TMI Blog1973 (4) TMI 121X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ontravention of Clauses 3, 4 and 5 of the Bihar Essential Commodities Act-other than Food grains-Prices and Stocks (Display and Control) Order, 1967 (hereinafter called the order), pending in the Court of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Gaya. 2. According to the prosecution case, on receipt of confidential information that the proprietor of M/s. Auto Spare, Law Road, Gaya, was not properly maintaining the account of Motor Tyres, with the ulterior motive of withholding the supply of the said article to the genuine customers, Shri Ram Nivas Singh, Marketing Officer, Gaya, had, along with two supply Inspectors, made a surprise inspection of the firm on May 22, 1969 and found certain irregularities. One of those irregularities was, the fa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... not be assumed to cover the commodities like Motor Tyres and Motor Tubes though he himself thought that he would have taken a different view, had the matter been res Integra. Item No. 5 even according to the learned Single Judge's own view could not cover the Motor Tyres and Motor Tubes. Being, however, bound by the earlier decision, he held the prosecution of the proprietors of the firm to be misconceived. The prosecution was accordingly quashed. 4. In this Court, our attention has been drawn to item No. 1 in Schedule I of the Order. This item reads :- 1. Component parts and accessories of automobiles. It is contended that this item must cover 'Tyres and Tubes of Motor Cars and Motor Cycles'. According to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... es and Tubes of cars as also of 'automobiles of any category whatsoever'. The effect of the decision of the present case would, therefore, seem, prima facie, to be confined only to the fate of the prosecution initiated against the respondents. It has not been stated or even suggested at the Bar if any (and if so. how many) pending cases of similar nature are likely to be governed by the decision of this Court. Unfortunately, even the High Court has made a laconic order on oral request, merely stating : IT IS CERTIFIED That this case fulfils the requirement of Article 134(1)(c) of the Constitution of India and is fit for appeal to the Supreme Court. without showing on its face what substantial question of law or ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a Notification dated January 11, 1968 (No. S.C. 218) issued by the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India in which Types and Tubes of Scooters were expressly mentioned as essential commodities distinct from the component parts and accessories of automobiles. Reference in that judgment was also made to a Notification dated August 22, 1968 (No. S.Q. 2878) issued by the Central Government in which similarly Tyres and Tubes of Cars, etc. were specifically mentioned as essential commodities, and to a still later Notification by the Central Government dated January 3, 1969 (No. S.O. 85) in which Tyres and Tubes of Cars were mentioned in a manner almost similar to the one found in the Bihar Government Gazette Notification No. G.S.R. 82 dated S ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ars are included in the scheduled items of which the price list and the stock position are to be displayed in a conspicuous part of their business premises, in our opinion, they cannot be held guilty in a criminal court of an offence under the Essential Commodities Act for violation of any such mandate. According to the fundamental principle of our criminal jurisprudence, which reflects fair play, the dealer must know with reasonable certainty and must have a fair warning as to what his obligation is and what act of commission or omission on his part would constitute a criminal offence before he can be called upon to answer a charge and be liable to be convicted in a criminal court for any violation of a legal mandate. This approach is in c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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