Summarize the following court judgment. iminal Appeal No. 24 of 1963. Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated November 19	 1962	 of the Punjab High Court (Circuit Bench) at Delhi in Criminal Revision No. 337 D of 1962. R. L. Kohli	 for the appellants. H. R. Khanna and R. N. Sachthey	 for the respondent. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by Mudholkar J. This is an appeal by special leave from the summary dismissal of the appellants ' application for revision by the High Court of Punjab. Eight persons were tried by the Assistant Sessions Judge	 Delhi	 for offences under section 148	 section 333/149	 and section 332/149	 Indian Penal Code. He acquitted five of them but convicted the three appellants before us of all the three offences and sentenced them to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year in respect of the offence under section 148	 rigorous imprisonment for two years in respect of the offence under section 332/149	 rigorous imprisonment for three years for the offence under section 333/149 and ordered that all the sentences will run concurrently. In appeal the Additional Sessions Judge	 Delhi	 set aside the convictions and sentences passed on the appellants for offences under section 148 and section 333/149	 altered the conviction of each of the appellants from one under section 332/149 to section 322 simpliciter and awarded the same sentence in respect of it as had been awarded by the Assistant Sessions Judge in respect of the offence under section 332/149. Briefly stated the prosecution case was that on September 16	 1961	 Mukhtiar Singh	 Licensing Inspector of the Delhi Municipal Corporation organised a raiding party for catching stray cattle within the limits of the Corporation. The party consisted of Balbir Singh	 Enforcement Inspector	 H. K. Bhanot	 Sanitary Inspector	 Kishan Singh	 Head Constable	 three foot constables and five cattle catchers. The party reached the neigbourhood of Mori Gate Chowk at about 5 a.m. and rounded up about 25 	or 30 stray cattle consisting of buffaloes and cows. While they were taking them to the Nigambodh Ghat cattle pound via Nicholson Road	 the three appellants who were carrying lathis with them approached the party and threatened them that unless they released the cattle they would have to face serious consequences. The members of the party informed them who they were and the cattle catcbers showed them their identity cards. 9 They explained to them that it was their duty to catch stray cattle	 to impound them and that the appellants could get them released by taking the steps provided by the rules. This	 however	 only enraged the appellants who raised shouts asking their friends to come along with lathis in order to help them to get the cattle released by force. Upon hearing the shouts the other accused persons arrived at the spot with lathis	 joined the appellants and all of them assaulted the members of the party	 caused injuries to them and got the cattle released by force. As a result of the assault	 P.W. 2 Kishan Singh sustained a grievous injury as well as some simple injuries	 P.W. 14 Khem	 P.W. 20 Padam Singh	 P.W. 10 Iqbal Singh	 P.W. 19 Nil Bahadur	 P.W. 12 Ram Mehar sustained simple injuries. The incident was seen by a number of persons who happened to come to the spot at that time. Eventually a report was lodged with the police	 investigation was taken up and the appellants and the other accused were placed before a First Class Magistrate	 who	 after making a preliminary enquiry	 committed them for trial by the Court of Sessions. We are not concerned with the defence of the accused persons who were acquitted. The defence of the appellants was that they were bringing the cattle after grazing and watering them and that when they approached Mori Gate at about 4.30 a.m. a group of persons under the employment of the Corporation met them	 belaboured them and eventually took them in a van to the police station. The appellants further say that they had acted in the exercise of their right of private defence of their property. Their defence has been rejected 'by the courts below. Before us Mr. Kohli who appears for the appellants has raised two points. The first point is that the raiding party had no authority to seize and impound the cattle and the second point is that the appellants who were the owners of the cattle had a right of private defence of their property	 that what they did was in exercise of that right and that	 therefore	 their conviction under section 332 was bad in law. The power to impound stray cattle is contained in section 418(1) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act	 1957 (66 of 1957)	 which runs thus : "If any horses	 cattle or other quadruped animals or birds are kept on any premises in contravention of the provisions of section 417	 or are found abandoned 10 and roaming or tethered on any street or public place or on any land belonging to the Corporation	 the Commissioner or any officer empowered by him may seize them and may cause them to be impounded or removed to such place as may be appointed by the Government or the Corporation for the purpose and the cost of seizure of these animals or birds and Of impounding. or removing them and of feeding and watering them shall be recoverable by sale or by auction Of those animals or birds;" The proviso which would be relevant in connection with another point runs thus: "Provided that any one claiming such animal or bird may	 within seven days of the seizure	 get them released on his paying all expenses incurred by the Commissioner in seizing	 impounding or removing and in feeding and watering such animal or bird	 and on his pro ducing a licence for keeping these animals and birds issued under the provisions of section 417. " The power under this section can be delegated by the Com missioner. But according to Mr. Kohli delegation of this power has not been established in this case. It is true that the Order of the Commissioner delegating the power under section 418(1) is not on the record of the case. It has	 however	 been placed before us along with the statement of the case. That order runs thus: "In exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 491 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act	 1957	 1 hereby direct that the power conferred on me under section 418(1) of the said Act shall subject to my supervision	 control and revision be exercised also by the Municipal employees mentioned in column 3 of the schedule given below to the extent stated in column 4 of the schedule. Sd/ P. R. Nayak	 Commissioner	 Municipal Corporation of Delhi. SCHEDULE Section Nature of power Designation of Scope Municipal employees 418(1) Seizure of certain Licensing Inspectors In respect of animals Licensing Inspectors stray cattle only do 11 Mr. Kohli	 however	 said that the delegation of power is in effective because	 according to him	 it purports to make a general delegation of power and does not specify the names of persons to whom the power is delegated. A perusal of the schedule below the order shows that the power of seizure of certain animals is specifically delegated and it is clearly indicated in column 4 thereof as follows: "In respect of stray cattle only" In the third column the designation of the municipal employees to whom the power is delegated has also been given. The section does not require the names of the particular officers in whose favour the delegation is made to be mentioned. What it requires is to specify the officers to whom the power is delegated. This only means that the designation of the officers to whom the power has been delegated need only to be mentioned. That has been done. We may add that section 491 of the Delhi Corporation Act permits delegation to any municipal officer or employee and	 therefore	 specific individual authorisation is not necessary. Then Mr. Kohli says that the words in the order of delegation shall subject to my supervision	 control and revision be exercised also by the Municipal employees mentioned in column 3 of the schedule" would show that the Commissioner 's actual presence on the spot was necessary. It is sufficient to say that "shall subject to my supervision etc. 	 does not mean under my supervision etc. " All that the order contemplates is that the delegation of power to the municipal employees is not absolute but subject to the overall authority of the Commissioner. This cannot mean that whenever a delegated power is being exercised by the municipal employees the Commissioner shall be required to be present. Mr. Kohli strenuously contended that the cattle could not be said to have been "abandoned" because the appellants who are their owners were actually present near the animals when they were rounded up. But this contention is contrary to the finding of each of the courts below which is to the effect that the rounding up operation took half an hour and that it was after the cattle were rounded up and were being taken to the cattle pound that the appellants appeared on the scene. This finding cannot be allowed to be challenged. A more serious contention of Mr. Kohli	 however	 is that under section 418	 cattle	 which the Corporation can impound	 must be ownerless or tethered on any street or public place or land 12 belonging to the Corporation. Admittedly the cattle in question were not tethered on any such place and	 therefore	 Mr. Kohli contends that their seizure was not permissible. In support of his contention that "abandoned" implies the complete leaving of a thing as a final rejection of one 's responsibilities so that the thing becomes "ownerless"	 Mr. Kohli has referred us to the Law Lexicon and Oxford Dictionary. The meanings relied on by him are as follows: "A thing banned or denounced as forfeited or lost	 whence to abandon	 desert	 or forsake as lost and gone." Wharton 's Law Lexicon. "To let go	 give up	 renounce	 leave off ; to cease to hold	 use or practise." The Oxford English Dictionary	 Vol. 1. In the Oxford Dictionary the word is also said to mean "to let loose; to set free; to liberate". Several other meanings of the word have been given both in that dictionary as well as in Wharton 's Law Lexicon. In the latter as also in Jowitt 's The Dictionary of English Law under 'abandonment ' are given cases from which it would appear that different meanings have been given to 'abandonment ' in different statutes. It will thus be seen that the meaning to be attached to the word 'abandoned ' would depend upon the context in which it is used. in the context in which it occurs in section 418(1)	 the meaning which can reasonably be attached to the word "abandoned" is 'let loose ' in the sense of being 'left unattended ' and certainly not 'ownerless '. It is the duty of the court in construing a statute to give effect to the intention of the legislature. If	 therefore	 giving a literal meaning to a word used by the draftsman	 particularly in a penal statute	 would defeat the object of the legislature	 which is to suppress a mischief	 the court can depart from the dictionary meaning or even the popular meaning of the word and instead give it a meaning which will 'advance the remedy and suppress the mischief '. (see Maxwell on Interpretation of Statutes	 11th edn. 221 224 and 266). In the Act before us when the legislature used the word "abandoned" it did not intend to say that the cattle must be ownerless. This is implicit in the proviso to sub section (1) of section 418 which says that any one 'claiming ' an animal which has been impounded under that sub section can	 within 7 days of seizure	 get it released on fulfilling certain conditions. Such a claim could only be made by 13 a person who is the owner of the animal impounded or who has at least the custody of the animal. We cannot	 therefore	 accept the first point raised by Mr. Kohli. Upon the finding that the raiding party was entitled in law to impound the cattle no question of private defence arises. For	 section 99 of the lndan Penal Code specifically says that there is no right of private defence against an act which does not reasonably cause the apprehension of death or of previous hurt		 if done	 or attempted to be done by the direction of a public servant acting in good faith under colour of his office. 'Me protection extends even to acts which will not be strictly justifiable by law. But here the act was fully justisiable by the law. There is thus no substance in the second point either. The appeal is dismissed. Appeal dismissed.

The members of a raiding party led by the Licensing Inspector of the Delhi Corporation having taken into custody 25 or 30 stray cattle	 were	 while taking them to the cattle pound	 belaboured with lathis by the three appellants and their friends	 as a result of which they received injuries. It was contended on behalf of the appellants that (i) there was no proper delegation 'of authority to impound cattle in favour of the persons forming the raiding party	 by the Commissioner	 whose personal presence to supervise the exercise of the delegated authority was	 in any case	 required by the very order delegating the authority; (ii) the cattle were not "abandoned" in the sense of being "ownerless"	 and therefore could not be legally impounded; and (iii) that the injuries were inflicted by the appellants in the lawful exercise of their right of private defence of property. HELD : (i) The order of the Commissioner placed before the Court along with the statement of case proved that the Commissioner had authorised licensing Inspectors to impound stray cattle. Section 418(1) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act	 1957 (Central Act 66 of 1957)	 did not require that the delegation of power must be to particular	 named	 individuals. Nor was the personal presence of the Commissioner to supervise the exercise of the delegated power necessary although according to the terms of the order the delegation was "subject to my supervision '	 control and revision." [11E F]. (ii) In the context in which the word "abandoned" occurred in section 418(1)	 the meaning which can reasonably be attached to it is "let loose" in the sense of being "left unattended" and certainly not "ownerless". It is the duty of the Court in construing a statute to give effect to the intention of the legislature so as to "advance the remedy and suppress the mischief". The legislature when it used the word "abandoned" in section 418(1) did not intend to say that the cattle must be "ownerless". [12E G]. Maxwell on Interpretation of Statutes (11th Edn.) pp. 221 224 and 266	 referred to. (iii) Section 99 of the Indian Penal Code specifically says that there is no right of private defence against an act which does not reasonably cause the apprehension of death or of grievous hurt	 if done	 or attempted to be done by the direction of a public servant acting in good faith	 tinder colour of his office. The protection extends even to acts which will not be strictly justified by law. In the present case the act was fully justifiable by the law. There was thus no right of private defence that could be claimed by the appellants. [13B C].