mean an establishment or a commercial shop. A shop is defined in Section 2(17) to mean thus:

"2(17) "shop" means any premises where any trade or business is carried on or where services are rendered to customers, and includes offices, store-rooms, godowns or ware-houses, whether in the same premises or otherwise, used in connection with such trade or business but does not include a commercial establishment or a shop attached to a factory where the persons employed in the shop are allowed the benefits provided for workers under the Factories Act, 1948 (Central Act LXIII of 1948);

6. Provisions of Section 3 requires notice:

"3. Exemption, -- (1) Nothing in this Act shall apply to--

a) offices of or under the Central or any State Government or local authorities;

b) offices of the Reserve Bank of India;

c) establishments for the treatment of the care of the infirm, or the mentally unfit;

d) persons whose work is inherently intermittent such as travellers or caretakers;

e) fairs or bazars for sale of work for charitable or other purposes from which no