1. This revision petitioner was convicted of an offence under clauses 1 and 7 of R.16 read with R.18 of the Rules framed under S. 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 S. 2(16) of the Act, which is as follows: -
"'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 warehouses whether in the same premises or otherwise, used in connexion with such business but does not include a resta