EMPEROR Vs. THAVARMAL RUPCHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal by the Government of Bombay from an acquittal of the accused by the Chief Presidency Magistrate, Bombay, on a charge of keeping a common gaming house under Section 4(a) of the Bombay Prevention of Gambling Act, IV of 1887.

(2.) The main points for consideration in this appeal are : (1) Whether the warrant under which the accused was arrested was legal; (2) Whether the articles seized from the accused's room were instruments of gaming; and (3) Whether the business the accused was conducting in the place raided was gaming.

(3.) The learned Magistrate has found that the warrant of arrest was illegal and that the business in which the accused was engaged was not of a wagering nature. It can also be gathered from the judgment that the Magistrate was of opinion that the prosecution had failed to prove that any of the books or articles seized from the accused's room or person were instruments of gaming.