STATE OF MAHARASHTRA Vs. ISMAIL SHAKUR MORANI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an appeal by the State of Bombay from a judgment of the learned Presidency Magistrate, 10th Court, Andheri, acquitting the respondent Ismail Shakur Morani who was charged with having committed an offence under Section 5 (3) of the Indian Explosive Act read with Rule 81 of the Explosive Rules, 1940.

(2.) ON the 24th August, 1954 an explosion occurred in the Morani Fire Works at Andheri. Nineteen lives were lost as a result of the explosion. Several workers received injuries. One Nam-deo Dharma was also injured and his right leg had to be amputed. The respondent is the owner of this factory. He possessed two licences under the Indian Explosives Act. In this case we are concerned only with one of those licences. It was a licence for manufacturing, possessing and selling 200 lbs. of fire works at a time. This licence was dated the 12th May, 1947. It was renewable annually and it was valid up to the 31st March, 1955. In this case we are concerned with condition No. 11 of the licence, as the case of the State is that it was this condition whose provisions were contravened by the respondent. Now, condition No. 11 lays down :

(3.) BEFORE proceeding to deal with the facts of the case, I may conveniently set out at this stage the provisions of Section 5 (3) of the Indian Explosive Act, 1884. Sub-section (3) is a penal section and it provides, so far as is material to the present case, that a person who manufactures an explosive in contravention of the rules made under Section 5 shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees, or with both Rule 81 of the Explosives Rules, 1940 provides: