SUNDARAM Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant, Sundaram, was tried upon a charge under Section 303 of the Indian Penal Code by the learned Sessions Judge of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, without the aid of a jury. The learned Judge found the appellant guilty of the offence and sentenced him to death.

(2.) The prosecution case was that the appellant had been previously convicted of an offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to undergo life imprisonment. While in jail, serving the sentence, the appellant often fell ill and frequently complained of divers ailments, fie also complained of insufficient medical attention. On August 12, 1955, the District Magistrate visited the jail and made the following remarks in the Visitors' Book :

(3.) The investigation which followed ended with a charge-sheet against the appellant being laid on December 23, 1955, but he could not be brought to trial until July, 1956, as, in the opinion of the doctors who had examined him from time to time, he had been of unsound mind and thus incapable of making his defence.