Special Leave Petition Civil No 1743 of 1987
From the Judgment and Order dated 711
1986 of the Rajasthan high Court in SB Civil Misc
Appeal No 59 of 1980
WITH Civil Writ Petition No 197 of 1877 Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India
section Rangarajan BP Singh and Sanjay Parikh for the Peti tioner
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by VENKATARAMIAH J
The petitioner Ms Hindu Jea Band Jaipur which is a partnership firm carrying on the business of playing music on occasions such as marriages and other social functions questioned its liability to pay the contri bution under the provisions of the Employees  State Insur ance Act 1948 hereinafter referred to as the Act  in a petition filed under section 75 of the Act before the Em ployees  State Insurance Court Jaipur principally on two grounds i that the place where it was carrying on business was not a shop and ii that its business being one of intermittent or seasonal character the Act could not be extended to its business
The Employees  State Insurance Court rejected the petition filed by the petitioner and directed it to pay the amount which had been computed as the arrears by the Regional Director of the Employees  State Insurance Corporation Jaipur
An appeal filed against the decision of the Employees  State Insurance Court Jaipur by the petitioner was dismissed by the High Court of Rajasthan
This petition under Article 136 of the Constitution is filed against the judgment of the High Court
The petitioner has also filed a writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitu tion questioning the validity of sub section 5 of section 1 of the Act and the notification issued by the State Gov ernment under it to which reference will be made hereafter
The Act did not apply to shops and such other establish ments straight away on the Act coming into force in the State of Rajasthan
But by the notification dated September 20 1975 issued under subsection 5 of section 1 of the Act the Government of Rajasthan extended all the provisions of the Act to certain classes of establishments 380 and areas in the State notification
Item 3 iii in the Schedule to the said notification brought within the purview of the Act shops in which 20 or more persons had been em ployed for wages on any day of the preceding 12 months and appointed on October 26 1975 as the date from which the said notification would come into force
The petitioner as held by the Employees  State Insurance Court had employed 23 persons on wages during the relevant period
Since the petitioner did not comply with the provisions of the Act the authorities of the Employees  State Insurance Corporation Jaipur called upon the petitioner to make contributions as required by the Act with effect from October 26 1975
The petition before the Employees  State Insurance Court was filed by the petitioner on such a demand being made on it questioning the validity of the said demand
The first contention urged in support of the petition is that since the petitioner was not selling any goods in the place of its business but was only engaged in arranging for musical performances on occasions such as marriages etc
its business premises cannot be called a shop 
We do not agree with the narrow construction placed by the petitioner on the expression shop  which appears in the notification issued under section 15 of the Act which is a beneficient legis lation
The word shop  has not been defined in the Act
A shop is no doubt an establishment other than a factory to which the Act can be extended under section 15 of the Act provided other requirements are satisfied
In Collins Eng lish Dictionary the meaning of the word shop  is given thus i a place esp
a small building for the retail sale of goods and services and ii a place for the performance of a specified type of work workshop
 It is obvious from the above meaning that a place where services are sold on retail basis is also a shop
It is not disputed that the petitioner has been making available on payment of the stipulated price the services of the members of the group of musicians employed by it on wages
We therefore hold that the place where the petitioner has been carrying on business is a shop to which the Act is applicable by virtue of the notification referred to above
The first contention there fore fails
We do not find much substance in the second contention too
The fact that the services are rendered by the employ ees engaged by the petitioner intermittently or during marriages does not entitle the petitioner to claim any exemption from the operation of the Act
The petitioner cannot rely on sub section 4 of section 1 of the Act which refers to factories only in support of its case
We are concerned in this case with a shop and not a factory as defined under section 212 of the 381 Act
Moreover the services of the employees of the petition er are not confined only to marriages
It cannot also be said that marriages take place only during a specified part of the year
Nowa days marriages take place throughout the year
The petitioner provides music at several other social functions also which may take place during all seasons
The definition of an employee  under the Act has a wider mean ing
The employees who worked outside the business premises but those whose duties are connected with the business are also employees  within the meaning of section 29i of the Act
see Nagpur Electric Light  Power Co Ltd vs Regional Director Employees State Insurance Corporation Etc Even those employees who are paid daily wages or those who are part time employees are employ ees for purposes of the Act
Hence we do not find any merit in this special Leave Petition
The petition therefore fails and it is dismissed
Along with the Special Leave Petition the petitioner has presented before this Court a Writ Petition under Article 32 of the Constitution questioning the validity of the notifi cation issued by the State Government on the ground that the power conferred under the Act on the State Government by sub section 5 of section 1 authorising the State Govern ment to extend all or any of the provisions of the Act to other establishments in the State suffers from the vice of excessive delegation of essential legislative powers
It is also contended that the application of the Act to businesses like the one which is being carried on by the petitioner during certain seasons only of the year is violative of Article 14 Article 191g and Article 21 of the Constitu tion
Having carefully considered the submission made by the learned counsel for the petitioner we find no merit in any of the contentions urged in the writ Petition
The Writ Petition is also therefore dismissed
SR Petition dismissed


Summary:
All the provisions of the were extended with effect from 26101975 to certain classes of establishments and areas in the State of Rajas than by virtue of a Notification dated September 20 1975 issued under sub section 5 of section 1 of the Act
Item 3iii in the Schedule to the said Notification brought within the purview of the Act shops in which 20 or more persons had been employed for wages on any day of the pre ceding 12 months
Ms Hindu Jea Band Jaipur had employed 23 persons on wages during the relevant period but did not comply with the provisions of the Act
The demand made by the authori ties of the Employees  State Insurance Corporation to make contributions as required under the Act with effect from 26101975 was questioned by Ms Hindu Jea Band by a peti tion under section 75 of the Act before the Employees State Insurance Court on two grounds i that the place where it was carrying on business was not a shop and ii that its business being one of the intermittent or seasonal character of the Act could not be extended to its business
Having lost the case before the ESI Court and in appeal 378 before the High Court the petitioner has come in appeal before the Supreme Court
The petitioner also filed a writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution challenging the Notification as violative of Articles 14 191g and 21 of the Constitution and section 15 of the Act itself as suffering from the vice of excessive delegation of legis lative powers
Dismissing the petitions the Court HELD1
The place where the petitioner has been carry ing on business of making available on payment of the stipu lated price the services of the members of the group of musicians employed by it on wages is a shop to which the Act is applicable by virtue of the Notification dated 2091975 issued under section 15 of the Act which is a beneficient legislation
Though the word shop  has not been defined in the Act
a shop is no doubt an establishment other than a factory to which the Act can be extended under section 15 of the Act provided other requirements are satisfied
380D E 2
The fact that the services are rendered by the em ployees  engaged by the petitioner intermittently or during marriages does not entitle the petitioner to claim any exemption from the operation of the Act
as much as the place of business of the petitioner is a shop and not a factory as defined in section 212 and section 14 refers only to the factories
Further the services of the employees of the petitioner are not confined only to mar riages which now a days take place throughout the year but also to provide music at several other social functions also which may take place during all seasons
380G H 381A The definition of an employee under the Act has a wider meaning
The employees who worked outside the business premises but those whose duties are connected with the business are also employees  within the meaning of section 29i of the Act
Even these employees who are paid daily wages or those who are part time employees are employees for purposes of the Act
381B Nagpur Electric Light  Power Ltd vs Regional Director Employees State Insurance Corporation etc  referred to
The power conferred upon the State under section 15 does not suffer from the vice of excessive delegation of essential legislative powers
Nor does the application of the Act to businesses like the one which is being carried on by the petitioner cannot be said to be violative of Articles 14 or 191 g or section 21 of the Constitution
381D E 379