ANWARALI SARKAR Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellants were tried by a special Tribunal constituted under the Tribunals of Criminal Jurisdiction Act, 1952, (West Bengal Act 14 of 1952). The learned Judge who presided over the Tribunal framed charges against all the appellants of conspiracy to commit offences under Sections 302, 324, 342, and 427, Penal Code and Sections 3 and 5, Explosive Substances Act and Section 19 (f), Indian Arms Act of 1878. Seven of the appellants together with one Nepal Chandra Mazumdar who has been acquitted were also charged with specific offence under S. 802, Penal Code for having intentionally caused the death of F. G, Turnbull, a foreman of the Structural Section of Messrs, Jessop and Co. at Dum Dum. One appellant, Simon Bam was charged with a specific offence under Section 302, Penal Code for having intentionally caused the death of A. Dwyer, an employee of Messrs. Jessop and Co. The seven appellants who were charged with the specific offence of murder of F. G. Turnbul were also charged with a specific offence under Section 201, Penal Code on the allegation that they had caused evidence of the murder to disappear by removing the dead body of Turnbull and throwing it into a burning furnace; appellant Rajkrishna Chakravarty was charged under Section 201, Penal Code for causing the evidence of the murder of A. Dwyer to disappear by removing his body and putting it inside a burning furnace. Raj Krishna Chakravarty was further charged with a specific offence under Section 3, Explosive Substances Act for causing explosion by explosive substances and another under Section 5 of the same Act for being in possession of explosive substances, namely, bombs; the appellant Makhan Lal Bose was also charged with a specific offence under Section 302, Penal Code for intentionally causing the death of Augier, a Foreman of the Mechanical section of Jessop Factory and another offence under Section 324, Penal Code for having caused hurt to Asoke Kumar Das, an Assistant Foreman of the Company by means of iron rods. He was also charged under Section 3, Explosive Substances Act for having caused explosion by means of explosive substances; the appellant Santosh Kumar Mitra was further charged with a specific offence under S. 435, Penal Code for commission of mischief by fire in respect of a motor car belonging to A. E. Howell and another offence under S. 427, Penal Code for mischief by causing damage in respect of a motor car belonging to Mr. Vajda; the appellants Nepal Chandra Manna, Kartic Chandra Manna and Kartic Chandra Dhara were further charged with a specific offence under Section 342, Penal Code for wrongful confinement of Madan Mohan Sadhukhan and Durgadas Lahiri; Kartic Chandra Dhara was further charged under Section 342, Penal Code for wrongful confinement of P. C. Bose; Ramjatan Singn was further charged under Section 342, Penal Code for two offences of wrongful confinement of A. P. Thakur and of Sambhupada Banerjee,

(2.) All the appellants have been convicted of the conspiracy charge,' that is, under Section 120-B read with Sections 302, 324, 342 and 427, Penal Code, Sections 3 and 5, Explosive Substances Act and 19(f), Indian Arms Act. Anwarali, Balmukul, Kartio Chandra Dhara, Nepal Chandra Manna and Ramjatan Singh have afl been convicted further under Section 302, Penal Code for the murder of Turnbull. Anwarali, Balmukul, Kartic Chandra Dhara and Ramjatan Singh have been convicted under Section 201, Penal Code for causing the evidence of the murder of Turnbull to disappear. Simon Ram has been, convicted of the charge under Section 302, Penal Code for causing the death of A. Dwyer. Rajkrishna Chakravarty has been convicted under Section 201, Penal Code for causing disappearance of the evidence of the murder of A. Dwyer. He has also been convicted under Sections 3 and 5, Explosive Substances Act; Makhan Lal Bose has been convicted under Section 302, Penal Code for causing the death of Augier and under Section 324, Penal Code for causing hurt to A. K. Das and under Section 3, Explosive Substances Act; Nepal Chandra Manna, Kartic Chandra Dhara, Kartic Chandra Manna and Ramjatan Singh have further been convicted of several specific offences under Section 342, Penal Code with which they had been charged; Santosh Kumar Mitra has been further convicted of specific offence under Sections 435 and 427. Penal Code With which he was charged. The appellants convicted of the offence of murder have been sentenced to transportation for life for that offence and no separate sentence has been passed for the other offences. Those appellants who have not been convicted of any offence under Section 302, Penal Code have been sentenced to transportation for life on the conspiracy charge and no separate sentence has been passed for the other offences as against them.

(3.) The prosecution case is that between the 24th and 26th February 1949 these appellants who were all workmen at that time of Jessop Factory at Dum Dum entered into a conspiracy for committing several offences, the principal offence agreed upon being the murder of European officers of the Company and other offences agreed upon being the wrongful confinement of other officers of the company, the possession and use of explosive substances, the commission of mischief to property, the Causing of hurt, the possession of arms in order to facilitate the achievement of the main object of the conspiracy, namely, the murder of Eupropean officers of the Company. It is alleged that for more than a year before these dates relations between the Company and the workmen, specially those who were paid wages every week on a daily basis, had been strained over the claim of bonus; and that matters came to a head with the discharge of 137 workmen of the Mechanical Section of the company on the 24th February. It is said that exasperated by this last move, the leading members of the Labour Union to which most of the workmen of the Company belonged, agreed on a scheme to murder European officers of the company and that to prevent obstruction from Indian and Anglo-Indian officers they agreed further that at the time the European officers would be attacked and murdered, the Indian and Anglo-Indian officers would be kept confined in such places and in such manner as would make it impossible for them to see the actual occurrence.