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14. Final arguments advanced by Ld. APP for State and ld. counsel for accused heard. Case file perused carefully.

STATE Vs. SATISH SEHRAWAT 456 /2013 (Vasant KunjSouth) Page no. 8 of 13

15. It is argued by Ld. APP for State that accused has affixed the poster/banner on an electric pole situated in front of H. No. C24, Nangal Dewat Village, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, and rukka Ex.PW-1/C was prepared by the IO and accordingly, the accused be convicted for offence punishable u/s 3 DPDP Act.

(3) The aforesaid penalties will be without prejudice to the provisions of section 425 and section 434 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (45 of 1860) and the provisions of the relevant Municipal Acts."

18. Though in the present matter a poster/banner mentioning "hum kya karenge? Bhrastachariyo ko 6 mahino me Tihar Jail Bheja Jayega, Bijli ke rate aadhe se bhi kam kiye jayege, har ghar tak saaf paani pahuchaya jayega, rojana 700 liter paani har ghar ko muft diya jayega "aam aadmi party, bijwasan vidhan sabha Mob no 8588833436" was found affixed on an electric pole, yet it has to be decided as to whether all the ingredients as mentioned in Section 3 DPDP Act have been fulfilled or not.

22. Further, no independent witness was joined in the investigation by the IO. PW has not explained in their testimony as to why other public witnesses were not joined in the investigation. It was within the reach of the IO to examine the independent witness to prima facie satisfy that the poster was affixed on the spot. No evidence has been brought on record to prove that the alleged poster was affixed by the accused or with his authority.

23. In the present matter, the allegation against the accused is that one poster/hoarding mentioning "hum kya karenge? anna hazare wala lokpal parit hoga mahilaon ki suraksha ke liye conmando force "aam aadmi party bijwasan vidhan sabha Mob no 8588833436" was found affixed on an electric pole in front of H. No. C-24, Nangal Dewat Village, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. Now, it has to be seen whether installing of poster/hoarding would amount to an offence u/s 3 of DPDP Act, or not. Prior to enactment of DPDP Act, West Bengal Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 1976 was prevalent in Delhi. Section 3 of West Bengal Prevention of STATE Vs. SATISH SEHRAWAT 456 /2013 (Vasant KunjSouth) Page no. 11 of 13 Defacement of Property Act is same to same as Section 3 of DPDP Act. For the sake of clarity, Section 3 of West Bengal Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, is reproduced here as under: -

25. The question which is to be decided in the present case is whether the present case is covered by the aforesaid judgment and whether the aforementioned judgment also applicable to offence u/s 3 of DPDP Act. Provisions of Section 3 of DPDP Act and Section 3 of the West Bengal Prevention of Defacement of Property Act are similar to each other and, therefore, the ratio of the aforementioned judgment of T.S. Marwah (supra) would also be applicable to the provision of Section 3 of DPDP Act. In STATE Vs. SATISH SEHRAWAT 456 /2013 (Vasant KunjSouth) Page no. 12 of 13 these circumstances, affixing of a poster/hoarding mentioning "hum kya karenge? anna hazare wala lokpal parit hoga mahilaon ki suraksha ke liye conmando force "aam aadmi party, bijwasan vidhan sabha Mob no 8588833436" would not amount to an offence u/s 3 of DPDP Act.