LAJPAT RAI Vs. DEV RAJ

JUDGEMENT

(1.) DEV Raj, son of Ganda Ram, of Jagraon made an application under Section 133 of the Code of Criminal Procedure against Lajpat Rai Petitioner alleging that he owned a house adjoining to the house of Lajpat Rai and having a common wall. In his house, Lajpat Rai had installed an oil crushing machine and a flour mill which he worked day and night thereby causing great nuisance to the Respondent and his family. It was alleged by him that when the flour mill and the oil crusher were run by the Petitioner they caused tremors to the building of the Respondent, and that due to the nuisance caused by the above -said two machines, the Respondent's wife and family had fallen ill. The application was resisted by Lajpat Rai who averred that he worked the machines only from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and that the running of the machines did not cause any nuisance to anyone.

(2.) THE parties led evidence in the Court of Shri Randhir Singh, Additional District Magistrate, Ludhiana, who found force in the application and accepted the same holding that the two machines of Lajpat Rai caused tremors to the building of Dev Raj by which there was every danger of the falling of the same and that the flour mill and the oil crusher of Lajpat Rai actually caused nuisance to Dev Raj. He, therefore, ordered under Section 133 of the Code of Criminal Procedure that the nuisance be removed from the place within one month by his order, dated 31st August, 1964.

(3.) THE point which requires consideration is whether nuisance caused to one neighbour or his family would be deemed to have been caused to the community. As observed above, the learned Additional District Magistrate came to the conclusion that the working of the machines of the Petitioner caused nuisance to the members of the family of Dev Raj and in fact the same prayer was made in the application itself. He has given no finding that the community or the neighbours living in the vicinity were also inconvenienced or affected by the said nuisance. 'Community' does not mean only a neighbour or a single individual. It means something much larger. It does not mean the residents of a particular house but it means the public at large or the residents of a particular locality.