RAJJAB ALI Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS criminal revision arises out of the following facts : The petitioner Rajab Ali alias Khunnoo obtained a Pakistani Passport No. 291171 dated September 20, 1954 and an Indian Visa No. 53680 dated September 23, 1954 and entered India. He reported his arrival at P, S. Safipur, in the district of Unnao and stayed in India. The period of the Visa expired on December 22, 1954. He got his departure noted at the police station indicating that he was leaving India for Pakistan. However, no report was received from any border check post that he had actually left India and entered Pakistan and, therefore, the Intelligence became vigilant in locating his presence. The Station Officer, Police Station Safipur received information on May 20, 1965 that the petitioner was present at the shop of one Umaid Ali at Safipur and went and arrested him. The case thereafter was registered and investigated, resulting in the prosecution of the petitioner under Section 14, Foreigners Act, for contravention of paragraph 7 of the Foreigners Order, 1948. The petitioner pleaded that he was an Indian citizen; that he had not obtained any Pakistani Passport or Indian Visa; that he was not a Pakistani national; and that he had not entered India on the basis of any passport or Visa.

(2.) THE trial was held before the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Safipur who ordered the acquittal of the petitioner on June 7, 1966. No appeal or revision was filed by the State against this order of acquittal and consequently it became final. The State Government passed an order Gre (Police-Gha-2) No. 444 Gha/8-Gha-2-88 D/65 dated February 26, 1970 under Section 3 (2) (c), Foreigners Act requiring the petitioner to depart from India within 24 hours and when this order was not complied with by the petitioner, a case was registered and investigated and resulted in his prosecution under Section 14, Foreigners Act for breach of that order.

(3.) THE petitioner made an application, even before the submission of the charge sheet on November 26, 1970 for dropping the prosecution on the ground that the principle of autre fois acquit enjoined in Section 403 Code of Criminal Procedure, was a bar to his subsequent trial under Section 14, Foreigners Act after his acquittal for the same offence on the same facts. This plea was negatived by the City Magistrate on January 7, 1971 and on revision by the Sessions Judge on May 15, 1972. It is in these circumstances that the petitioner has come up in revision to this Court seeking its intervention for quashing those orders. No prayer, has been made for quashing the proceedings as such under Section 561-A of the Code of Criminal Procedure.