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TMI Blog1963 (4) TMI 68X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... gs to the appellant's brother Radhey Shyam; but he was not at that moment in the car. The car was then being driven by Jagdish Sah and the appellant was sitting by his -side. Four other persons were sitting on the back seat. The Excise Inspector searched the car in the presence of three witnesses Debendra Prasad Singh (P.W. 2), Paresh Nath Prasad Singh (P.W. 3) and Rabindra Prasad Singh (P.W. 4) and recovered from the car five bundles of non-duty paid Nepali Ganja. According to the prosecution four of them were recovered from the luggage boot of the. car while one was recovered from the leg space in front of the front seat of the car. According to the appellant, however, no ganja was carried in the car and therefore, none was seized from the car; Further, according to the prosecution, the appellant produced the keys with which the luggage boot was opened. The Excise Inspector made a seizure memo Ex. 2 and recorded the statements of all the persons who were in the car, including the appellant. Exhibit 3 is the statement of the appellant. After the investigation was completed all the persons who were in the car at that time including the appellant and Radhey Shyam, the brother o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ay extend to two thousand rupees, or to both." The evidence of P. Ws. 2, 3 and 4 taken along with the evidence of the Excise Inspector establishes the following facts : (1) that the appellant was sitting by the side of the driver when the car was stopped by the Excise Inspector ; (2) that five bundles of non-duty paid Nepali Ganja were recovered from the car (3) that four bundles were recovered from. the luggage boot of the car and one from the leg space in front of the front seat ; (4) that a bunch of keys marked Ex. 2 series was recovered from the pocket of the appellant and another bunch of keys marked -Ex. I series was recovered from the possession of 'the driver Jagdish Sah (5) that every key of Ex. I series could open the lock of the luggage boot and two keys of Ex. 2 series could also open the lock. In order to establish this, the prosecution has relied on the seizure memo Ex. F and the evidence of the Excise Inspector and P. W. 2 Debendra Prasad Singh. P. W. 3 Paresh Nath Prasad Singh and P. W. 4 Rabindra Prasad Singh. A perusal of Ex. F would, however, show that material Alterations and erasures appear to have been made in that document by reason of which no reli ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the confessional statement is admissible in evidence. Mr. Chari besides objecting to the admissibility of the confessional statement relying on s. 25 of the Evidence Act also contends that statement is rendered inadmissible by the provisions of s. 162, Code of Criminal Procedure inasmuch as it was recorded by R. R. P. Sinha, Inspector of Excise while .he was investigating into an excise offence. under Ch. XIV of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Section 25 of the Evidence Act reads thus: "No confession made to a police officer shall be proved as against a person accused of any offence." Undoubtedly the Inspector R. R. P. Sinha is an Excise Officer and not a police officer in the sense that he does not belong to the police force or the police establishment. It has, however, been held in a large number of cases, including the one decided by this court, The State of Punjab v. Barkat Ram ([1962] 3 S. C. R. 338), that the words "Police' Officer" to be found in s. 25 of the Evidence Act are not to be construed in a narrow way but have to be construed in a wide and popular sense. Those words, according to this Court, are however not to be construed in so wide a sense as to include per ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in the limits of his jurisdiction. Sub-section (2) of that section provides that any other Excise Officer specially empowered in this behalf by the State Government I in respect of all or any specified class of offenses punishable under the Excise Act may, without the order of a Magistrate, investigate any such offence which a court having jurisdiction within the local area to which such officer is appointed would have power to inquire into or try under the aforesaid provisions. By virtue of these provisions the Lieutenant Governor of Bihar and Orissa by Notification No. 470-F dated January 15, 1919 has specially empowered Inspectors of Excise and Sub-Inspectors of Excise to investigate any offence punishable under the Act. It is not disputed before us that this notification is still in force. By virtue of the provisions of s. 92 of the Act it shall have effect as if enacted in the Act. It would thus follow that an Excise Inspector or SubInspector in the State of Bihar shall be deemed to be an officer in charge of a police station with respect to the area to which he is appointed and is in that capacity entitled to investigate any offence under the Excise Act within that area witho ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e of a police station and therefore can exercise no powers under the Code of Criminal Procedure and certainly not those of an officer in charge of a police station. No doubt, he too has the power to make a search, to seize articles suspected to have been smuggled and arrest persons suspected of having committed an offence under the Sea Customs Act. But that is all. Though he can make an enquiry, he has no power to investigate into an offence under s. 156 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Whatever powers he exercises are expressly set out in the Sea Customs Act. Though some of those set out in ch. XVII may be analogous to those of a Police Officer under the Code of Criminal Procedure they are not identical with those of a police officer and are not derived from or by reference to the Code. In regard to certain matters, he does not possess powers even analogous to those of a Police Officer. Thus he is not entitled to submit a report to a Magistrate under s. 190 of the Code of Criminal Procedure with a view that cognizance of the offence be taken by the Magistrate. Section 187(A) of the Sea Customs Act specially provides that cognizance of an offence under the Sea Customs Act can be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... character and are not by themselves sufficient to facilitate the obtaining by him of a confession. As an instance of a law which confers on an officer powers of a limited character which are analogous to those conferred upon police officers, we may refer to the Sea Customs Act itself. This Act confers a wide -range of powers on Customs Officers. But powers analogous to those of a police officer are to be found only in ch. XVII which deals with "'procedure relating to offenses, appeals etc." Under s. 169 a Customs officer is, empowered to search on reasonable suspicion any vessel in any port in India or any person who has landed from any vessel. This power, however, is subject to the right given by s. 170 to that person to require the Customs officer to take him before his search to a Magistrate or Customs Collector. Where such person exercises that right the question. as to whether he should be searched or not would depend upon the Magistrate or the Customs Collector being satisfied about the existence of reasonable grounds for the search. No such restriction is imposed upon a police officer making a search under s. 102, sub-s. (3) of the Code. Again, whereas an officer in cha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hich facilitate the obtaining from them statements which may be incriminating to the persons making them. The law allows the police officer to obtain such statements with a view to facilitate the investigation of the offenses. But it renders them inadmissible in evidence for the obvious reason that a suspicion about voluntariness would attach to them . It is the power of investigation which establishes a direct relationship with the prohibition enacted in s. 25. Therefore, where such a power is conferred upon an officer, the mere fact that he possesses some other powers under another law would not make him any the less A police officer for the purposes of s. 25. In this connection it would be pertinent to bear in mind the object with which the provisions of s. 25 of the Evidence Act were enacted. For this purpose we can do not better than quote the following passage from the judgment of Mahmood J. in Queen Empress v. Babulal (1884) I.L.R. 6 All. 509, 523). malpractices of police officers in extorting confessions from accused persons in order to gain credit by securing convictions, and that those malpractices went to the length of positive torture; nor do I doubt that the Legislat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... eror ((1932) I. L. R. 12 Pat 46 F.B ), it was, however, held that an Excise Officer functioning under the Bihar Excise Act is not a Police Officer and that a statement made to him is not within S. 25 of the Evidence Act. We need not, however, consider the last mentioned decision because there the learned judges have construed the expression "Police Officer" in S. 25 of the Evidence Act to mean only an officer of the police force. That, however, is not in accord with what this Court has held in Barkat Ram's case We will briefly examine the other decisions. In Ah Foong's case ([1962] 3 S.C. R. 338), all that Sanderson C.J., who delivered the leading judgment has said was that he did not think that Excise Officers in the case before the court could be said to be Police Officers and that the statements made by the accused to them were not admissible by reason of the fact that they were made to Police Officers. There is thus no discussion of the question at all. Apart from that the offence concerned in that case was one under the Opium Actand an Excise Officer acting under that Act was not conferred with the powers of an officer in charge of a police station under Ch. XIV of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hin the meaning of that section is an officer, who exercises the powers of police conferred upon him by law, whether he is called a Police Officer or he is called by any other name and exercises other functions also under other provisions of law, if for the investigation of offenses under a particular Act he is empowered to exercise the powers of an officer in charge of a police station for the investigation of a cognizable offence. Fawcett J. pointed out that since the Legislature did not amend the Act even after the decision in Hurribole's case (1876) I.L.R. 1 Cal. 207), where the expression police officer" was given a wide meaning the courts would be justified in adhering to it. Kemp J. was of the opinion that though the term "police Officer" should not be construed strictly it was not safe to lay down generally that the term should not be construed in its popular and most comprehensive sense. All the same he held that an Excise Officer acting under the Abkari Act of Bombay must be deemed to be a Police Officer inasmuch as he had the power of investigating into excise offenses, Mirza J. concurred with this view but did not state any reasons. In Ameen Sharif's case (1934) ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ng Acts which are comparatively modern. Indeed, the rule of construction which ought to be applied to a statute either ancient or modern is the same and that is to ascertain the intention -of the Legislature. We, however, agree that it would be inappropriate to attach wide meaning to the words used by the legislature in a law made in remote ages when society was static and that the position would be different with respect to words used in a law made in a modern progressive society in which the frontiers of knowledge are fast expanding. The Evidence Act was 'enacted at a time when already a revolution in men's ideas had set in and considerable scientific advances had already been made. The maxim laid down by Coke cannot therefore properly be applied for construing the language used by the Legislature in s. 25 of the Evidence Act. The learned judge did not, however, rest his judgment solely upon this ground. Upon a consideration of a large number of decisions of the Indian High Courts, he came to the conclusion that an Excise Officer exercising the powers of an officer in charge of a police station within the area to which he is apointed would fall within the expression "poli ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hem, namely, the prevention and detection of crimes. These, two features of the duties which the police have to discharge and especially that of detection of offenders, which involves the duty of holding investigations have always been regarded as marking them out for special treatment in so far as confessions made to them are concerned." (pp. 623-4). We agree with the learned judge that by and large it is the duty of detection of offenses and of bringing offenders to justice, which requires an investigation to be made, that differentiates police officers from private individuals or from other agencies of State. Being concerned with the investigation, there is naturally a desire on the part of a police officer to collect as much evidence as possible against a suspected offender apprehended by him and in his zeal to do so he is apt to take recourse to an easy means, that is, of obtaining a confession by using his position and his power over the person apprehended by him. We, therefore, agree with the observations of the learned judge at p. 629 which are to the following effect : "I can find no reason why in 1 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... gation of an offence by virtue of section 74(3) of the Excise Act, which gives him the status of a police officer for the purposes of the investigation. In other words, what he means is that though an Excise Officer cannot be regarded as a Police officer, still, when he exercises certain functions under s. 74(3) of the Excise Act he will be acting as a Police Officer and, therefore, a confession made to him would be hit by s. 25 of the Evidence Act. Costello J. however, differed from the other learned judges and based himself largely upon the decision in Radha Kishan Marwari's case (1932) I.L.R. 12 Pat, 46. F.B ) and in conclusion he observed : "In my opinion, endless difficulties inevitably arise when judges endeavor to extend the plain provisions of any statutory enactment. Where the language of an enactment is unambiguous it should be interpreted strictly and, in a case such as the present, it is, to my mind, in the highest degree unsound, and indeed dangerous for the court, by subtlety of argument or by resorting to other statutes to extend provisions such as that contained in section 25. I am clearly and definitely of opinion that when the legislature used the expression & ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the recovery of customs duties. (2) The mere fact that customs officers possess certain powers similar to those of police officers in regard to detection of infractions of customs laws, is not a sufficient ground for holding them to be police officers within the meaning of s. 25 of the Evidence Act, even though the words "police officer' are not to be construed in a narrow way but have to be construed in a wide and popular sense, as remarked in Queen v. Hurribole (1876) I.L.R. 1 Cal. 207). The expression 'police officer' is not of such wide meaning as to include persons en whom certain police powers arc incidentally conferred. (3) A confession made to any police officer, whatever be his rank and whatever be the occasion for making it, is inadmissible in evidence, but a confession made to a customs officer when. he be not discharging any such duty which corresponds to the duty of a police officer, will be inadmissible even if the other view be correct that he was a police officer when exercising such powers. &nbs ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ; "Every proceeding under this Act before a Collector, or before any officer, of such rank as the, State Government may, by notification prescribe, who is exercising powers of a Collector, shall be deemed to be a 'judicial proceeding' within the meaning of s: 228 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860)." Officers who may exercise the powers of a Collector are Superintendents of Excise, Sub-Divisional Officers and Deputy Collectors. Section 68 provides that the Collector or any Excise Officer specially empowered by the State Government in that behalf, not below the rank of Depury Collector or Superintendent of Excise, may compound offenses and release property liable to confiscation in certain circumstances on payment to the Collector or such Excise Officer of asum of money not exceeding Rs. 500/- Section 69 empowers the Excise Commissioner, Collector or any Excise Officer not below such rank as the State Government may, by notification, prescribe and subject to any restrictions prescribed by the state Government by rule made under s. 89, to enter and inspect any place of manufacture or storage or sale of any ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rpose and is set out in full below: "(1) A Collector may, without the order of a Magistrate, investigate any offence punishable under this Act which a Court having jurisdiction over the local area within the limits of the Collector's jurisdiction would have power to enquire into or try under the provisions of Chapter XV of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, relating to the place of inquiry or trial. (2) Any other Excise Officer specially empowered in this behalf by the State Government in respect of all or any specified class of offenses punishable under this Act may, without the order of a Magistrate, investigate any such offence which a Court having jurisdiction over the local area to which such officer is appointed would have power to inquire into or try under the aforesaid provisions." Under sub-s. (2) of s. 77, the State Government has specially empowered Inspectors of Excise and SubInspectors of Excise to investigate any offence punishable under the Act. Section 78 reads : ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nses on Police reports." Section 79 deals with security and bail and empowers any Excise Officer not below such rank as the State Government may, by notification, prescribe, to release persons on bail or on their own bond. The State Government has prescribed that any Excise Officer not below the rank of SubInspector can exercise this power. Section. 80 provides that articles seized and persons arrested under the warrant of the Collector shall be produced before the Collector and that articles seized and persons arrested under the Act by persons or officers not having authority to release arrested persons on bail on their own bond, shall be produced before or forwarded to the Collector or an Excise Officer empowered under s. 77 (2) to investigate the offence, or to the nearest Excise Officer who has authority to release arrested persons on bail or on their own bond, or the officer in charge of the nearest police station, whoever be nearer. Section 82 reads : "When any Excise Officer below the rank of Collector, or any officer in charge of a police station, makes, or receives information of, any arrest ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... no suit shall lie in any Civil Court against the Government or any Excise Officer for any act in good faith done or ordered to be done in pursuance of this Act or of any other law for the time being in force relating to the excise-revenue. Section 96 provides for limitations of suits and prosecutions and reads "No Civil Court shall try any suit against the Government in respect of anything done, or alleged to have been done, in pursuance of this Act, and, except with the previous sanction of the State Government, no Magistrate shall take cognizance of any charge made against any Excise Officer under this Act or any other law relating to the excise-revenue or made against any other person under this Act, unless the suit or prosecution is instituted within six months after the date of the act complained of." The provisions of ss. 7, 89, 95 and 96 are sufficient to indicate that the action of Excise Officers under the Act and under any other law relating to exciserevenue is treated alike. The Act is, therefore, like the Sea Customs Act, primarily concerned with the collection of the excise-revenue. The object of the Act according to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r all proceedings before the Collector or Superintendent of Excise, S. D. 0. and Deputy Collector exercising the powers of the Collector are judicial proceedings within the meaning of s. 228 1. P. C. Section 85 (3) provides about the officers who and the circumstances in which they can be deemed to be police officers for the purposes of the Criminal Procedure Code. All Officers other than Collectors .who make arrests., searches or seizures under the Act are to be deemed 'police officers' for the purpose of the provisions relating to arrests, searches or seizures in the Criminal Procedure Code. It is therefore clear that the Legislature had in mind the police ,officers who perform the duties of making arrests, searches, and seizures, under the Criminal Procedure Code and provided that Excise officers or other persons authorized under the Act to perform these acts be deemed to be police officers for these purposes. It is therefore clear that the Legislature did not contemplate that Excise Officers performing other duties corresponding to the duties of the regular police officers be deemed police officers merely on account of their performing those duties. It follows that Exci ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ation for a very limited purpose. He is to be so considered for the purposes of s. 156 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and not for any other purpose. Now, s. 156 of the Code of Criminal Procedure reads : "(1) Any officer in charge of a police-station may, without the order of -a Magistrate investigate, any cognizable case which a Court having jurisdiction over the local area within the limits of such station would have power to enquire into or try under the provisions of Chapter XV relating to the place of enquiry or trial. (2) No proceeding of a police-officer in any such case shall at any stage be called in question on the ground that the case was one which such officer was not empowered under this section to investigate. (3) Any Magistrate empowered under section 190 may order such an investigation as abovementioned." What sub-s. (1) of s. 156 of the Code provides is already provided under sub-s. (2) of s. 77 of the Act which empowers such officers to investigate, without the order of a Magistrate, any such offence which a Court having jurisdiction over the local area to which such officer is appointed would have the power to enquire into or try under the aforesaid provisi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 171-A of the Sea Customs Act. Section 162 of the Code does not confer any power on a police officer. It only provides that any statement made by a person to a police officer in the course of an investigation under Chapter XIV of the Code could be used for no purpose except for the purpose provided in that sub-section, at any enquiry in respect of that offence under investigation at the time when that statement was made. An investigation by the Excise Officer is not an investigation under Chapter XIV of the Code of Criminal Procedure. He may take similar steps during investigation which a police officer has to take, but that does not make his investigation an investigation under Chapter XIV of the Code. Again, s. 163 has no application so far as the question of conferring power is concerned. It rather enjoins upon a police officer not to offer or make or cause to be offered or made, any such inducement, threat or promise as is mentioned in the Indian Evidence Act, section 24, and not to prevent any person from making a voluntary statement in the course of an investigation. Section 164, again, deals with the recording of statements and confessions by Magistrates during the investig ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Act. The second was that the expression 'police officer' in s. 25 of the Evidence Act should be construed according to the meaning that expression carried at or about the time that enactment was made and for that purpose, the view expressed in Hurribole's Case (1876) I.L.R. I Cal, 207), was not only accepted but was interpreted to mean that anyone whom the people at large looked upon as a police officer would be included in that definition. I would first consider Hurribole's Case (1), to which reference had been made in Barkat Ram's Case ([1962] 3 S.C.R. 338). In Hurribole's Case (1), Mr. Lambert who was a member of the regular police force and was so regarded outside Calcutta to which city the police Act of 1861 did not apply, was posted at Calcutta as Deputy Commissioner of Police. He was also invested with the powers of a Magistrate. The accused in that case made a confession originally to two policemen. It was taken down in writing. He was then brought before Mr. Lambert, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, at the police office. He affirmed the truth of his former statement to Mr. Lambert, who, in his capacity of a Magistrate, received and attested the st ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e considered the particular officer to be a police officer or not. Any such basis for construing this expression in s. 25 would be very slippery as there would be no real basic standard to form the foundation for such an interpretation. Another question raised in that case was that the confession was admissible in view of s. 26 of the Evidence Act which provided that no confession made by a person in police custody would be admissible in evidence unless it was made in the immediate presence of a Magistrate, that Mr. Lambert was a Magistrate and that therefore the confession made to him was admissible in evidence. This contention was repelled on the ground that s. 25 of the Evidence Act was imperative and a confession made to a police officer under any circumstances was not admissible in evidence against the maker thereof. This means that Mr. Lambert's status as a Magistrate was completely ignored. The confession was not deemed to be taken by a Magistrate. It was taken to be made to a police officer as Mr. Lambert was a police officer on account of the service to which he belonged. It was merely as a Deputy Commissioner of Police that he enjoyed certain powers of a Magistrate. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... accordance with the popular impression. The only definite class of people would be then members of the police according to the various enactments in force and not necessarily under the general Police Act of 1861 or any special Police Act applicable to the Presidency towns, or those who, under certain statutory provisions be deemed to be police officers as, in that case, it would be the Legislature which itself would lay down the class of persons who would be treated to be police officers. I may say that it was not foreign to the Legislature in 1861 to make provisions with respect to certain persons being deemed to be officers of a certain class. Historically, I do not find the expression 'Police officer' or 'Police' to be a vague one. In 1793, a number of Regulations were made by the Governor General in Council. They dealt with many a subject connected with the administration of the territory under the control of the East India Company. The preamble of Regulation XXII of 1793 indicates that the object of that Regulation was to establish an efficient police throughout the country whereby offenders may be deprived of all hope of eluding the pursuit of officers of jus ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he purposes of the Act, be deemed to be one police force and shall be formally enrolled; persons of this establishment, therefore, formed a class by themselves. Section 3, however, provides that the superintendence of the police throughout a general police district shall vest in and shall be exercised by the State Government to which such district is subordinate. This does not speak of the superintendence of the police force or the police establishment, but puts the entire police within the State under the control of the Government. The administration of such entire police is vested in the Inspector General of Police by s. 4 and within a district 'is vested in the District Superintendent. These officers exercise no administrative control over the Excise Officers. Section 47 makes it lawful for the State Government to declare. that any authority which is being exercised by a Magistrate of the District over any village watchman or other village police officer for the purpose of police shall be exercised, subject to the general control of the Magistrate of the district, by the District Superintendant of Police. This is a clear indication that the Act purported to bring the entire ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... respecting the illicit manufacture or sale of spirituous liquors etc., shall be conducted by the collectors of land revenue or other public officers entrusted with the charge of the abkarry mohaul. Section XXII further empowered the Collector or other officers entrusted with the charge of akbarry mohaul to cause the persons charged with or suspected of offences under the Regulation to be apprehended so that a regular enquiry might be made into the merits of the case. Officers in charge of the abkarry mohaul were given power under s. XXIII to issue search warrants. Section XXXI made the collectors of land revenue entitled to a commission on the net amount of the abkarry revenue realised by them. Act XXI of 1856 repealed Regulation X of 1813. Its title is 'An Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to the Abkaree Revenue in the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal' and the preamble states : "Whereas it is expedient that the laws relating to the manufacture of spirits and the sale of spirituous and fermented liquors and intoxicating drugs, and the collection of the revenue derived therefrom, shoul ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s clear, therefore, from the provisions of ss. IV and LIX that the Legislature specifically provided, whenever it considered necessary, for certain officers to be deemed to be Abkaree officers when, by virtue of their regular service, they were not Abkaree officers. It was in 1861, as already stated, that the 'Criminal Procedure Code, by s. 148, provided that no confession made to a Police officer would be used in evidence against an accused person. In view of the provisions of the first Regulation XXII of 1793 dealing with the creation of the Police under the direct control of the Government and of the Abkaree Department governed by Regulation XXXIV of 1793 up to 1856, it is not possible to say in my opinion, that the Legislature when using the expression 'police officer' in s. 148 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1861, intended that expression to include the Abkaree officers who had powers of investigation, though without any reference to the procedure to be followed in carrying out the investigation necessary for the purpose of establishing the offences under the Abkaree Act against the alleged culprits. It is also clear from certain provisions referred to above ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... th the objects with which the legislature enacted any particular law and that the legislature might not have finally enacted a provision to carry out the entire object with which it tended to enact it, and that in cases where the legislature had not thought fit to express its intention otherwise than by the use of the words of the section; those words, must be followed. Fazl Ali, J. agreed with his views and stated at p. 56: "It appears to me that the distinction between a person who is nothing but a police officer and one who is primarily not a police officer but merely invested with the powers of a police officer is material and cannot be ignored for the purpose of construing section 25 of the Evidence Act."" He pertinently remarked at p.57: "To take this view would, in my opinion, be to ignore the popular meaning of the term 'police officer' and enlarge unduly the scope of the section. There was nothing to prevent the framers of the Evidence Act from saying expressly that confessions made to a police officer as well as those persons who are for the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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