Summarize the following court judgment. minal Appeal No. 118 of 1958. Appeal from the judgment and order dated May 14	 1958	 of the Allahabad High Court in Criminal Revision No. 1594 of 1956	 arising out of the judgment and order of the Court of Additional Sessions Judge at Kanpur in Criminal Revision No. 13 of 1956. C. P. Lal	 for the appellant. 640 Gopi Nath Dikshit	 for the respondent. November 24. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by VENKATARAMA AIYAR	 J. The facts leading up to this appeal are these: On April 26	 1954	 the appellant was arrested by the Sisamau Police for offences under sections 420	 482	483	 485 and 486 of the Indian Penal Code on the allegation that he was in possession of 25 packets of Chand Chhap Biri	 which were alleged to bear counterfeit trade marks. On May 26	 1954	 one Harish Chandra Jain acting on behalf of Messrs. Mohan Lal Hargovind Das filed a complaint charging that the appellant was in possession of counterfeit bidis	 wrappers and labels and praying that a case under the sections above mentioned be registered and investigated. On that	 the Magistrate passed the following order : " section O. Sisamau. Please investigate and register a case. " After investigation	 the police submitted their chargesheet on September 30	 1954	 and summons was ordered to the appellant on July 22	 1955. On September 17	 1955	 the appellant filed an application before the Magistrate wherein he raised a preliminary objection that the proceedings were barred by section 15 of the (4 of 1889)	 hereinafter referred to as the Act. That section provides : " No such prosecution as is mentioned in the last foregoing section shall be commenced after the expiration of three years next after the commission of the offence	 or one year after the first discovery thereof by the prosecutor	 whichever expiration first happens. " The contention of the appellant was that the offence was discovered on April 26	 1954	 when he was arrested and the goods seized	 and that	 in consequence	 the issue of process on July 22	 1955	 was beyond the period of one year provided under section 15 of the Act	 and that the proceedings should therefore be quashed as barred by limitation. The Magistrate rejected this contention	 and a Revision Petition preferred against this order to the Additional Sessions Judge	 Kanpur	 641 shared the same fate. The appellant then filed a further Revision Petition to the High Court of Allahabad	 being Criminal Revision No. 1594 of 1956	 and the same was heard along with other similar Revision Petitions by a Bench consisting of James and Takru	 JJ. By their judgment dated May 13	 1958	 the learned Judges held that the prosecution commenced when the complaint was presented on May 26	 1954	 and that as the discovery was on April 26	 1954	 the proceedings were within time under section 15 of the Act. In view of the importance of the question raised	 they granted leave to appeal to this Court under article 134 (1)(c) of the Constitution	 and that is how the matter comes before us. The point for decision is	 when does a prosecution commence for purposes of section 15 of the Act	 whether on the date when the complaint is preferred	 or when the process is issued thereon? The word "prosecution " is not defined in the Act	 nor are there any provisions therein bearing on this question. Now	 under the law and apart from statutory prescriptions	 a prosecution commences	 where it is at the instance of a private prosecutor	 when the complaint is preferred. The position is thus stated in Halsbury 's Laws of England	 Vol. X	 3rd Edn.	 p. 340	 para. 630: " Criminal prosecutions	 except where there are statutory provisions to the contrary	 may be commenced at any time after the commission of the offence. A prosecution is commenced	 when an information is laid before a justice	 or	 if there is no information	 when the accused is brought before a justice to answer the charge	 or	 if there is no preliminary examination before a justice	 when an indictment is preferred. " It is further stated there that different statutes provide for various periods of limitation within which a prose cution could be commenced after the commission of the offence	 and that three years is the period provided for an offence under the Merchandise Marks	 Act	 1887	 which corresponds to the . It is therefore settled law that unless 642 there is something to the contrary in the statute	 when a private complaint is presented it is the date of pre sentation thereof that marks the commencement of the prosecution. Now	 what is the nature of the prosecution under section 15 of the Act ? It is relevant in this connection to refer to sections 13 and 14	 which run as follows: section 13: '	In the case of goods brought into India ' by sea	 evidence of the port of shipment shall	 in a prosecution for an offence against this Act or section 18 of the 	 as amended by this Act	 be prima facie evidence of the place or country in which the goods were made or produced. " section 14(1): " On any such prosecution as is mentioned in the last foregoing section or on any prosecution for an offence against any of the sections of the Indian Penal Code	 as amended by this Act	 which relate to trade	 property and other marks	 the Court may order costs to be paid to the defendant by the prosecutor or to the prosecutor by the defendant	 having regard to the information given by and the conduct of the defendant and prosecutor respectively. (2) Such costs shall	 on application to the Court	 be recoverable as if they were fine. " The object of the above provisions is to protect the rights of persons who manufacture and sell goods with distinct trade marks against invasion by other persons passing off their goods fraudulently and with counterfeit trade marks as those of the manufacturers. Normally	 the remedy for such infringement will be by action in Civil Courts. But in view of the delay which is incidental to civil proceedings and the great injustice which might result if the rights of manufacturers are not promptly protected	 the law gives them the right to take the matter before the Criminal Courts	 and prosecute the offenders	 so as to enable them effectively 	and speedily to vindicate their rights. It is for this	 reason that a short period of limitation is provided heir preferring a complaint under a. 15 of the and there is also a special provision for award of costs of the proceedings to or by the complainant. in Ruppell vs Ponnuswami Tewan (1)	 the question &rose whether a prosecution launched by the complainant in 1898 in respect of goods sold and marked with what was alleged to be	 a counterfeit trade mark in 1893 was in time. In deciding that it was a barred under section 15 of the Act	 the Court observed as follows: Section 15 of the Merchandise Mark	% Act IV of 1889	 enacts that no prosecution such as the present shall be commenced after the expiration of one year after the first discovery of the offence by the prosecutor. The reason for this limitation is clear. Ordinarily the infringement of a trade. mark is rather a civil than a criminal wrong	 but as civil proceedings may require much time and expenditure to bring them to a conclusion	 the Legislature	 in its anxiety to protect traders	 has allowed resort to the criminal courts to provide a speedy remedy in cases where the aggrieved party is diligent and does not by his conduct show that the case. is not one of urgency. if	 therefore	 the person aggrieved fails to resort to the criminal courts within a year of the offence coming to his knowledge	 the law assumes that the case is not one of urgency	 and it leaves him to his civil remedy by an action for injunction. " It will be noticed that the complainant is required to resort to the Court within one year of the discovery of the offence if he is to have the benefit of proceeding under the Act. That means that if the complaint is presented within one year of such discovery	 the requirements of section 15 are satisfied. The period of limitation	 it should be remembered	 is intended to operate against the complainant and to ensure ' diligence on his part in prosecuting his rights	 and not against the Court. Now	 it will defeat the object of the enactment and de Drive traders of the protection which the law intended to give them	 if we were to hold that unless process is issued on their complaint within one year of the discovery of the offence	 it should be thrown out. It will be an unfortunate state of the law if the trader whose rights had been infringed and who takes lip the matter promptly before the Criminal (1) Mad. 488. 644 Court is	 nevertheless	 denied redress owing to the delay in the issue of process which occurs in Court. The appellant relies on certain decisions as showing that. the prosecution must be held to commence only when process is issued and not when complaint is filed. In Sheik Meeran Sahib vs Ratnavelu Mudali (1)	 De Rozario vs Gulab Chand Anundjee (2) and Golap Jan vs Bholanath Khettry (3) cited by the appellant	 the question was whether an action for damages for malicious prosecution would lie when the complaint was dismissed without notice to the plaintiff. It was held that the plaintiff could not be held to have been prosecuted unless process was issued to him and that where the complaint was dismissed without such process being issued	 there was no prosecution and no action for damages in respect of such prosecution would lie. These decisions have no bearing on the present question. In suits for damages for malicious prosecution	 one of the points to be decided is	 whether the plaintiff was	 in fact	 prosecuted; and if he was	 no question arises as to when the prosecution commenced. On the other hand	 the point for decision in a prosecution under the Act is	 not whether there was a prosecution but when it was instituted ; and a question as to whether there was prosecution or not would be wholly foreign to it. Indeed	 in an action for damages for malicious prosecution	 when it is held that there was prosecution	 that could properly be held to have commenced when the complaint was filed and not when the process was issued. Vide the observations of Woodroffe	 J.	 in the course of the argument in Golap Jan vs Bholanath Khettry (3) at p. 884. The decisions in Sheik Meeran Sahib vs Ratnavelu Mudali (1)	 De Rozario vs Gulab Chand Anundjee (2) and Golap Jan vs Bholanath Khettry (3) therefore do not throw any light on the matter now under consideration. It may be that these decisions may have to be reconsidered in the light of the recent decision of the Privy Council in Mohamed Amin vs Jogendra Kumar Bannerjee (4)	 wherein it was observed: (1) Mad. 181 (2) Cal. (3) Cal. (4) 	 331. 645 " The test is not whether the criminal proceedings have reached a stage at which they may be described as a prosecution; the test is whether such proceedings have reached a stage at which damage to the plaintiff results. " Vide also Ramaswami Iyer on The Law of Torts	 4th Edn.	 p. 318. The decision in R. R. Chari vs The State of Uttar Pradesh (1) was relied on by the appellant as showing that until process was issued	 there was no prosecution. There	 the appellant was proceeded against under the provisions. of the Prevention of Corruption Act No. 2 of 1947. The Deputy Magistrate	 Kanpur	 issued a warrant for his arrest on October 22	 1947. Thereafter	 on December 6	 1948	 the prosecution obtained the necessary sanction under the Act. The contention of the appellant was that the prosecution must be held to have been instituted against him on October 22	 1947	 when he was arrested	 that as no sanction for his prosecution had been obtained at that time	 the proceedings were bad	 and that the defect was not cured by sanction being obtained subsequently on December 6	 1948. This Court held that under the special provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act	 the police had the power to arrest the appellant pending investigation and that was all the effect of the order of the Deputy Magistrate dated October 22	 1947	 and that therefore there was no prosecution on the date of the arrest. But here	 we are dealing with a private complaint	 and as pointed out at p. 315 of the Report	 section 190(1)(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code would apply to such cases	 and the Magistrate must be held to have taken cognizance when the complaint was received. This decision	 in our opinion	 does not assist the appellant; nor does the decision in Gopal Marwari vs King Emperor (2). There	 considering sections 200 and 202 of the Criminal Procedure Code	 the learned Judges observed that there was a distinction between initiation of proceedings before the Magistrate and his taking cognizance of the same. It is Sufficient to say that that is not (1) ; (2) Pat 433. 646 the question 'which we have got to decide here	 and on the language of section 15 of the Act	 which is what we are concerned with in this appeal	 all that is required is that a private 'prosecutor ' should prefer this complaint within one year of the discovery of the offence '	 and if that is done	 ' the bar under that section cannot apply. We agree with the decision of the learned Judges of the Court. below that the	 proceedings are not barred by section 15 of the Act. This appeal is accordingly dismissed. Appeal dismissed.

On April 26	 954	 the appellant was arrested for offences under sections 420	 482	 483	 485 and 486 Indian Penal Code and bidis alleged to bear counterfeit trade marks were seized from him. On this a complaint was filed on May 26	 against the appellant that he was in possession of counterfeit bidis	 wrappers and labels. After investigation	 the police submitted a charge sheet on September 30	 1954	 and summons was ordered to the appellant on July 22	 1955. The appellant raised a preliminary objection before the Magistrate that the proceedings were barred by section 15 of the Indian Merchandise Marks Act. He contended that the offence was discovered on April 26	 1954	 when he was arrested and the prosecution which commenced with the issue of process against him on July 22	 1954	 was beyond the period of one year provided by section 15. Held	 that the prosecution was not barred by section 15 as the prosecution commenced on the presentation of the complaint which was within one year of the discovery of the offence and not on the issuing of the process. It is settled law that unless there is something to the contrary in the statute	 when a private complaint is presented it is the date of presentation thereof that marks the commencement of the prosecution. The period of limitation is intended to operate against the complainant and not against the Court. It will defeat the object of the Act and deprive traders of the protection of the law if it were held that the complaint should be thrown out unless process was issued within one year. of the discovery of the offence.