TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1973 (10) TMI 62
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....A to 489D of the Penal Code ? 2. The material facts giving rise to this question are not in dispute and may be stated as under : G.V. Ramanaiah was convicted of offences under Sections 489A to 489D, Penal Code, on 17th July, 1968, by the Sessions Court, Nellore (Andhra Pradesh) and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a period of 10 years. Six other persons namely, (1) B. Sitaramireddi; (2) M. Rangareddy; (3) Ch. Somireddy; (4) K.E. Lakshman; (5) K. Balaram and (6) T. Mallikharjundu, were also tried and convicted of offences under all or some of the Sections 489-A to 489D, Penal Code and were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment by the same Court. On the occasion of Gandhi Centenary celebrations, the Governor of Andhra P....
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....within the sphere of the executive power of the Union and not of the State. It has also been averred that the aforesaid four prisoners were released owing to a mistake on the part of the jail authorities and they are liable to be remanded to undergo the unexpired terms of their sentence, if the State Government cancels the remission granted to them by mistake. 4. Section 401(1), Criminal Procedure Code, gives power to the appropriate Government to suspend the execution of the sentence, or to remit the whole or any part of the punishment to which a person convicted of an offence has been sentenced. Its Sub-section (6) provides : The appropriate Government may, by general rule or special orders, give directions as to suspension of....
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.... question is to be considered in the light of the above criterion. Thus considered, it will resolve itself into the issue : Are the provisions of Sections 489-A to 489D. Penal Code, under which the petitioner was convicted, a law relating to a matter to which the legislative power of the State or the Union extends ? 9. These four sections were added to the Penal Code under the caption, "Of Currency Notes and Bank Notes", by Currency Notes Forgery Act, 1899, in order to make better provisions for the protection of Currency and Bank Notes against forgery. It is not disputed, as was done before the High Court in the application under Section 491(1), Criminal Procedure Code, that this bunch of sections is a law by itself. "Currency, coinage ....
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....made the G.O., which is a "criminal law", the aforesaid excluding clause in Entry I does not operate. In support of this argument the learned Counsel has relied on certain observations of a Bench of the Madras High Court in Re. N.V. Natrajan. A.I.R. 1965 Mad 11. He has also referred to Paragraph 22.128, page 965 of H.M. Seervai's Constitutional Law of India; Articles 245 and 246 of the Constitution and R.L. Aurora Ram Ditta Mal v. State of U.P. and Ors. AIR1958All126 . 12. In reply, Mr. Rama Reddy, learned Counsel for the respondents, maintains that the G.O. in question does not fall under the head "Criminal law" and that this position is crystal clear on a combined reading of Entry 1 of List III and Entries 36 and 93 of List I. A....
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....ion of penal laws, providing for offences relating to a variety of matters, which are referable to the various Entries in the different Lists of the 7th Schedule of the Constitution. Many of the offences in the Penal Code relate to matters, which are specifically covered by the Entries in the Union List. Examples of such offences are to be found in Chapter VII, offences relating to the Army, Navy and Air Force; Chapter IX-A, offences relating to Elections; Chapter XII, offences relating to coin and Government stamps; Chapter XIII, offences relating to Weights and Measures; and the bunch of Sections 489-A to 489E, offences relating to Currency-Notes and Bank-Notes, which are referable to Entries Nos. 4, 72, 36, 50 and 36, respectively, of Li....
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....9;Criminal law' in List III. 16. It will be seen that the precise question for decision in that case was materially different fine occasion for examining the limits of the executive powers of the Union and a State with reference to the various types of offences in the Indian Penal Code never arose in that case. It is, therefore, not a profitable task to cull out an observation from the context of that case and use it for a different purpose. Moreover, in that case the High Court was considering the validity of a statutory provision enacted by the State Legislature. In the instant case, the Government Order in question cannot fall under the head "Criminal Law". It is an act done in the exercise of his executive functions by the Govern....