UMESH CHANDRA PAL Vs. KING

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant was tried by a Special Tribunal of Alipore constituted under the West Bengal Black Marketing Act, 1948 and convicted under Section 3 read with Section 2 (h) of that Act, also under Section 3 read with Section 2 (h) and Section 6 of the Act, and under Section 474, Penal Code, and was sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment for the first mentioned offence and rigorous imprisonment for one year for the second offence. No separate sentence was passed under Section 474, Penal Code. The two sentences under the two offences under the West Bengal Black Marketing Act were ordered to run con. currently. It was further ordered that the hand printing press together with the printing outfit seized were forfeited under Sub-section (3) of Section 3 of the Act.

(2.) The prosecution case was that on the night of 25th April 1948, a Sub-Inspector of the Enforcement Branch, Calcutta, accompanied by certain other Police Officers and some search witnesses went to premises No. 18, Fakir Chand Mitra Street and on search of the portion where this accused lived found under the bed and also in a trunk a large number of bread coupons which, according to the prosecution, are forged documents. A hand-printing machine was also found in one of the rooms and certain blocks from which it is said these bread coupons had been printed. There were some bread coupons the printing of which was only partly finished.

(3.) The accused pleaded not guilty, his suggestion being that these bread coupons said to have been forged had been planted in his house by his landlord as an easy way for evicting him from the building.