Name: GHULAM ULLAH
Roll no: BL-1457
Class: BA-LLB
Section: A
Subject: CRIMINAL LAW - II
Submitted to: Sir ABDUL GHAFFAR KORAI
OFFENCES AFFECTING THE PUBLIC
HEALTH, SAFETY, CONVENIENCE,
DECENCY AND MORALS
The Pakistan Penal Code in chapter XIV from sections 268 to 294A deals with the
offence of public nuisance. These offences include affecting public health, safety,
convenience, decency and morals. Nuisance is a French term which means ‘to harm’ or ‘to
injure’. Anything that causes hurt, inconvenience, or damage or which essentially interferes
with the enjoyment of life or property. The objective of this chapter is to safeguard the
public health; safety and convenience by making those acts which pollute the environment
or threaten endanger public health directly or indirectly have been brought under the
purview of the penal code. Chapter XIV is a comprehensive document on public nuisance. It
consists of 28 sections. Eleven principles have been made publishable under this code.
PUBLIC HEALTH
Spread of infections: Sections 269-270 deals with this in detail, it is necessary for
the preservation of society that no one should jeopardise its existence by any
criminal, unlawful or negligent act. The current COVID-19, coronavirus, would be
an example under this section, someone escaping quarantine and endangering people
in society could be criminally liable under this section. Some of the diseases that are
dangerous to life are Syphilis, smallpox, Cholera, Plague, AIDS.
Adulteration of food, drink and drugs: Section 271 deals with adulteration of food
and drink intended for sale and the next section deals with the sale of noxious drink.
It is an offence to knowingly sell food unfit for consumption or mix the same with
other food and supply it as food for human consumption. Adulteration means
infusion of some foreign substance or mixing of food, drink or drugs with other
articles of inferior quality or deleterious character.
Fouling water: Section 277 deals with when water has been made foul in a public
spring or reservoir to render it less fit for the purpose for which it is ordinarily used,
this is punishable under this section. The purpose for which the water is ordinarily
used must be considered in determining whether there has been a voluntary
corruption, within the meaning of this section. The words ‘corrupts’ or ‘fouls’ means
some act which physically defiles or fouls the water, bathing in a tank or spitting
into a public well fouls drinking water.
Making the atmosphere noxious to health: Section 278 deals with a specific form
of public nuisance and not a private nuisance. It punishes the public nuisance of
vitiating the atmosphere of a place in such a manner as to make it noxious to the
health of all the people living and carrying their business in the neighbourhood or
passing along a public way.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Rash driving: Section 279 deals with rash or negligent driving that endangers the
life or is likely to cause hurt or injury to any person. The accused was riding rashly,
negligently without exercising due care for the safety of others which a prudent man
might reasonably be expected to exercise, he would be guilty under this section. The
prosecution in order to establish guilt under Section 279 is required to prove the
following-
o The accused was riding or driving the vehicle on a public way.
o The manner in which the driving of the accused was rash and negligent to
such an extent to endanger human life or possibly injure or cause hurt to
another person.
Rash navigation: Section 280 & 282 deals with rash navigation, these sections deal
with the cases of rash navigation of a vessel on the sea and all waterways, public or
private lakes but not to navigation on the high seas. 282 deals with conveying
passengers by water for hire in an unsafe or overloaded vessel. The section is not
only confined to overloading but also the conveyance of a passenger in an unsafe
vessel.
Endangering public ways: Section 281 deals with exhibition of false signals to a
vessel with a desire to mislead a navigator. Due to the gravity of this offence,
punishment in such cases may extend to seven years imprisonment or fine or both.
Section 283 deals with the causing of danger or obstruction in a public way or public
line of navigation an offence. This section seeks to punish persons who do acts
causing danger, obstruction or injury to any person in a public way.
Negligent handling of poisons, combustibles and explosives: Sections 284 to 289
require absolute care on the part of those handling substances, such as poisons, which
may prove dangerous to life, if not handled carefully. These sections deal with
negligent conduct concerning fire, machinery, explosive substances, repairing
buildings, pulling down buildings, animals and so on.
PUBLIC MORALS AND DECENCY
Spread of obscenity: Section 292 deals with sale, etc., of obscene books, etc., the
fundamental object and purpose of criminal law is to protect and conserve the safety
and security of primary personal rights of individuals, such as right to life, body,
right to property, habitation etc,. But also to protect and guard morals and public
decency and to conserve the moral welfare of the state. A careful perusal of the
provisions in section 292 would reveal the word obscenity has not been defined.
However, judicial attempts to explain the words have indicated a test to explain the
context. The test of obscenity given Cockburn,CJ of the House of Lords in R. v.
Hicklin stated the test of obscenity is this, whether the tendency of the matter charged
as obscenity is to deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to such immoral
influence and into whose hands a publication of this sort may fall. It is quite certain
that it would suggest to the minds of the young of either sex, or even to persons or
more advanced year, thoughts of a most impure and lubricious character.
Section 293 deals with sale of obscene books to young people, and 294 deals
with obscene acts and songs.
Public gambling: Section 294A prohibits the keeping of any lottery office to draw
any lottery etc and provides punishment of imprisonment upto six months or fine or
both. The lottery is treated on the same footing as gambling because a lottery is a
distribution of prizes by lot or chance without the use of any skill as in gambling. The
section makes an exception in favour of state-owned or sponsored lotteries.
