HARNATH CHATTERJEE Vs. STATE OF W B

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ONE Mobarak Mia along with his wife boarded down from a truck in front of a cycle repairing shop belonging to one Ashim chatterjee in Rampurhat in the District of Birbhum on May 25, 1982. As soon as Mobarak and his wife came down from the truck the accused haranath caught hold of Mobarak and snatched Rs. 238/- from his possession and started assaulting him. To save himself Mobarak took shelter in the shop room of Ashim. Haranath started destroying the shop. Ashim requested Mobarak to leave the shop which he did. Ashim then closed his shop and went to his house. He however, came out from his house on an alerm raised by a minor boy that his shop was set on fire. He along with the Headmaster of the local school Lakshman Chandra Saha went to the place of occurrence and found his shop being burnt out. In the process his adjoining shop belonging to Adinath Dutta was also burnt. On a query made by him he came to know Haranath Chatterjee set his shop on fire. On his complaint the police started a criminal case and Haranath was arrested. He faced a trial after framing of charges inter alia, under sections 379, 436, 427 and 323 of the Indian Penal Code.

(2.) AT the time of trial the prosecution could not produce Mobarak and as such the allegation of theft could not be proved. The accused was acquitted from the charge of theft. The prosecution produced as many as seven witnesses including the complainant himself. The complainant corroborated what he had said before the police earlier as recorded above. P. W. 2 being an adjoining owner of a shop deposed that Mobarak came to his shop and complained that he was robbed of Rs. 238/- and was also assaulted by Haranath. Subsequently, Haranath went to his shop and purchased a cigarette and matchbox. He stated that he would set the shop of Ashim on fire. Immediately after lighting a cigarette by the matchstick he set the shop of Ashim on fire. He also warned others present at the locale that in case they would try to extinguish the fire, they would also be assaulted. Being afraid of that P. W. 2 closed his shop and went inside and watched the incident from his verandah. P. W. 4, an adjoining shop owner almost corroborated what P. W. 2 had said. P. W. 3 deposed that while he was sitting in verandah of the library, he found the accused to set Ashim's shop on fire by a matchstick, as a result whereof, the shop of Adinath was also destroyed. P. W. 5 was also an eyewitness to the incident. However, his deposition was disbelieved by the learned Judge. P. W. 6 and P. W. 7 were the Police Officers who investigated the incident.

(3.) THE learned Judge although acquitted the accused from the charge of theft sentenced him under Section 436 read with Section 427 of the Indian Penal Code for ten years. Hence, this appeal by the accused.