TILLAINATHER v. VADIVELU

TILLAINATHER v. VADIVELU.

P. C, Jaffna, 36,411.

Tom-toms-Unlicensed beating thereof-Breach of s. 90 of Ordinance No. 16 of 1865-Proclamation under s. 12 thereof-Meaning of the phrase " throughout the Island " in s. 12-Interpretation of the word " town " in s. 6-Grammatical structure of the interpretation clause-Meaning of " town and limits " in s. 90.

Where the accused were charged with having beaten tom-toms in the village of Batticotta without a license, and with having thereby committed an offence punishable under section 90 of Ordinance No. 16 of 1865, which it was alleged was brought into operation in the said Tillage by virtue of the Proclamation made under section 12 of the said Ordinance, and contained in the Gazette of December 2, 1898; and where it was contended that the term " throughout the Island " in section 12 referred only to proclaimed limits throughout the Island and not to every part of the Island, and that Batticotta not having been proclaimed did not come under the Ordinance, and that the interpretation of the word "town" in section 6 of the Ordinance included only villages set out for the purposes of the Ordinance and not every village, and that, therefore, even after giving this wider meaning to " town" in section 90, Batticotta, not having been set out for the purposes of the Ordinance, could not be brought thereunder-

Held, per MONCERIFF, J. and GRENIER, A.J. (LAYARD, C.J., dissenting) that "town and limits" in section 90 mean "town and gravets, " which in terms of section 6, would read " village and limits, " i.e., village and gravets or village up to their well-known and well-defined boundaries, and that there was no need of setting out the limits of a village.

" Set out for the purposes of the Ordinance " in section 6 refers only to " limits " and not to "village. "

" Throughout the Island " in section 12 means " throughout the inhabited parts of the Island," and not also throughout the uninhabited parts. .

Batticotta, being a village, would therefore be affected by the Police Ordinance up to its limits, i.e., its well-known and well-defined boundaries:

THE accused in this case were charged under section 90 of the Ordinance No. 16 of 1865 with disturbing the repose of the inhabitants at Vattukottai (Batticotta), a village about six miles from Jaffna, by beating drums at a performance of a comedy on the night of 23rd July, 1904, without having first obtained a license.

By section 12 of the Ordinance the Governor has power by Proclamation in the Government Gazette to declare that such of the provisions of the Ordinance as to him may seem meet shall come into operation throughout the Island, or in any Province, district, town, or place as shall appear to him to require the same, though there be no police force established therein.

In the Government Gazette of 2nd December, 1898, Governor Ridgeway proclaimed that certain sections of the Ordinance No. 16 of 1866, including section 90 thereof, " shall come into operation throughout the Island."

It was contended for the prosecution that, as Vattukottai was a Tillage within the Island, the accused, who had disturbed the repose of the inhabitants there, were liable under section 90. But the accused urged that the Proclamation in the Gazette would be ultra vires if its intention were to apply to any other place but " towns " as defined in section 6 of the Ordinance.

This section provides as follows: " The word ' town ' shall include, any village or limits set out for the purpose of this Ordinance.''

The Police Magistrate (Mr. B. J. Dutton) held that the place where the offence was alleged to have been committed was a village not included in the town of Jaffna, and that a village could not become a " town " without its name and boundaries being specially set out in the Governor's Proclamation. He acquitted the accused.

The Attorney-General appealed.

The case was first argue

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