HRUDANANDA MOHANTY Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner assails the order of conviction recorded against him by the trial court and affirmed by the court of appeal under section 379 of the Indian Penal Code sentencing him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year for having committed theft of Rs. 1,950/- from the chest pocket of the first-informant Debraj Pattnaik (P.W. 1) while he was travelling in a bus on March 20, 1979.

(2.) As has been submitted at the Bar, the only evidence against the petitioner was the recovery of Rs. 1,950/- from a place behind the latrine of the Athgarh Police Station consequent upon a statement said to have been made by the petitioner that he had kept the amount concealed. This evidence has been admitted under section 27 of the Evidence Act.

(3.) Law has been well-settled that the conditions necessary for the application of section 27 of the Evidence Act are that: