RAMESHCHANDRA RAMCHANDRA Vs. EMPEROR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner Rameshchandra was convicted by the learned Chief Presidency Magistrate, Bombay, of an offence under Section 18 (1), Press (Emergency Powers) Act XXIII (23) of 1931, for "making" a pamphlet called 'Operation Asylum' sometime in the year 1946, and he was sentenced to refer rigorous imprisonment for a period of three months. The petitioner has come to this Court in revision against the order of conviction and sentence.

(2.) It is admitted that the petitioner was the author of the pamphlet in question. Section 18 (1), Press (Emergency Powers) Act, 1931, provides:

(3.) But Mr. Javeri on behalf of the petitioner has contended, firstly, that the document in question is a book within the meaning of Section 2 (i) of the Act, and that the petitioner satisfied all the requirements relating to publication of books provided in the Act. He has farther contended that a substantial part of this publication was already published in other newspapers and was a matter of common knowledge, and even events which were sought to be presented as contemporaneous were events which had transpired a considerable time before the publication of this pamphlet and were matters which were commonly known and had already been published in various newspapers. And from this Mr. Javeri has argued that if the information which was presented related to events which were matters of common knowledge or matters which had been published in other newspapers, the document could not be said to be a news-sheet, because there was no novelty about the information and that it would be a book under Section 2 (i) of the Act, and that consequently the petitioner was not liable to be punished under Section 18 (1) of the Act.