THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE RAJA ELANGO CRIMINAL APPEAL No.90 of 2006 15-12-2014 BETWEEN:
The State of Telangana, rep. by its Public Prosecutor, High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad for the State of Telangana and the State of Andhra Pradesh …..Appellant AND Smt O.S.Lakshmi And another.
…..Respondents/accused THIS COURT MADE THE FOLLOWING JUDGMENT: THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE RAJA ELANGO CRIMINAL APPEAL No.90 of 2006 JUDGMENT:
This Criminal Appeal is preferred by the State challenging the Judgment dated 16.07.2001 passed in S.T.C.No.107 of 2000 by the Court of the Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Medchal, whereby the learned Judge convicted A.1 and A.2 for the offence under Section 67 of the Factories Act, and accordingly sentenced them to pay a fine of Rs.5,000/- (Rupees five thousand only) each, in default, to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of three months each.
The case of the prosecution is as follows:
That the accused allowed one Gafar and another Yadul, who are below the age of 14 years to work in their factory, thereby they contravened the provisions of Section 67 of the Factories Act. Hence, the charge.
To prove the case of the prosecution, P.W.1 was examined and Exs.P.1 to P.6 were marked on behalf of the prosecution. D.W.1 was examined and Exs.D.1 to D.3 were marked on behalf of the accused.
On appreciation of oral and documentary evidence and on hearing the arguments on both sides, the trial Court found the accused guilty for contravention of Section 67 of the Factories Act and accordingly convicted and sentenced them as stated above. Aggrieved over the minor punishment given to the accused, the State has preferred the present criminal appeal.
Heard and perused the material available on record.
Learned Public Prosecutor submits that the offence under Section 67 of the Factories Act is punishable under Section 14 of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act and the punishment prescribed is imprisonment which shall not be less than three months, but may extend to one year or with fine, which shall not be less than Rs.10,000/-, but may extend to Rs.20,000/- or with both, and as such, prays this Court to punish the accused with higher punishment.
This Court perused the Factories Court. Section 92 of the Factories Act lays down ‘General Penalty for Offences’. As per the said provision, for any contravention of any provisions of the Factories Act, the occupier and manager of the factory shall each be guilty of an offence and punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine, which may extend to one lakh rupees or with both. Section 92 of the Act does not specify any minimum sentence of imprisonment or minimum fine. Hence, the submission of the learned Public Prosecution is not acceptable. Hence, this Court is not inclined to interfere with the sentence imposed by the Court below against the accused, and as such, the conviction and sentence imposed by the Court below is hereby confirmed.
The Criminal Appeal is accordingly dismissed. Miscellaneous applications, if any pending in this appeal, shall stand dismissed.
JUSTICE RAJA ELANGO 15.12.2014 pln