LAWS(MAD)-1948-11-37

IN RE: MEDISETTI BENNIAH AND ANR. Vs. STATE

Decided On November 19, 1948
In Re: Medisetti Benniah And Anr. Appellant
V/S
STATE Respondents

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE same question arises for consideration in both these petitions. The petitioner was the village munsif of Pakalapadu. He was certainly not granted any licence; nor was he registered as a retail dealer of kerosene within the meaning of Rule 12 of the Madras Kerosene Control Order, 1945. C.W. 1 was the registered dealer for the supply of kerosene to the residents of the village of which the petitioner was the village munsif. The facts proved were that it was the practice in the villages to which C.W. 1 was expected to supply kerosene, for C.W. 1 to issue kerosene to the village munsifs ; and the village munsifs paid for the kerosene they took from C.W. 1. The village munsifs then distributed the kerosene to the individual villagers. On 18th December, 1946, C.W. 1 handed over to the petitioner seven tins of white kerosene and one tin of yellow kerosene. Under the orders promulgated by the District Magistrate, originally under Section 81(2) of the Defence of India Rules, he fixed the retail price of a bottle of kerosene at 2 annas 9 pies for superior kerosene and 2 annas six pies for inferior kerosene. On 31st January, 1947, the petitioner sold kerosene at 4 annas a bottle.

(2.) THE charge against the petitioner was that he sold kerosene in retail without a retail dealer's licence in contravention of Rule 12 of the Madras Kerosene Control Order and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 7 of the Essential Supplies (Temporary Powers) Act (XXIV of 1946). The other charge was that he sold kerosene at rates in excess of those prescribed by the Collector in his notification issued under the Defence of India Rules, Rule 81(2). The petitioner was convicted of these charges.

(3.) IN the definition of" essential commodity" in Section 2 of Act XXIV of 1946 kerosene as such was not included but petroleum and petroleum products were included. One of the contentions of the learned advocate for the petitioner was that kerosene could not be included within petroleum and petroleum products specified in Section 2 of the Act. Kerosene itself has not been defined nor mentioned in the Act, and in the absence of any statutory definition its ordinary meaning in English language will have to be taken. The Concise Oxford Dictionary gives the meaning of kerosene "lamp -oil obtained by distillation of petroleum and from coal and bituminous shale, paraffin". Even apart from that, it should be obvious that kerosene is a petroleum product, and so it comes within the scope of the definition of" essential commodity" in Section 2 of Act XXIV of 1946.