JUDGMENT

Banerjee and Handley, JJ. - This is a reference by a Presidency Magistrate, namely, the Municipal Magistrate of Calcutta, under the first part of Section 432 of the Code of Criminal Procedure; and the question upon which our opinion is asked as stated in the 5th paragraph of the letter of reference is "whether the Administrator General of Bengal can be prosecuted under the Calcutta Municipal Act without the sanction of the Government, for non-compliance with the requirements of the Act in respect of the large number of houses vested in him as Administrator General." Though the question is stated in the manner set out above, in paragraph (2) of the letter of reference is stated a fact which has some bearing upon the question submitted to us for our opinion; and that fact is this,--that the Administrator General has been appointed administrator to the estate to which the house in question appertains, by an order of Court on the death of the executors appointed by the will of the late proprietor. That being then the question submitted for our opinion, the point for consideration is whether the sanction of the Government is necessary for the institution of the prosecution in a