ABDUL HAKIM Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The applicant, who has been convicted under Section 12 of the Press and Registration of Books Act, is the manager, printer and proprietor of Asrar Karimi Press in Allahabad. Aman Ullah applicant in the companion case has been convicted through the same judgment under Section 7 of the Copyright Act and Section 12 of the Press and Registration of Books Act.

(2.) In 1944-45 a firm in Allahabad, known as Rai Saheb Ram Dayal Agarwala, carrying on the business of publishing, printing and selling books, got a series of books known as Abr-e-Rahmat compiled by one Khan Saheb Chhotey Khan and got them approved by the Islamia Maktab Committee of Uttar Pradesh for use in Islamia Maktabs in the State. The series consists of a primer called Abr-e-Rahmat Primer and three volumes called Abr-e-Rahmat I, Abr-e-Rahmat II and Abr-e-Rahmat III. Chhotey Khan transferred his copyright in the series to the firm which now holds absolute copyright in it. The series was printed in Shanti Press at Allahabad, the manager of which is Habib Ullah. In May, 1955, Habib Ullah came across a primer of the same series published by the applicant in the companion case as proprietor of Kutubkhana Islamia and asked him how he published it. The applicant apologised and surrendered to him all copies of the spurious primer. Subsequently he published another series of books called Rahmat e-Islam consisting of four volumes, one called Rah-mat-e-lslam Primer and the remaining called Rah-mat-e-lslam I, Rahmat-e-Islam II and Rahmat-e-Islam III. The contents of the primer and of each of the three volumes were almost the same as those of the Abr-e-Rahmat series. The Rahmat-e-lslam series was of the same design and get-up as the Abr-e-Rahmat series and the arrangement of the lessons was exactly the same. This series was printed at Asrar Karimi Press of the applicant. Habib Khan purchased Rahmat-e-Islam Vols. I, II and III from Aman Ullah and then a search was made of the Asrar Karimi Press from which vendlike forms and printed material of Rahmat-e-lslam series were recovered, and of the Kutubkhana Islamia from where printed copies of the series were recovered. In the Rahmat-e-lslam primer the title of the primer is given as "Abr-e-Rahmat" and though it was published by Aman Ullah and printed in Asrar Karimi Press the cover contains the imprint that it was printed by K.B. Agarwal at Shanti Press and was published by R.S. Ram Dayal Agarwal. All the lessons of the Abr-e-Rahmat are copied out in the spurious primer. Rahmat-e-Islam Vol. I is almost a copy of Abr-e-Rahmat Vol. I. The outer cover of Rahmat-e-lslam II is an exact copy of the outer cover of Abr-e-Rahmat II, while the inner cover contains the name "Rahmat-e-lslam" and most of the lessons are practically the same as in Abr-e-Rahmat II, the outer cover of Rahmat-e-Islam III bears the name "Abr-e-Rahmat" while the inner cover bears the name "Rahmat-e-Islam'', and its contents are exact reproduction of the contents of Abr-e-Rahmat III with or without minor variations.

(3.) Aman Ullah has been convicted by the Courts below under Section 7 of the Indian Copyright Act and both the applicants have been convicted under Section 12 of the Press and Registration of Books Act. The conviction under the Press and Registration of Books Act is based upon the fact that the primer of the Rahmat-e-Islam series does not bear the names of the printer and the publisher.