COURT ON ITS MOTION Vs. CHARAN SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Rupnagar decided case No. 76 of 1984 on 27th March, 1985, dictated the judgment in the presence of Hon'ble Mr. Justice I.S. Tiwana, who was inspecting his Court on that day. He acquitted respondent Charan Singh of the charge under section 61(1)(a) of the Excise Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act) on the ground that no cognizance under sections 61 and 66 of the Act could be taken by a Judicial Magistrate on a report submitted by the police official in view of the provisions of section 75(1) of the Punjab Excise Act, 1914. The learned Magistrate took that view on the basis of a single Bench decision of this Court reported as Basti Ram v. State of Haryana (1985 (1) C.L.R. 382: 1985 (1) Recent CR 377. The inspecting Judge issued suo moto notice in exercise of revisional power of this Court and also directed the revision to be admitted to a Division Bench by his reference order dated 11th April, 1985 and that is how this revision petition is before us.

(2.) IT deserves to be mentioned at the very outset that the view expressed by the learned single Judge in Basti Ram's case (supra) runs counter to the view authoritatively taken by this Court since almost the year 1900 onwards as would be presently shown.

(3.) THE learned Judge who decided Basti Ram's case (supra) proceeded on the untenable assumption that a Police Officer could not be an excise officer, and a Judicial Magistrate could take cognizance of an offence under section 61 of the Act, inter alia, on a report of an excise officer only in view of the provision of section 75(1) of the Act.