EMPEROR Vs. VISHVANATH NANA KARPE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a reference by the Sessions Judge of Poona, regarding the conviction of three persons of an offence under Section 61, Clause (f), of the Bombay District Police Act. The offence in question is that of having kept log of timber on a public street and causing obstruction thereby, though warned to remove the logs. This would fall under the words of the clause, causes obstruction in any street by leaving any box, bale, package or other thing whatsoever in or upon a street for an unreasonable length of time.

(2.) And, in so far as these logs of timber were admittedly put out for sale, that would also fall within the words, by exposing anything for sale or setting out anything for sale in any way whatsoever that causes obstruction.

(3.) The defence raised is that the Municipality had authorized timber dealers to use a strip of the street for the purpose of exposing timber for sale, and we are assured by the learned Counsel for the accused that this has been done for forty years. The question, however, that has to be decided is, whether the Municipality had any proper statutory authority to divert a portion of a public street for the purpose of exposing timber for sale in the way that has been done. The learned Government Pleader supports the order of the Magistrate, and contends that the Municipality has no power to pass any such order. This point was considered by the Magistrate in his judgment, and he has given reasons in paras. 4 and 5 of his judgment for holding that the Municipality had no proper grounds for allowing an obstruction of this kind.