AMERAJ SINGH Vs. EMPEROR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an application in revision against the conviction of one Ameraj under Section 193 of the Indian Penal Code. He has been ordered to undergo 18 months rigorous imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs. 300,

(2.) Several points have been urged in revision, but none of them except one appears to carry any weight. The single point that does carry weight is this.

(3.) The applicant, on the 9 of November, 1922, made a statement on oath that a certain person bearing the name of Radhe Mohan was his father's brother. This statement is supposed to be false, nay, it has been established clearly that this statement was false. Sanction to prosecute the applicant for having made this false statement was obtained on the 1 of June, 1923. The proceedings, however, were not started against the applicant till the 31 of October, 1923. In the meantime, Act XVIII of 1923 had come into force on the 1 of September, 1923. The change that was effected in Section 195 of the Criminal Procedure Code was this. The procedure of grant of sanction to private parties to prosecute was abrogated. Instead, it was enacted that no Court should take cognizance of a certain class of offences except on the complaint in writing of a public servant. It is contended, therefore, that a prosecution which was launched on the 31 of October, 1923 was launched in the teeth of the provision of Section 195, as it came into force on the 1 of September, 1923 and that, therefore, the learned Magistrate had no jurisdiction to entertain the prosecution.