TULSA NAIK AND 6 ORS. Vs. THE STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ALL the 7 Appellants have been convicted under Section 395, Indian Penal Code and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 8 years each. The prosecution case is that on February 23, 1960 at about midnight Madhab Jena (P.W. 2) of village Teghori was awakened from sleep on hearing sounds of stone pelting on the entrance door of his house and found torch lights flashing in front of his house. The dacoits were shouting that unless the door was opened, the inmates would be killed. P.W. 2 kept the door pressed from inside and loudly shouted for help from co -villagers. He did not get any assistant. On seeing the dacoits making entry after creaking open the door, P.W. 2 escaped through the back door, and after swimming a pond ran to the premises of the school where the Sub -Inspector of Police was camping. On getting information, the S.I. armed with a revolver and in the company of A.S.I. and 3 Constables, armed with lathis, ran to the spot with the information and one Harendra Kar (P.W. 19). On the spot they found 7 or 8 men standing on the road in front of the house of P.W. 2 ad keeping watch. Those persons pelted stones and shot arrows to the police party and attacked them with lathis and axes. The dacoits, who were inside the house, came out and joined others in attacking the police party. Constables Balaram Senapati (P.W. 43) and Md. Hassam Khan (P.W. 30) caught two of the dacoits. The Sub -Inspector, Assistant Sub -Inspector and Constable Naryan (P.W. 33) made a counter attack on the dacoits. Some villagers caught dacoit Tulsa Naik (Appellant No. 1), The dacoits injured Constables Senapati and Hassamand rescued the two men they had caught. They could not however rescue Tulsa but wounded the Sub -Inspector and Constable Narayan and a number of villagers. The Sub -Inspector fired his revolver several times. Then the gang of about 20 to 25 persons fled away leaving Appellant Tulsa, their bows, arrows, cloths, tangias and torches behind. After the departure of he dacoits, Madhab Jena examined his articles and cash and supplied a list of looted articles in F.I.R.(Ext. 1). This is how the prosecution originated.

(2.) ALL the Appellants deny that they were the members of the gang. They were tried with several other persons who were acquitted.

(3.) MR Misra raised the following contentions: