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TMI Blog1951 (3) TMI 23X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... any pursuant to an order of the Government of Bihar dated 5th December, 1047. The case for the prosecution was as follows: The company had deliberately failed to comply with the orders for supply of sugar issued from time to time under the provisions of the Sugar and Sugar Products Control Order, 1047, by officers of the Government duly authorised in that behalf. and, in consequence, the Government made the following order on 5th December, 1947 :-- "In exercise of the powers conferred on the Central Government by cl. (1) of sub-section (2) of section 3 of the Essential Supplies (Temporary Powers) Act, 1946, which have been delegated to the Provincial Government in relation to foodstuffs in the notification of the Government of India, Department of Food, No. PY 603 (2)-1 dated 21st October, 1946, the Governor of Bihar is pleased :-- (1) to authorise the District Magistrate, Patna, and/or the Special Officer-in-charge of Rationing, Patna, to search the stock of sugar held by Messrs. Jagdishpur Zamindary Company, Bhita, in the District of Patna, which is about to commit a contravention of the order of the Chief Controller of Prices and Supplies, Bihar, made under cl. 7 (1) (ii) ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s, may, by notified order, provide for regulating or prohibiting the production, supply and distribution thereof, and trade and commerce therein. (2) Without prejudice to the generality of the powers conferred by sub-section (1), an order made thereunder may provide- (j) for any incidental and supplementary matters, including in particular the entering, and search of premises, vehicles, vessels and aircraft, the seizure by a person authorised to make such search of any articles in respect of which such person has reason to believe that a contravention of the order has been, is being, or is about to be committed, the grant or issue of licences, permits or other documents, and the charging of fees therefor." It was contended that an order under sub-section (1) should be in the nature of a rule or regulation of general application, like the Sugar and Sugar Products Control Order, 1947, issued by the Central Government on 4th August, 1947, as the sub-section confers on the Central Government only the power to "provide for regulating or prohibiting" the production, supply, distribution, etc., of essential commodities, and does not authorise the making of ad hoc or spec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r it speaks of "an order made under section 3 which prohibits him (that is, the person prosecuted for its contravention) from doing any act or being in possession of a thing without lawful authority etc." The restricted construction of section 3 contended for by the appellant's counsel would render the scheme of the Act largely unworkable, and we have no hesitation in rejecting it. Even so, it was argued, an order for seizure could be made only subject to the conditions and limitations specified in clause (j) of sub-section (2) of section 3, that is to say, only where the person authorised in that behalf "has reason to believe that a contravention of the order [an order made under sub-section (1)] has been, is being, or is about to be committed ". In the present case, the order of 5th December, 1947, directing the seizure of 5,000 maunds of the company's sugar, in the execution of which the appellant has been found to have obstructed the officers of the Provincial Government, recited that the company was "about to commit a contravention of the order of the Chief Controller of Prices and Supplies, Bihar, made under cl. 7. (1) (ii) of the Sugar and Sugar Pro ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... scope of section 186 of the Indian Penal Code as we are of opinion that the appellant's argument must fail on another ground. It is manifest that sub-section (2) of section 3 confers no further or other powers on the Central Government than what are conferred under sub-section (1), for it is "an order made thereunder" that may provide for one or the other of the matters specifically enumerated in sub-section (2) which are only illustrative, as such enumeration is "without prejudice to the generality of the powers conferred by subsection (1)" Seizure of an article being thus shown to fall within the purview of sub-section (1), it must be competent for the Central Government or its delegate, the Provincial Government, to make an order for seizure under that sub-section apart from and irrespective of the anticipated contravention of any other order as contemplated in clause (j) of sub-section (2). The order' of 5th December, 1947, must, therefore, be held to be a valid order, notwithstanding its reference to the order of the 27th September, 1947, as being about to be contravened. If the latter order was incomplete and inoperative and consequently there could be no ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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