Full Judgment
P.N. Mookerjee, J.
1. The petitioner before me was prosecuted on a charge of 'violating the provisions of Clause 18(1), West Bengal Cotton Cloth and Yarn Control Order, 1948 by not keeping the price list of the textile goods in his shop hanging.' The petitioner's defence was that he was not guilty. On the evidence before him the learned Magistrate came to the finding that the petitioner had no price list hanging in his shop at the time when the offence was said to have been committed. The learned Magistrate, upon that finding, convicted the petitioner and sentenced him to pay a fine of Rs. 50/- in default to suffer rigorous imprisonment for one month. The learned District Magistrate refused to interfere with this order of conviction and sentence in revision. The petitioner then moved this Court and obtained the present Rule.
2. The short submission that has been made before me on behalf of the petitioner is that, even accepting the finding of the learned Magistrate that the petitioner had no price list hanging at the relevant time in his shop to be correct, that alone would not be sufficient for the conviction of the petitioner inasmuch as the prosecution had not proved that the petitioner had at the relevant time in his shop cloth having prices stamped thereon and in the absence of such proof Clause 18, West Bengal Cotton Cloth and Yarn Control Order, 1948 could not be attracted to the case and no question of any violation of that provision would arise. It seems to me that on the materials on record the petitioner's submission has considerable force and cannot but be accepted. There is nothing on the record to show that at the relevant time the petitioner had in his shop cloth of the description mentioned in Clause 18 of the Control Order, referred to above, and, accordingly, the failure to hang a price list in his shop cannot be construed to be an offence of violation of the provisions of the said clause. The conviction of the petitioner must, accordingly, be quashed and the sentence, passed upon him, must be set aside.
3. This Rule is, therefore, made absolute. The conviction of the petitioner and the sentence passed upon him are set aside and the fine, if paid, is directed to be refunded.