JUDGMENT

1. The question upon which this Rule was issued is whether a certain form of gambling, which has become well known in Calcutta as Cotton Gambling, comes within the provisions of Section 44 of Act IV of 1866, as amended by Act III of 1897 (B.C).

2. We may safely say at the outset that this is a pure question of law, and has nothing to do with the nature and effect of the particular form of gambling now under consideration, which may be, and, in our opinion, is., a most pernicious form of gambling, and yet may not be rendered penal by the Act under which these convictions have been held.

3. The offence which is created by Section 44 of the Calcutta Police Act is that of owning or keeping, or being employed in, a common gaming house, or advancing or furnishing money for the purpose of gaming with persons frequenting that house.

4. The question then that arises in this case is, whether the premises in which the defendants carried on this cotton gambling is a common gaming house" within the definition given in the Act. That definition is: The words common gaming house' shall he taken to mean any house, room or place in which cards, dice, tables or other instruments of gaming are ke