095-NLR-NLR-V-65-CHARLIS-APPUHAMY-Appellant-and-W.-T.-SENEVIRATNE-Inspector-of-Police-Respon.pdf
TAMBIAH, J.—-Oharlia Appuhamy v. Seneviratne
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196SPresent: Tambiah, J.
CHABLIS APPUHAMY, Appellant, and W. T. SENEVIRATNE(Inspector of Police),-Respondent –
S. 0. 954 of 1962—M. G. Chilaw, 43499
Vagrants Ordinance (Cap. 32)—Section 4 (c)—Meaning of word “ elsewhere ”.
By Section 4 (c) of the Vagrants Ordinance :—
Every person wilfully exposing his person in an indecent manner
in any street, road, highway, or public place or elsewhere, to the annoyanceand disgust of others shall be deemed a rogue and vagabond. …”
Held, that the word “ elsewhere ” in the Section means any place other thana public place. There is no room for the application of the ejusdem generisprinciple in the context.
ApPEAL from a judgment of the Magistrate’s Court, Chilaw.
J.D. Aseervatham, for accused-appellant.
R.I. Obeyesekere, Crown Counsel, for the Attorney-General.
Cur. adv. vult.
February 12, 1963. Tambiah, J.—
The accused-appellant was convicted for wrongfully exposing hisperson in an indecent maimer to the annoyance of one Emalin WijesingheEkanayake and others, an offence punishable under section 4 (c) of theVagrants Ordinance and was sentenced to pay a fine of Rs. 20 or indefault to undergo one month’s rigorous imprisonment.
The only question for decision in this appeal is whether the appellanthas committed an offence under section 4 (c) of the Vagrants Ordinance.
Section 4 (c) of the Vagrants Ordinance (Cap. 32) enacts :
“4 (c) every person wilfully exposing his person in an indecentmanner, or exhibiting any obscene print, picture, or otherindecent exhibition, in any street, road, highway, orpublic place or elsewhere, to the annoyance and disgust ofothers .”
The appellant’s counsel argued that the word “elsewhere”, in theabove section, means a public place. He also urged that the ejusdemgeneris principle should be applied in construing the meaning of theword “ elsewhere ” in the context.
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TAMB.IAH, J.—Gitariia ApptJvnny ». Samira**»
I cannot agree with his argument. The words " street, road, highway,public place, or elsewhere” in the oontext of somac© 4 (c) at the VagrantsOrdinance, do not, in my view, belong to the same genus. IT there is nomention of a genus in a sentence, there is no room for the application of theejusdem generis principle (vide United Towns Electric Go. Ltd. v. Attorney-General of Newfoundland1, per Lord Thanfcerton). Any attempt toconstrue the word “ elsewhere ” in the context to mean a public placewould not only lead to an absurdity, but would also render the latterpart of the section meaningless and ungrammatical.
It is significant to note that the English Vagrants Act (1824) s. (4) hasomitted the word “ elsewhere ” (vide Stone’s Justices’ Manual p. 2621).The deliberate inclusion of the word ” elsewhere ” in section 4 (1) of ourVagrants Ordinance in juxtaposition to “ public place ”, shows that theword means any place other than a public place. If the words of astatute are in themselves precise and unambiguous, then no morecan be necessary than to expound these words in their natural sense.The words themselves alone do, in such case, best declare the intentionof the law-giver (vide Sussex Peerage Case2; Abeyewardene v. Amaradasa3).In such a case, every word must be given a meaning unless the contextotherwise requires a different construction.
The intention of the Legislature in enacting section 4 (c) is to punishany person who wilfully exposes his person in an indecent manner orexhibits any obscene print, or picture or other indecent exhibitionin any place to the annoyance and disgust of others.
The appellant’s counsel also contended that the whole scope of theVagrants Ordinance is to prevent idling or doing obnoxious acts in apublic place. But this contention is untenable since certain acts donein private premises are also penalised by the Ordinance (vide section 3
[c)etseq.).
For these reasons, I dismiss the appeal.
Appeal dismissed.
1 (1939) 1 A. B. R. 423 at 428.3 (1844) 11 01. c& F. at 143.
(1945) 30 O. L. W. 55.