BHAGWANDAS Vs. KING

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Special leave to appeal was granted in this case without their Lordships being acquainted with the necessary documents, which were no doubt not available. Leave was granted limited to the question of whether or not the proceedings were valid having regard to the fact that the appeal was signed and filed in the High Court by the Advocate General and not by the Public Prosecutor.

(2.) The relevant documents have now been produced before their Lordships, and the facts are as follows.

(3.) By the Government of India Act, 1935, it was provided by Section 55 that every Province was to have an Advocate-General. On April 1, 1987, the Government of India Act came into force. On April 3, 1937, a notification in the Gazette provided that in exercise of the powers conferred on him by Section 492 of the Criminal P. C.) 1898, the Governor of the Punjab is pleased to appoint the Advocate General of the Punjab to be a Public Prosecutor generally for the Punjab. On April 5, 1937, two days later, Mr. Rarn Lall was appointed Advocate General. On February 9, 1938, he was appointed a Judge. On February 11, 1938, Mr. Sleem, the officer who filed the appeal to the High Court in these proceedings, was appointed Advocate General.