N.U.Beg, J. - (1.) All these four criminal revisions have been connected together as they raise a common question of law. The applicants in all these four revisions were arrayed as accused in complaints filed by various parties under Sections 482, 483, 485, 486 and 420 I.P.C.
(2.) So far as Sections 482, 483, 485 and 486 are concerned, the prosecution of the accused under those sections is governed by Section 15 of the Indian Merchandise Marks Act, 1889, (Act No. IV of 1889). On the basis of Section 15 of this Act, it was argued on behalf of the applicants that the present complaints were barred by limitation. Section 15 of the said Act provides as follows : "15 No such prosecution as is mentioned in the last foregoing section shall be commenced after the expiration of three years next after the commission of the offence, or one year after the first discovery thereof by the prosecutor, whichever expiration first happens."
(3.) In the present case it was argued on behalf of the applicants that more than one year had elapsed between the first discovery of the offence and the issue of process against the accused. The prosecution within the meaning of this section was therefore commenced according to the learned counsel after the expiry of one year after the first discovery of the offence.;