BOMBAY: Francis Edwin Skinner, Branch Representative and Attorney in India of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of America and of the International Bible Students Assoc­iation of England, was fined Rs. 100 for being guilty of a breach of the Defence of India Rules.

Mr. Skinner had been informed by the Bombay Government that the Central Government had come to the conclusion that the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society’s Literature represented a potential menace to security and must be prevented from reaching the public ... Subsequently a handbill was found circulating in Bombay and the Police on a search seized two pamphlets. Prosecution was then launched for publication of the pamphlets.

The Chief Presidency Magistrate convicting the accused said Mr. Skinner had claimed to be acting under the mandatory orders of God and not under the direction of any temporal orders of an earthly ruler. He had therefore, respectfully but firmly declined to accept the authority of the Government to serve such an order on him … The Magistrate said that to discuss the validity of this reasoning would lead to a theological discussion with which the court was not concerned. It was sufficient that the accused had disobeyed the order served on him. — Dawn Delhi

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2019