N Criminal Appeal No 162 of 1971
Appeal by special leave from the Judgment and order dated the 11th December 1970 of the Calcutta High Court in Criminal Revision No 145 of 1969
NC Talukdar Prodyut Kumar Chatterjee and Sukumar Basu for the Appellant
GS Chatterjee and Sukumar Basu for the Respondents
783 The Judgment of the Court was delivered by CHANDRACHUD J
The appellant who is a homeopathic practitioner runs a dispensary at Harrison Road Calcutta
In the issue of a Hindi newspaper Sanmarg dated September 14 1967 he had the following advertisement published New Life New Vigour New Spirit New Wave
If you want a cure see today well known world famous experienced registered Physician
Special diseases such as oldness in youth all sorts of defects in nerves or weakness laziness are treated with full responsibility with new methods new machines of science and electric treatment and are cured permanently  In behalf of this advertisement the appellant was prosecuted under section 7 read with section 3 of the Drugs and Magic Remedies objectionable Advertisements Act 21 of 1954
The learned Presidency Magistrate 8th Court Calcutta convicted the appellant of the aforesaid charge and sentenced him to pay a fine of Rs 100 
The order of conviction and sentence having been confirmed by the High Court of Calcutta the appellant has filed this appeal by special leave
The Drugs and Magic Remedies objectionable Advertisements Act provides by section 3 in so far as relevant that no person shall take part in the publication of any advertisement referring to any drug in terms which suggest or are calculated to lead to the use of that drug for the maintenance or improvement of the capacity of human beings for sexual pleasure or the diagnosis cure or treatment E Of any disease or condition specified in the Schedule to the Act
Item 14 of the Schedule refers to Disorders of the nervous system 
Section 7 of the Act makes it penal to contravene any of the provisions of the Act
The contention of the appellant was and before us is that the particular advertisement does not refer to any drug and therefore the provisions of the Act are not attracted
For appreciating this contention it is necessary to refer to section 2b of the Act which runs thus 2
In this Act unless the context otherwise requires a     b drug includes i a medicine for the internal or external use of human beings or animals ii any substance intended to be used for or in the diagnosis cure mitigation treatment or prevention of disease in human beings or animals iii any article other than food intended to affect or influence in any way the structure or any 784 organic function of the body of human beings or animals iv any article intended for use as a component of any medicine substance or article referred to in sub clauses i ii and iii The learned Magistrate as well as the High Court have taken the view that the advertisement in question refers to a drug as defined by section 2b ii above as machines of science are a substance intended to be used in the diagnosis cure or treatment of diseases in human beings
We do not propose to examine the correctness of this view because it seems to us clear that in any event the impugn ed part of the advertisement refers to a drug as defined by section 2biii
Any article other than food which is intended to affect or influence in any way any organic function of the body of a human being is a drug within the meaning of that provision
The so called machines of science or of electric treatment whose magically curative properties were advertised by the appellant are Articles intended to influence the organic function of the human body
Indeed the very claim of the appellant is that by the use of these machines he could cure nervous diseases amongst other ailments
That a machine is an article requires no great learning either to expound or to understand
A machine is a tangible thing which can both be seen and felt and as such it answers the description of an article  within the meaning of section 2b iii of the Act
The Shorter oxford English Dictionary  Ed 1964 Vol
I p 102 says that article  means
inter alia a piece of goods or property
Webster s New World Dictionary  defines an article  as a commodity and commodity  as any useful thing or any article of commerce
See Ed
1962 pp 83 and 295
Putting it simply a machine is a thing and is therefore an article
Law may not all be commonsense and logic may not be the life of law but commonsense is not taboo in law courts
A machine is after all intended to be and is conceived as a useful thing and is therefore an article
The Statement of objects and Reasons to the Act says that many an advertisement causes the ignorant and the unwary to resort to quacks who indulge in such advertisements for treatments which cause great harm
The appellant may not be a quack so will be assume but his machines of science designed to confer on man kind the blessings of New Life New Vigour New Spirit New Wave are most likely to trap the ignorant and the unwary
The articles of commerce which he has benefully advertised must as far as possible and without doing violence to the language of the Act be brought within the mischief of the Act
It does no violence either to commonsense or to rules of interpretation to say that a machine is an article
In the result we confirm the judgment of the High Court though for a different reason and dismiss this appeal
PBR Appeal dismissed


Summary:
Section 3 of the Drugs and Magic Remedies objectionable Advertisements Act provides that no person shall take part in the publication of any advertisement referring to any drug in terms which suggest or are calculated to lead to the use of that drug for the maintenance or improvement of the capacity of human beings for sexual pleasure or the diagnosis cure or treatment of any disease or condition specified in the Schedule to the Act
Section 7 of the Act makes it penal to contravene any of the provisions of the Act
The appellant inserted an advertisement in a newspaper to the effect that he would treat diseases with new methods new machines of science and electric treatment
He was prosecuted under section 7 read with section 3 of the Act and was convicted and sentenced
The High Court confirmed the conviction and sentence
On appeal to this Court
it was contended that the particular advertisement did not refer to any drug and therefore the provisions of the Act were not attracted
Dismissing the appeal  HELD Machines of science designed to confer on mankind the blessings of New Life New Vigour New Spirit New Wave advertised by the appellant are most likely to trap the ignorant and the unwary
The articles of commerce which the appellant had banefully advertised must be brought within the mischief of the Act
784 GH 1 Any article other than food which is intended to affect or influence in any way any organic function of the body of a human being is a drug within the meaning of that provision
The so called machines of science or of electric treatment whose magically curative properties were advertised by the appellant are articles intended to influence the organic function of the human body
784C 2 A machine is a tangible thing which can both be seen and felt and as such it answers the description of an article within the meaning of section 2biii of the Act
A machine is intended to be and is conceived as a useful thing and is therefore an article
It does no violence either to commonsense or to rules of interpretation to say that a machine is an article
784 D E