TMI Blog1954 (4) TMI 53X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sue of writs of mandamus and certiorari under article 226 of the Constitution. The facts giving rise to the two petitions, out of which these two connected appeals arise, are these: One Trilok Nath was running a business in Himachal Pradesh under the name and style of Himachal Drug Nurseries for the extraction, collection and export of medicinal herbs in the year 1949. He was a partner of Messrs. Prabhu Dayal and Gowri Shanker of Jammu and Kashmir State in timber business carried on in that State under the name and style of The Kashmir Woods . It was alleged by him that the business in Chamba was his exclusive business with which the partnership firm The Kashmir Woods had no concern whatsoever. Prabhu Dayal's case was that the f ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hen in the year 1950, that as he had no capital of his own, he borrowed a sum of Rs.,30,000 from his brother and made him a partner with him in this business and that as later on he was unable to contribute his share of the capital, the part nership was dissolved on 31st August, 1950, and in consideration of a sum of ₹ 20,000 he, Trilok Nath, relinquished and transferred by means of a stamped deed of dissolution made on 10th December, 1950, all ,his, rights in the Chamba concern to Wazir Chand who thus became the sole owner of all the goods belonging to this concern in Chamba and came into possession. of the same. On the 3rd April, 1951, Prabhu Dayal lodged a report with the police at Jammu that Trilok Nath had prepared duplicate a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r article 226 of the Constitution of India to the Judicial Commissioner of the State of Himachal Pradesh at Simla praying for the issue of one, or more writs in the, nature of mandamus directing the :respondents to order the release of the seized goods and to refrain from passing any orders about the extradition of these goods. During the pendency of this petition another 45 maunds of medicinal herbs were seized by the Chamba police at the instance of the Jammu police. This seizure was challenged by a second petition on 20th September, 1951, under article 226 of the Constitution. The Judicial Commissioner disposed of both these petitions by a single judgment. He declined to grant any of the reliefs asked for by the appellant. The ground ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... way of a petition under article 226 of the, Constitution of India, but by any other action, e.g. a civil suit, which may be open to them. It was contended before us that the learned Judicial Commissioner was in error in thinking that in order to determine the legality of the seizures and to determine the point whether there had been any infringement of the petitioner's fundamental rights it was necessary to determine the true nature of the title in the goods seized and that the petitioner could not be granted any relief till he was able to establish this. It was argued that the good shaving been seized from the actual possession of the petitioner or his :servants, the Chamba ,concern, being admittedly under the exclusive control of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e case'. Section 165 again is not attracted to the circumstances of this case because it provides that if an officer in charge of a police station has reasonable grounds for believing that anything necessary for the purposes of an investigation into any offence which he, is authorized to investigate, may be found in any place within the limits of the police station of which he is in charge, or to which he is attached, and that such thing cannot in his opinion be otherwise obtained without undue delay, such officer may, after recording in writing the grounds of his belief and specifying in such writing, so far as possible the thing for which search is to be made, search or cause search to be made, for such thing in any place within the l ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n Chamba concerned an offence that had been committed in Jammu and being articles regarding which an offence had been committed, the police was entitled to seize them and that Wazir Chand had no legal title in them. Assuming that that was so, goods in the possession of a person who is not lawfully in possession of them cannot be seized except under authority of law, and in absence of such authority, Wazir Chand could not be deprived of them. On the materials placed on this record it seems clear that unless and until Prabhu Dayal proved his allegations that the Chamba concern was part and parcel of the Jammu partnership firm (which fact has been denied) and that Trilok Nath who was admittedly one of the partners had no right to put Wazir Cha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
