S.S.GREWAL,J - (1.) THIS petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (hereinafter referred to as 'the Code') relates to quashment of order dated 9.5.1989 (copy Annexure P-1) and order dated 24.7.1989 (copy Annexure P-2) passed by the District Magistrate, Amritsar extending the period of ban on entry of the petitioner in the Guru Nanak Devi University Campus, Amritsar from 24.7.1989 to 24.9.1989.
(2.) IN brief, allegations in this petition are that the petitioner is working as Lecturer in Physics in the Guru Angad Dev College, Khadoor Sahib, District Amritsar. He got registered himself with Guru Nanak Dev University and at present is doing Ph.D. In Physics. The petitioner has written one research paper, which has been duly approved and published in the Physics Conference held at Guwahati, and another paper written by the petitioner was also approved, appreciated for publication in the Inter-National Scientific Conference held in U.S.A. in the year 1989. The petitioner continued as a Research Scholar of the said University under the guidance of Narinder Pal Singh and thus, incurred the wrath of Dr. S.S. Bhatti, who, got registered a false Criminal Case against the petitioner under Sections 427/506 IPC in which the petitioner was granted anticipatory bail. It was further pleaded that the impugned order was got passed from the District Magistrate, Amritsar by Dr. S.S. Bhatti who is Professor and Head of Physics Department of the same University. The allegations that the impugned orders passed on the report of Dr. S.S. Bhatti were specifically denied. There is no need to go into these allegations for the disposal of this petition. This main ground on which the impugned orders have bee assailed is to the effect that the District Magistrate under sub-section (4) of Section 144 of the Code can only pass an order which shall remain in force for not more than two months from the date, it is passed. Since the first order under Section 144 of the Code was passed by the District Magistrate on 9.5.1989, the same could remain in force only for a period of two months and not beyond that period. The District Magistrate has no authority to extend the said period in view of specific bar contained under sub-section (4) of section 144 of the Code referred to above. Only the State could exercise that power. No such power obviously has been exercised by the State for extension of period for which the District Magistrate had initially passed the order.
(3.) FOR the foregoing reasons, the impugned order dated 24.7.1989 (copy Annexure P-2) cannot be legally sustained and the same is hereby ordered to be quashed. This petition is allowed accordingly. Petition allowed.;