STATE OF BOMBAY Vs. GEOFFREY MANNERS AND CO

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal by the State of Bombay against an order of acquittal passed by the Chief Presidency Mag. acquitting the five accused who were charged with having committed offences under Sections 6 & 7, Indian Merchandise Marks Act, IV [4] of 1889 & under Sections 482, 486 & 497, I. P. C.

(2.) The prosecution case in brief was this There were originally five accused before the trial Ct. Accused 1 was a company going by the name of Geoffrey Manners & Co. having its office at Ballard Estate, Fort, Bombay. The other four accused were the directors of that company. Dr. Dhume, who is the Deputy Director of Industries, Bombay, was put on an inquiry on information received from the Rangoon Customs Authorities with respect to a product which was known as Anne French Cleansing Milk. Dr. Dhume purchased a bottle of this product from one Abbasbhai Akbarally. The bottle bore a green label with the following inscriptions:

(3.) The prosecution case was supported by the evidence of Dr. Dhume himself & by the evidence of Abbasbhai who had sold the articles to Dr. Dhume. From the evidence it is clear, & the point was admitted before the lower Court & has not been disputed before us, that the goods were in fact manufactured in India. In an appln. which was made by the accused to the Director of Industries, it has been clearly admitted that "the Anne French Cleansing Milk was manufactured in their factory at Cadell Road, Mahim from raw materials & that the bottle label & outer packings were also being manufactured in India, in other words the product as a whole was of Indian Manufacture." This was in pursuance of their appln. for being exempted from customs duties by reason of the fact that the articles were of Indian manufacture, & for this purpose a certificate was sought to be obtained from the Director of Industries. The appln. is Ex. A in this case. It is, therefore, perfectly clear that Anne French Cleansing Milk together with the bottle & the packing materials has in fact been manufactured in India. The question, therefore, arises as to what offence, if any, the accused have committed. The accused in their statements before the trial Ct. merely stated that they denied the charges & had nothing further to add. No evidence was led on their behalf. But in the course of the arguments, a suggestion was made by the counsel appearing on behalf of the accused that though the article was manufactured in India, the formula therefor was obtained from the Anne French Laboratories which are at 4, Old Bond Street, London, W. 1. It was also urged on behalf of the accused that in the returns which the accused had submitted to Govt. it had been made clear that the articles had been manufactured in India. The learned Mag., on the score of these arguments, held that there was no dishonest intention on the part of the accused & that they had in fact furnished to Govt. full & complete particulars of the place of origin & the manufacture of the Anne French Cleansing Milk. He, therefore, held that the conduct of the accused in furnishing particulars as frankly as they had done & their conduct throughout clearly exonerated them from any guilt. He accordingly accepted the defence of the accused & acquitted them of the charges which had been brought against them. It is against that order of acquittal that the State of Bombay has come in appeal. Notices of this appeal have not been served on accused 3 & 4 and the appeal has been heard only as against accused 1, 2 & 5.