TMI Blog1942 (7) TMI 21X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... at Sargodha. In July 1940, a poster (Ex. P-A) styled aman ki appeal (an appeal for peace), purporting to be issued by the President, Congress Committee, Sargodha, was printed in Urdu in this press. The paper on which the poster is printed is of foolscap size: at the foot the name of the publisher is given in bold letters as President Congress Committee, Sargodha, while on the margin are printed in small letters the words Manohar Press, Sargodha. There is, however, no mention of the name of the printer on the margin or at any other place. Section 3 of the Act provides that: Every book or paper printed within British India shall have printed legibly on it the name of the printer and the place of printing and (if the book or paper b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rd paper or the expression paper printed though the word 'book' is defined in it. In 1922, the Act was amended and the definition of 'newspaper' was added, as meaning any printed periodical work containing public news or comments on public news. For the petitioner it is urged that in the English language the word 'paper' has various meanings and that: in the absence of a definition showing the sense in which the word is used in the Act, reference can legitimately be made to the title of the Act, the preamble and the heading of the part of the Act in which Section 3 appears, with a view to ascertain the intention of the Legislature. The Act is headed as: An Act for the regulation of Printing presses and newspap ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f. 6. The question was more fully discussed in Dattatrya Malhar v. Emperor A.I.R. 1937 Bom. 28, where the accused person was prosecuted under Section 12 for circulating handbills, announcing that certain public meeting will be held at a certain place on a certain day. The name of the printer and the place of printing were not printed on the handbills. It was contended on behalf of the petitioner that neither of the handbill in question was a paper within the meaning of Section 3 and, secondly, that the distribution of handbills in the streets by the petitioner did not amount to publication within the meaning of Section 12. Beaumont C.J. after referring to the various sections of the Act observed as follows: 'Paper' is not ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tributed to the expression by the Advocate General and would require to have printed upon it the name of the printer and place of printing. No doubt Section 21 provides some safeguard in that it enables the Government to exclude certain classes of books or papers from the operation of the Act, but I should certainly feel great hesitation in giving to the words used in Section 3 the wide meaning attributed to them in the argument of the Advocate-General. 7. The learned Chief Justice, however, proceeded to say that it was not necessary to decide in that case what the exact meaning of the expression 'paper printed' may be, as in his opinion the petitioner before him had not 'published' the paper, if it be a paper, within the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ; is not synonymous with a newspaper and suggested that, on a reasonable construction, it should include other printed matter analogous to a newspaper, pamphlet or a book, according to its subject-matter. But this does not appear to have been the intention of the Legislature, since the Act was passed expressly to regulate printing presses and periodicals containing news. We are in agreement with the view expressed by the learned Chief Justices of Patna and Bombay in the cases cited above. But even if the meaning suggested by the learned Advocate-General be accepted, the poster in question (Ex. P-A) would not be covered by it. It is not contended that this poster contains news, or falls within the definition of a newspaper. Looking at the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
