JUDGMENT Mehrotra, J.
1. The opposite party was tried by the City Magistrate of Allahabad under Section 16 of the Uttar Pradesh Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1947. The magistrate quashed the proceedings and ordered the complaint to be consigned on the ground that the cognizance of the case was taken after six months from the date of the alleged offence. The offence is alleged to have taken place on 11 October 1954. The complaint was filed on 30 December 1954. The complaint was, therefore, filed within six months of the date of the commission of the offence. The magistrate, however, relied on a single-Judge decision of this Court in Madan Lal Haweliwala v. State and quashed the proceedings on the ground that the cognizance was taken beyond six months of the date of the commission of the offence. Section 29 of the Uttar Pradesh Shops and Commercial Establishments Act provides that No Court shall take cognizance of any offence under this Act or any rule or order made thereunder except on a complaint in writing of the facts constituting such offence made within six months of the date on which the offence is alleged to have been committed.
It was held by the single Judge of this Court in the case of Madan Lal Haweliwala v. State that in view of the provisions of Section 106 of the Factories Act, cognizance of a case has to be taken within three months of the date of the offence and relying upon that decision, the magistrate quashed the proceedings. It has however, been held by a Division Bench on this Court in the case of Gopal Das Sakseria v. State 1956 I L.L.J. 11 that under Section 106 of the Factories Act a complaint has to be filed within three months from the date of the offence. It is not necessary that the Court should take cognizance of the offence within such period. The single-Judge decision referred to above was expressly overruled by this Bench decision. Section 106 of the Factories Act also provides that--
No Court shall take cognizance of any offence punishable under this Act unless complaint thereof is made within three months of the date on which the alleged commission of the offence came to the knowledge of an inspector.
In our opinion the words of Section 29 of the Uttar Pradesh Shops and Commercial Establishments Act are very clear and Section 29 only provides that a complaint has to be filed in writing of the facts constituting an offence within six months of the date on which the offence is alleged to have been committed. It is not necessary under Section 29 that cognizance of an offence should be taken within six months of the date of the offence. It is contended that the complaint was filed beyond six months. It is open to the opposite party to take this point before the magistrate.
2. We therefore, allow this anneal set the order of the magistrate and send back the case to the magistrate for disposal in accordance with law.