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1940 (10) TMI 14

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..... some half a dozen inhabitants of Ilkal. The installation works consisted of putting in in each case one light point with switches and cut-outs. Three of these works were made the subject of one case and three of the other. The work was admittedly done at the expense of the supply company, and the light points, switches etc. remained the property of the company. Rule 48, which is alleged to have been infringed, is as follows:-- Precautions to be adopted by consumers and owners, electrical contractors and electrical workmen.--(1) No electrical installation work, including additions, alterations, repairs, and adjustments to existing installations, except such replacement of lamps, fans, fuses, switches and other component parts of the i .....

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..... y in the way of the prosecution is that Rule 48 under which the accused was charged did not come into force until March 22, 1938. That was the date fixed in the notification issued under part (2) of the rule. It is common ground that the installation works in question were carried out by the accused in February and March, 1938, before March 22, 1938. But under the Indian Electricity Rules of 1922 there was a Rule 40A, which was in precisely the same terms as the present Rule 48. It is suggested, therefore, that the reference to Rule 48 of the rules of 1937 was a mere slip, that the charge Should have been under Rule 40A of the rules of 1922, but that this mistake has not in any way prejudiced the accused, the wording of the two rules being .....

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..... e under the provisions so re-enacted. The learned Government Pleader's argument is that the old Rule 40A cannot be considered to have been superseded by the Electricity Rules of 1937 when they were made applicable on March 27, 1937, and was only superseded when the new Rule 48 came into force in consequence of the notification issued under part (2) thereof. However, the notification by which the new rules were introduced expressly stated that they were in supersession of the Indian Electricity Rules, 1922, and it is a little difficult to see how an exception is to be made in the case of Rule 48. Another point is that Section 24 only comes into operation where a Central Act or Regulation has been repealed and reenacted. According to the .....

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..... bay. 9. Railways other than State Railways. Provided that in the case of bodies referred to at items 7, 8 and 9 above, a person holding a Certificate of Competency is employed for Supervising such works on their own premises. 8. The accused relies on the words their own works in this notification and contends that as the installation works in question were carried out by the company itself, and after being carried out remained the property of the company, they are the company's own works, and therefore the exemption given by this notification in the case of electric supply companies is applicable to him. The case depends therefore on the interpretation of this notification and in particular of the words their own works . The .....

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..... y, and not lighting installations of the kind with which we are concerned which have nothing to do with the supply of energy. It is usually a sound rule of construction to give the same meaning to words used in rules made under an Act as the words have in the Act itself. We were therefore at first somewhat impressed by the argument put forward on behalf of Government in this respect. But when we look at the language of Rule 48 or 40A, it becomes extremely difficult, if not impossible, to suppose that the word works in the notification has the meaning ascribed to it in the definition in the Act. The section begins by referring to installation works and the description of the work there given clearly covers the kind of work which was carr .....

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..... ded that the exemption was only to apply in the case of works carried out by the various bodies on their own premises, that intention has not been made sufficiently clear. 11. On behalf of Government reliance was also placed on Rule 46 of the rules issued on November 15, 1932, in connection with the issue of certificates of competency under Rule 40A of the Indian Electricity Rules, 1922. That rule is as follows:-- Supply companies to obtain contractor's licenses.--No electrical contracting work shall be carried out by any electric supply company unless they have obtained an Electrical Contractor's License and employed a separate staff of supervisors and wiremen, in compliance with these rules. 12. It is not clear, however, .....

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