Question

Apply the legal principles to the facts given below and select the most appropriate answer:

Legal Principles:
1. Vicarious liability is when employers are held liable for the torts of their employees that are committed during the course of employment.
2. A servant is a person subject to the command of his master as to the manner in which he shall do his work. The question of whether a person is an employee depends upon the degree of control which the ‘employer’ exercises over the worker.

Facts: 
Raja is a travel agent and possessed certain houses, which had an internal communication throughout, and which were used for the purposes of his business. Ramesh looked after the houses and lived in them for this purpose, but he was also a clerk in the Raja’s pay at a set annual salary. He lived in the houses with his wife, a child, and a servant. The case concerned the payment of inhabited house duty. There was a statutory exemption for premises which were occupied by a "servant”or person occupying the premises “for the protection thereof. Raja was claiming the exemption from tax liability by claiming that Ramesh was the servant. Decide whether Ramesh was a servant or an independent contractor?

पर्याय

• Ramesh is not a servant as the premises were held purely for trade purposes, and Ramesh’s position was simply that of a caretaker.

• Ramesh earned a salary per annum in his separate role as a clerk and merely enjoyed residence of the building with his family members. Thus, he is an employee of the building owner for tax purposes.

• Ramesh is a servant as a servant is a person subject to the command of his master as to the manner in which he shall do his work.

• Ramesh is a servant as Raja can control his work of caretaker of the building as well as his job of clerk.

Answer 1

Ramesh is not a servant as the premises were held purely for trade purposes, and Ramesh’s position was simply that of a caretaker.

Explanation:

Ramesh is not a servant and the houses he lived in were used for the purpose of Raja’s business.  Therefore, the houses cannot be exempted from statutory duties.