- (1.)The petitioner who is a hotelier in Hiriyur was convicted by the magistrate of an offence punishable under S. 30(1) of the Mysore Shops and Commercial Establishments Act for disobedience to the provisions of S. 12(1) of that Act. The case of the prosecution was that the accused conducted the business in his hotel on 8 February, 1967 which was a weekly holiday for his hotel. The plea of the accused was that, although Wednesday was a notified weekly holiday for his hotel, there has been an alteration made by him in consequence of which Thursdays became weekly holidays and Wednesdays became working days. He asserted that intimation about this alteration was transmitted to the concerned labour inspector under S. 12(1) of the Act.
(2.)The magistrate was of the view that it was necessary for the petitioner to notify the inspector about the alteration he made, before he gave effect to the alteration. The magistrate thought that, since the petitioner was running his hotel on 8 February, 1967 and intimation about the alteration was not given to the labour inspector until 9 February, 1967, the alteration was not a permissible alteration.
(3.)It is clear that the magistrate was not right in taking this view. Section 12(1) reads :
"Every establishment shall remain closed for one day in the week. The employer shall fix such date at the beginning of the year, notify it to the inspector and specify it in a notice prominently displayed in a conspicuous place in the establishment. The employer shall not alter such date more often than once in three months, shall notify the alteration to the inspector, and shall make the necessary change in the notice in the establishment."

;