STATE Vs. ABDUL HAMID

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS appeal is brought against a judgment ef acquittal passed by a Magistrate of the First Class, Rohtak, dated the 26th June 1956, acquitting the respondents of an offence under the. Indian Passport Act, 1920, read with Rule6 of the Indian passport Rules, 1950.

(2.) THE respondents claim to be husband and Wife. They are Abdul Hamid, aged 25 years, a weaver, who claims to be a resident of Tanda (District Meerut), and mst. Latifan, who is a daughter of Asmail weaver and is aged 22 years and has been described as resident of Kirana in the district of Muzaffar Nagar (Uttar fradesh ). The question put to Abdul Hamid was that he was a national of Pakistan, having settled in Jhang Maghiana in West Punjab and that he had entered India without being in possession of a passport and had thereby contravened Rule 3 of the Indian Passport Rules, 1950, made under Section 3 of the Indian Passport rules, 1920 and had thereby committed an offence. His reply was that he never visited Pakistan, that he was "living in Tanda ana was an Indian national and that Latifan was his wife and was residing with him at purkhas where they had been residing for a month prior to the arrest. Mst. Latifan was similarly put this question and she stated that she originally belonged to tanda in the district of Meerut and had come to Purkhas about a month before the arrest. She abdul stated that she was married to the co-accused Abdul Hamid about the time of partition, i. e. , 1947, that, enc had never been to Pakistan, that her parents had migrated from Panipat to Maghiana in the district of Jhang in West pakistan and that they were Pakistan nationals. (His Lordship considered the evidence for prosecution and defence and continued :)

(3.) FROM this evidence it is clear that after the partition both the father of Latifan, i. e. , As-mail, and the father of Abdul Hamid went away to Pakistan. Both the accused at that time were minors of the ages of 15 and 12 and ordinarily they would have gone with their parents unless there is some evidence to show that they were left behind with some relations. There is no doubt that Latifan, who was of a very young age at the time of the partition, was in Pakistan througout till she by some means or another came away to this country. About Abdul Hamid also I hold that he did go to Pakistan at the age of 15 and was living there. He might or might not have come to this country occasionally is irrelevant to the issue because there is nothing to show that, after his migration with his father to Pakistan, he gave up his Pakistan nationality to come back to live in this country.