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INSPECTOR OF POLICE v. KALUARATCHI
NLR43V533
1942 Present: Soertsz J.
INSPECTOR OF POLICE v. KALUARATCHI
668-M. C. Colombo, 36,178.
Obstructing public
servant-Refusing admission to premises for effecting repairs to feeder
pillar-Electricity Ordinance (Cap. 158) s. 6-Penal Code, s. 183.
The Electricity Ordinance, section 6, enacts that the Governor may, for the
placing of appliances and' apparatus for the supply of energy, confer upon any
public officer any of the powers, which the Telegraph authority possesses with
respect to the placing of telegraph lines and posts for the purpose of a
telegraph established or maintained by Government. By Gazette notification the
Governor conferred upon the officers of the Electricity Department" the powers
which the Telegraph authority possesses with respect to the placing of telegraph
lines or posts for' the purpose of a telegraph established or maintained" by
Government".
Section 10 of the Telegraphs Ordinance gives power to do and perform all other
acts, matters, things necessary for the purpose of establishing, constructing,
repairing, improving, &c.
Held, that repairing- is a function necessary .tender the Electrical Ordinance
to ensure that appliances and apparatus placed under section 6 of the Ordinance
continue in a condition in which they can be described as appliances and
apparatus for the supply of energy and that the power' to enter a land for the
purpose of repairing has .been given by necessary implication.
Where the accused refused to open
a gate, which was locked, in order to permit an officer of the Electrical
Department to enter the premises for the purpose of repairing a feeder pillar.-
Held, that the accused was guilty of offering voluntary obstruction to a public
servant.
Police Sergeant, Hambantota v. Simon Silva (40 N. L. R. 534) followed.
APPEAL
from a conviction by the Magistrate of
Colombo.
H. V. Perera, K.C. (with him S. de Soyza and E. A. G. de Silva), for
accused, appellant.
H. A. Wijemane, C.C., for complainant, respondent.
Cur. adv. vult
October 19, 1942. SOERTSZ J.
The accused-appellant in this case was charged for that he did .. voluntarily
obstruct a public servant to wit Mr. Muthubalasuriya, Assistant Engineer,
Government Electrical Department, in the execution of his duty by refusing his
admission into premises 164, Thimbirigasyaya road, for the purpose of effecting
repairs to a feeder pillar situated in the premises, and having thereby
committed an offence punishable under section 183 of the Penal Code ".
In order to sustain this charge it was necessary to prove (a) that the, Public
Officer referred to was entitled to enter upon this land for the purpose
aforesaid; (b) that what the accused-appellant did or said amounted to voluntary
obstruction. In regard to the former of these elements, the evidence of the
Chief Engineer and Manager of the Government 'Electrical Undertakings
Department, taken with his letters P 1 and P 2, sent to the appellant on July 15
and on August 7, 1941, respectively, shows that the case for the prosecution is
that the Public Officer concerned in this case had the right to enter upon this
land under section 6 of the Electricity Ordinance (Cap. 158), read with the
Notification published in the Government Gazette No. 7,622 of December 23, 1927,
and with section 10 of the Telegraphs Ordinance. (Cap. 147).
It is necessary to quote these sections and the notification for the purpose of
examining the case for the prosecution as well as the case for the defence. '
Section 10 of the Telegraphs Ordinance, so far as it is material, enacts as
follows:-
" The telegraph authority may from time to time place and maintain a telegraph
line under, over, along or across, posts in or upon, any immovable property; and
for that purpose it shall be lawful for any officer in the employ of the
Government in the Telegraph Department, and for the servants, workmen, and
laborers employed by or under s
