JUDGMENT

1. The petitioners who have obtained the present Rule are the editor, the printer and the publisher of the Bengali newspaper called Dainik Basumati. On the 23rd April 1926 an item headed "Telegram to the Nakhoda Mosque" was published in a conspicuous position at the top of a column. The petitioners were thereupon charged before the Chief Presidency Magistrate with having committed an offence u/s 153A of the I.P.C. The defence taken was that they published the telegram to draw the attention of the authorities to a piece of information received from a reliable source so that they might trace the persons responsible for the disturbances and find some means of securing peace between the two communities.

2. The learned Chief Presidency Magistrates took the view that the publication of this telegram did not fall within the explanation of Section 153A. But having regard to the circumstances of the case he came to the conclusion that it would be sufficient to deal with the petitioners u/s 562 of the Criminal P.C., and dismissed them with a warning not to publish rumours of this nature in future particularly at a time of tension. The telegram in question is in these terms:

It is rumou