Banerji, J.

1. This appeal under Sec. 417, Criminal Procedure Code, is against an order of acquittal passed by Mr. S. C. Gupta, Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class, Patna, in a trial under Sec.26, Sub-section (1) of the Industrial Disputes Act (Act XIV of 1947).

2. The facts culminating in the trial of the 25 respondents and their subsequent acquittal may be summarised as follows:-

-

There is a Limited Company, known as the Patna Electric Supply Company, Limited, (henceforth to be described as the Company) for supply of electricity to the people at Patna, and the head of the local management in 1952 was Sri A. V. Ramaswami (P. W. 1). The workers of this Company have their own Union, known as the Patna Electric Supply Workers Union, (hereafter to be described as the Union) with one Sri Ranen Ray as the President and Sri Damodar Jha as the General Secretary.

In March 1952, the Union made certain written demands and, in due course Government referred the disputes to a Tribunal for adjudication. The notification by which the Industrial Tribunal was constituted is dated the 29th of March, 1952, and has been marked as Exhibit 9. Annexure "A" shows the nature of the dispute between the