Liability for unregistered retail business applies only to the actual dealer, not a servant lacking control of the business.

Penal liability for operating a retail business without a registration certificate attaches only to the person who actually carries on business as a retail dealer. The statutory scheme distinguished a retail dealer from a servant or salesman, and the rule on business after a dealer's death did not convert an employee into a dealer. On the facts, control of the business had passed to the deceased dealer's son, while the applicant merely worked as a servant and rendered accounts under another's control. He could not therefore be treated as carrying on the retail business or prosecuted for contravention of the Act; the conviction and sentence were set aside and any fine was to be refunded.

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Issues: Whether a shop assistant or servant, acting under the control of the proprietor's successor, could be treated as a retail dealer carrying on business without a registration certificate and therefore be liable under the Act.

Analysis: The penal liability under Section 6, as enforced through Section 7, attached to the person who actually carried on business as a retail dealer. The scheme of the Act and the rules distinguished a retail dealer from a servant or salesman employed by him. Rule 11 dealt with the liability of the person carrying on the retail business after the dealer's death, but it did not convert a mere employee into a dealer. On the findings recorded, control of the business had passed to the deceased dealer's son, and the applicant acted only as a servant rendering accounts and working under another's control. A person in that position could not be treated as carrying on the retail business within the meaning of the Act.

Conclusion: The applicant was not a retail dealer and could not be prosecuted for contravention of the Act as a mere servant.

Final Conclusion: The conviction and sentence were set aside, and the fine was ordered to be refunded if paid.

Ratio Decidendi: Penal liability for carrying on business without a registration certificate under this regulatory scheme falls only on the person who ially carries on business as a retail dealer, not on a mere servant or salesman lacking control of the business.

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