Pamphlet classification under the Press and Registration of Books Act sustained conviction for missing printing particulars.

The Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867 requires every book or paper printed in India to bear the printer's name and place of printing. The court treated a four-page unstitched leaflet containing systematic allegations against named persons as a pamphlet, and therefore a "book" within the Act, because the statutory definition is broad and defamatory content does not prevent classification as a pamphlet or treatise. The concurrent finding that the leaflet had been printed at the applicant's press was not reopened in revision. The conviction and sentence for breach of the printing-particulars requirement were upheld.

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Issues: Whether the leaflet was a pamphlet and therefore a book within the meaning of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, so as to sustain the conviction for breach of the printing particulars requirement.

Analysis: Section 3 required every book or paper printed in India to bear the printer's name and place of printing. The Act defined "book" broadly to include a pamphlet, and the leaflet was a four-page unstitched composition containing systematic allegations against named individuals. A defamatory character did not exclude it from being treated as a treatise or pamphlet. The concurrent finding that it had been printed in the applicant's press could not be reopened in revision.

Conclusion: The leaflet was a pamphlet and therefore a book within the Act. The conviction and sentence were upheld.

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