Judgement

Appeal (No. 30 of 1948), by special leave, against two judgments of the High Court (June 17, 1947) setting aside two orders of the court of the Presidency Magistrate, 6th Additional Court (September 16, 1946), whereby two prosecutions of the appellant for the offences of hoarding and profiteering under the Hoarding and Profiteering Prevention Ordinance, 1943 (hereinafter called " the Ordinance ") were held to be barred by reason of the provisions of s. 403 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, since in the view of the magistrate the accused had been previously tried and acquitted on exactly similar charges and facts by a court of competent jurisdiction.

The following facts and statutory provisions are taken from the judgment of the Judicial Committee. The appellant was the sole proprietor of Messrs. Alladin Dhanji, dealers in crockery, glassware, and cultery, in Bombay. He was charged in the court of the Presidency Magistrate, 6th Additional Court, under s. 13, sub-s. 1, read with s. 5 of the Ordinance with the offence of hoarding. He was also separately charged in the said court, under s. 13, sub-s. 1, read with s. 6 of the Ordinance with the offence of profiteering. He ple