Delhi Shops and Establishments Act,1954 — Physical PDF page 20 of 27

or notices as may appear to him to be necessary for satisfying himself that the provisions of the
Act and of the Rules and of any order or notification issued by the Government under the Act, or
the Rules made thereunder are being properly observed and in particular shall satisfy himself that
the establishment is duly registered under the Act; that the registers, records and notices required
to be maintained or displayed under the Act or the Rules are properly maintained or displayed;
that the interval of rest and holidays required to be granted or observed under the Act are granted
and observed and the limits of hours of work and spread-over laid down under the Act are not
exceeded and that the provisions of the Act relating to the opening and closing hours are duly
observed; the provisions of the Act and the Rules relating to leave, cleanliness, precautions
against fire, payment for overtime, wages and other dues and the ones for dispensing with the
services are being observed and complied with.
     Clauses (a) and (b) of section 37 empower an Inspector to enter any place which is, or which
is being used as a shop or a commercial establishment and to make such examination of the
premises and of any prescribed registers, records and notice and take on the spot or otherwise
evidence of any person as he may deem necessary of carrying out the purposes of the Act.
Reading clauses (a) and (b) of the section it becomes clear that the powers contained in clause
(b) are to be exercised when the Inspector visits any shop or establishment and that they do not
contemplate an exercise of the powers outside the shop or establishment premises. Under clause
(b), he may examine the premises and so far as the prescribed registers, records and notices are
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concerned the only power he has is to require their production for examination on the spot. In
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other words, the examination of the prescribed records, registers and notices, etc., is to be made
on the premises and this inference is supported by the context. Evidently, the examination of the
premises as to opening and closing hours, displaying of prescribed notices, cleanliness,
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precautions against fire, etc., is to be made on the spot and the production of the other records
too, therefore, is intended to be made on the spot, that is, on the premises. So far as the taking of
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the statements of any person is concerned, they can be taken on the spot or otherwise, that is,
even outside the premises, which also indicates that where something was required to be done
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outside the premises, it was so stated specifically in the section. It is reasonable to infer,
therefore, that so far as the production of the registers is concerned, the same is to be done in the
premises and not outside, for else there would have been a similar provision in that regard also.
     Now apart from section 37 and having regard to section 35 and rule 14 themselves, the
demand for production of registers and other records is evidently not a demand for information as
contemplated by section 37 read with rule 14 and the said provisions do not empower the
Inspector to require the occupier of any shop or establishment to produce them in his office.
     For the foregoing reasons, it seems to be clear that a Labour Inspector has no power to call
upon the occupier of any shop or commercial establishment to produce the registers and other
documents at his office and thus the failure of an employer or occupier to comply with the notice
of the Inspector requiring him to produce the records in his office, shall not expose him to any
penalty.
(e) Principles to be applied for passing orders of sentence for breach of section 33 of the
Act
     In passing orders of sentence for breach of the conditions laid down by Delhi Shops and
Establishments Act, criminal courts must bear in mind the beneficient purposes which the
provisions of the Act are intended to serve. In other words, the sentence of fine to be imposed by
the Metropolitan Magistrate should not be unduly lenient. In one case, the sentence of fine of Rs.
10 imposed by the Magistrate was held to be unduly lenient and so, the sentence of fine was
enhanced to Rs. 30, i.e., three times of the punishment imposed by the trial courts; The State v.
Jamnadas Vasanji, AIR 1962 Guj. 234.
     34. Employer to furnish letters of appointment to employees.—The employer shall
furnish every employee with a letter of appointment. Such letters of appointment shall contain the
following and such other particulars as may be prescribed, namely:—
        (a) the name of employer.
        (b) the name, if any, and the postal address of the establishment.
        (c) the name, father’s name and the age of the employee.