Legal Provisions of Section 96 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr.P.C.), India.
Application to High Court to set aside declaration of forfeiture:
In fact, Section 96 and the previous Section 95 should be read together as the order passed by the State Government under Section 95 can be challenged under Section 96 in the High Court having territorial jurisdiction of the State which passes the order. But the inquiry by the High Court will be confined only to the issue whether the publication in question contains objectionable matters referred to in Section 95 of the Code. It is not necessary for the Court to consider whether the words contained in the publication actually brought about enmity and hatred between the two communities or not.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
In a case where only some of the grounds in the notification by State Government were valid the High Court refused to set aside the order on the ground that merely some of the grounds were not valid.
Sub-section (1) also lays down the limitation for filing an application to set aside an order of forfeiture. Application must be made within two months from the date of publication in the Gazette of such notification relating to forfeiture and not from the date of order of forfeiture. Section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963 applies to such applications. An application filed beyond two months of date of publication is liable to be dismissed unless there are valid reasons for condonation of delay in the opinion of the High Court.
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