Nationalised banks are establishments under the Central Government and, therefore, exempted from the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments Act, 1947.

RAMANUJAM, J.

Since the points involved in all the writ petitions are the same, they are dealt with together. The petitioners in all these writ petitions are nationalised banks and the second respondent in each of the writ petitions is their employee and the first respondent in W.P. No. 956/79 is the Addl. Commissioner for Workmen's Compensation, Coimbatore, and the first respondent in the other writ petitions is the Addl. Commissioner for Workmen's Compensation, Madras, whose orders passed under s. 41 of the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments Act has been challenged in these writ petitions. As the facts are substantially the same in all the writ petitions, it is enough if the facts in the first writ petition, namely, W.P. No. 956/79, are dealt with in detail. The second respondent therein was employed as a clerk in the Coimbatore Branch of the Union Bank of India, the petitioner therein. Certain charges were framed against him by a memo dated 6th July, 1973, and after holding a domestic enquiry and after following the procedure set out in the Bipartite Settlement entered into between the Bank Employees' Federation and the bank management, he has been dismissed from service by an order of the management dated 8th December, 1974. This order was confirmed later on by the appellate authority of the bank, i.e., the managing director, by an order dated 24th July, 1975. Against the said order, the second respondent had preferred an appeal before the appellate authority constituted under the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments Act, 1947, and the same was taken on file as T.N.S.E. Case No. 11 of 76. In the counter-affidavit filed by the management before the appellate authority, the petitioner-bank had questioned the jurisdiction of the appellate authority to entertain the appeal on the ground that under s. 4(1)(c) of the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments Act, establishments under the Central and State Governments are totally exempted from the applicability of the Shops Act and that the petitioner-bank, constituted under the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970 (Central Act No. 5/70) (hereinafter referred to as "the 1970 Act"), being an establishment under the Central Govt., the appeal itself was not maintainable. On the said plea, arguments were heard by the appellate authority who ultimately held that the appeal is maintainable as the petitioner-bank is not an establishment under the Central Govt. as contended by the bank, by order dated January 25, 1979. Aggrieved by the said order of the appellate authority, the first respondent in the writ petition, the bank has approached this court for the issue of a writ of certiorari to quash the said preliminary order dated January 25, 1979.According to the petitioner, the appellate authority has erred in law in rejecting the preliminary objection as to the maintainability of the appeal and under s. 4(1)(c), the petitioner-bank, as an establishment under the Central Govt., will stand exempted from the provisions of the Shops Act and on a proper reading of the provisions of the Central Act 5 of 1970, the conclusion is inescapable that the corresponding new banks constituted under that Act are clearly establishments under the Central Govt. and consequently, fall outside the Shops Act in view of section 4(1)(c) of that Act. The reasoning given by the appellate authority that only establishments of the Central Govt. are exempted and not establishments under the control of the Central Govt. is erroneous. In any event, an analysis of the provisions of the Central Act 5 of 1970 would show that the ownership of the banks the administration and control of those banks and all their assets vested with the Central Govt. and that as such it will fall under the category of establishments under the Central Govt. referred to in s. 4(1) of the Shops Act. Thus, the main question for consideration is whether the nationalised banks, i.e., banks constituted under A