1. The petitioner claimed that he was a person employed' within the meaning of the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments Act, 1947, herein after referred to as the Act, with the Tamil Nadu Dairy Development Corporation, hereinafter referred to as the Corporation, as a Sales Assistant. There was an inspection of the depot in which the petitioner was working on 15th December, 1975 and he was found absent, leaving the transactions of the depot in charge of an outsider. On this basis, the petitioner's services were terminated on 29th December, 1975. The petitioner approached the third respondent under S. 41(2) of the Act. The Corporation put forth two contentions before the third respondent. One is, the services of the petitioner were governed by a contract, marked in the case as Ex. R. 1. and hence he cannot be deemed to be a 'person employed' within the meaning of the Act and the provisions of the Act would not apply to his case. The second contention is that the petitioner was, admittedly absent during the inspection on 15th December, 1975 and hence the Corporation was justified in terminating his services. The third respondent went into these questions and on the first contentio