073-NLR-NLR-V-37-SILVA-v.-SALA-GURU.pdf
SOERTSZ A.J.—Silva v. Sola Guru.
335
1935Present: Soertsz A.J.
SILVA v. SALA GURU.
255—P. C. Dandagamuwa, 16,535.
Goat—Theft of goat—Exclusive Jurisdiction of Village Tribunal—Penal Code,s. 368.
Theft of a goat is not punishable under section 368 of the Penal Code.^^PPEAL from an order of the Police Magistrate of Dandagamuwa.
June 25, 1935. Soertsz A.J.—
The complainant appeals from the order of the Police Magistrate referringhim to the Village Tribunal which the Magistrate says has exclusivejurisdiction. The charge was laid under section 368 and related to thetheft of a goat. The schedule to the Village Communities Ordinance,No. 9 of 1924, read with section 61 gives the Village Tribunal exclusivejurisdiction in cases under section 366 except when the stolen propertyis produce of a plantation, or exceeds Rs. 20 in value or where the theft isaccompanied by violence to person. Those exceptions do not apply inthis case, and the Police Magistrate, therefore, regarded this as a case inwhich the Village Tribunal has exclusive jurisdiction. He is right in thisview, unless the charge has been rightly laid under section 368 of thePenal Code. The Village Tribunal has no jurisdiction in regard to offencesunder section.368. Section 368 provides for cases of theft of (a) any bull,cow, steer, buffalo, heifer, or calf. Is a goat any one of these? I do notthink it is. The bull belongs to the species Bos. According to theImperial English Dictionary a bull is the male of any bovine quadruped,or of the different species of the genus Bos. Cow, steer, buffalo, heifer,calf are all said to fall under the genus Bos. A goat, according to thesame dictionary is a well-known horned ruminant quadruped of the genus
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SOERTSZ AJ.—Silva v. Sala Guru.
Capra. I, therefore, am of opinion that section 368 does not apply.I agree, however, that it is desirable that a case such as this should betried in the Police Court. Section 64 of the Village Communities Ordinanceprovides a method by which it may be possible to obtain such a trial.
The appeal must be dismissed.
Appeal dismissed.