A municipal corporation is not a public servant within the meaning of Section 21 of the Indian Penal Code, and the period of limitation for filing an appeal against an order of acquittal is 60 days for non-public servants.

Avadh Behari Rohatgi, J.:- This is an appeal by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (Corporation) from an order of acquittal passed in favour of the respondent by the Metropolitan Magistrate, Delhi dated 28th August, 1978.

2. A complaint was filed by the Corporation against the respondent under Sections 4 and 16 of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 in the court of the Magistrate. This was done on behalf of the Corporation by Shri R.N. Gujral, Assistant Municipal Prosecutor. The learned Magistrate acquitted the respondent. From his decision the Corporation appeals to this court.

3. Mr. Monga on behalf of the Municipal Corporation does not dispute that this appeal was not filed within 60 days. It was filed much after the period of 60 days. Now Sub-Section (5) of Section 378 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, provides that :

"(5) No application under Sub-Sec. (4) for the grant of special leave to appeal from an order of acquittal shall be entertained by the High Court after the expiry of six months, where the complainant is a public servant, and sixty days in every other case, computed from the date of that order of acquittal."

This Sub-Section means that where the complainant is a public servant the period of limitation is six months and "in every other case" the period of limitation is 60 days.

4. The real question is whether in the present case the Municipal Corporation was the complainant or Sh. R.N. Gujral, Assistant Municipal Prosecutor, was the complainant. There can be no doubt that in the eye of the law the Municipal Corporation of Delhi was the complainant before the Magistrate. This question has been settled by the Supreme Court in Municipal Corporation of Delhi v. Jagdish Lal, AIR 1970 SC 7 : (1970 Cri LJ 1). There it was held that the Delhi Municipal Corporation was the complainant "in the contemplation of law", though the prosecutor one Mr. Mathur had instituted the complaint in his own name. The Supreme Court held that Sh. Mathur was acting in a representative capacity and the complainant was the Delhi Municipal Corporation. Ramaswami, J, speaking for the court said :

"It is true that Shri Sham Sunder Mathur filed the complaint petition on August 20, 1960. But in filing the complaint Shri Mathur was not acting on his own personal behalf but was acting as an agent authorised by the Delhi Municipal Corporation to file the complaint. It must, therefore, be deemed in the contemplation of law that the Delhi Municipal Corporation was the complainant in the case."

5. In view of this authoritative pronouncement it must be held that the complainant was none other than the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

6. Now the Municipal Corporation of Delhi is a local body. It is also a corporate body. Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 (the Act) creates a corporate body which has all the attributes of 'legal immortality'. Blackstone says that corporate bodies enjoy a kind of 'legal immortality' because they maintain a perpetual succession and go on for ever even though the individuals composing them may come or go. The corporate body has a name and seal. It is a creature of the law. It has an indefinite duration. It can own land. It can sue and be sued in its own name. This is the essence of the legal conception of corporation. Sec. 3 of the Act say :

"3. (1) With effect from such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint, there shall be a Corporation charged with the Provincial Government of Delhi, to be known as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

(2) The Corporation shall be a body corporate with the name aforesaid having perpetual succession and a common seal with power, subject to the provisions of this Act, to acquire, hold and dispose of property and may by the said name sue and be sued."

7. A corporate body cannot be a public servant within the meaning of Section 21 of the Indian Penal Code. A corporation is a legal entity. It acts through human agents. The agent can