KESHARDEO GOENKA Vs. EMPEROR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioners 1 and 2 are the owners of a colliery. They appointed one P. N. Ghose as the Manager of the Colliery in August 1932, but the appointment was rejected by the Chief Inspector of Mines on 16 September 1932 as Ghose was already Manager of another Colliery. The said two petitioners were therefore tried on the allegation that in spite of this rejection they allowed Ghose to continue as Manager of their Colliery from 16 to 30th September 1932.

(2.) On 1 October 1932 petitioners 1 and 2 informed the Chief Inspector of Mines that they had appointed their Assistant Manager, petitioner 3, to act as Manager of their Colliery for one month from 1 October 1932, as a temporary Manager in a case of emergency. During the course of that month the Chief Inspector of Mines drew the attention of the first two petitioners to the fact that as Mukherji, the third petitioner, had already been appointed a temporary manager after the resignation of the last incumbent in July, he could not be appointed a temporary manager a second time without his special sanction and required them to appoint a duly qualified manager at once. On 2 November, he paid a surprise visit to the Colliery and it is said that when he did so he found that Mukherji was still in charge and work going on in it. These constitute another set of facts upon which the three petitioners were tried.

(3.) The first two petitioners therefore were tried for two offences for having contravened the provisions of Section 15(1) and Section 15(2), Mines Act (4 of 1923) read with Regulations. 21, 22 and 23 of the Indian Coal Mines Regulations, and the third petitioner for having contravened the provisions of Section 15(2) of the Act read with Regulation. 23 of the said Regulations. The offences are punishable Under Section 39 of the Act. They have been convicted for the said offences and their sentences as modified by the Sessions Judge are that the first two have to pay a fine of Rs. 500 each, and the third a fine of Rs. 100. Of the grounds on which this rule has been obtained those that have been pressed before us are Nos. 7, 8 and 17.