FIDA HUSSAIN Vs. SARFARAZ HUSSAIN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This application raises the question of the legality of orders passed under Section 522, Criminal P.C., in the following circumstances: On the complaint of one Sarfaraz Hussain the petitioner was convicted on 22 August, 1932, by an Honorary Magistrate exercising 2nd Class powers, of offences under Secs.504 and 323, I.P.C. It was alleged that by means of assault and intimidation, petitioner Fida Hussain had dispossessed the complainant of certain immovable property.

(2.) The petitioner appealed from his conviction to the District Magistrate who, on 6 December 1932, upheld the conviction. The complainant moved the Honorary Magistrate on 12 December 1932, to pass an order under Section 522, Criminal P.C., to restore the complainant to possession of the immovable property. The Honorary Magistrate on this application passed an order on 20 December 1932, directing possession to be delivered accordingly. The petitioner moved the Subdivisional Officer against this order on 21 December, 1932, and the Subdivisional Officer called for the record under Section 435, Criminal P.C., and, on 9 January 1933, referred the case to the District Magistrate under Sub-section (2) of that section.

(3.) On the other hand the petitioner moved the High Court in revision against his conviction and sentence, but his application was rejected on 26 January 1933. The Additional District Magistrate, who heard the reference made by the Subdivisional Officer, was of opinion that the order of the Honorary Magistrate, dated 20 December 1932, was without jurisdiction as a period of nearly four months had elapsed between the Honorary Magistrate's judgment of conviction dated 22 August, 1932, and the passing of the subsequent order, whereas Section 522, Clause (1), Criminal P.C., as amended in 1923, gives the Court by whom a person is convicted power to pass an order: when convicting such person or at any time within one month from the date of the conviction