labourlaw
Reetu Dwivedi
(Querist) 13 December 2010
This query is : Resolved
Just wanted to know if opening of Lawyers office requires Shop Act registration in Pune. My bank wants to know this.
R.Ramachandran
(Expert) 13 December 2010
Dear Ms. Surya,
Even the professional establishments like lawyer's office fall under Shop & Establishment Act and therefore would require registration.
However, there are specific exceptions provided in certain State Laws. For instance in New Delhi, there is a specific Notification under Delhi Shops and Establishment Act, 1954 completely exempting the Lawyer's office from the application of the provisions of the said Act.
Therefore, please check up in the Shop and Establishment Act applicable to Pune and find out whether there is any exception.
Praveen Kumar Tewari
(Expert) 13 December 2010
Neither Delhi nor Uttar Pradesh Shops and Establishment Act completely exempts the Lawyer's office under the provisions of the said Act. But applicability of said act in Pune please confirm detail from Labor Office, of Pune.
R.Ramachandran
(Expert) 13 December 2010
Dear Mr. Praveen,
Under Delhi Shops and Establishment Act, 1954, there is a notification exempting Lawyer's office from the application of the Act.
Reetu Dwivedi
(Querist) 14 December 2010
Hear all,
Thanks foe replies.I tried to collect the information regarding this and came to know that Lawyers office can not come under S & E.
The firm of Lawyers is not a Commercial Establishment. Sasidharan v. Peter and Karunakar, (1984) 65 FJR 374 (SC), the question for decision before the Supreme Court was whether the office of a lawyer or of a firm of lawyers is or is not a commercial establishment within the meaning of the Shops and Commercial Establishments Act. The SC held that it does not require any strong argument to justify the conclusion that the office of a lawyer or a firm of lawyers is not a ‘shop’.
In National Union of Commercial Employees v. Industrial Tribunal, (1962) 22 FJR 25, the Court held that the services rendered by a firm of solicitors were only in the individual capacity of the partners and very dependent on their professional equipment, knowledge and efficiency. A profession is practiced without any underlying profit motive. What a practicing professional renders to his clients is his services essentially based on his qualification, personal skill and intellectual capacity. Earning of fees is considered only an incidental part. So a lawyers firm is not a shop.
A lawyer who carries on his profession as an advocate cannot come in the definition of an “employer” in sec 2 (7) of Act Sakharam Vs City of Nagpur Corporation (65 BOM IR627)
