BHIMA SHAW Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an sppeal from the judgment of the Sessions Judge of Balasore convicting the appellants under Section 400, Penal Code and sentencing them to various terms of imprisonment. Fortyfive persons were tried in the Court of the learned Sessions Judge for an offence under Section 400, I.P.C., on the allegation that they belonged to a gang of persons associated for the purpose of habitually committing dacoity during the period from 28 -11 -49 to 18 -7 -52.

(2.) THE accused persons belong to various communities, diverse castes and two different States. Some of them, namely, Tarak Chandra Banerji, Haradhan Mukherji, Gour Chandra Dutta and Amulya Chandra Das belong to Bengal. The rest of them belong to Orissa; but most of them are residents of Balasore district. Accused Prananath Patnaik and his cousin Kali Charan Patnaik, however, belong to Puri district and accused Ma -heswar Maharana belongs to village Patpur, P. S. Dharmasala in Jaipur subdivision of Cuttack district. All the dacoities were said to have taken place either in Balasore district or in Cuttack district during the period in question.

(3.) THE learned Sessions Judge held that of the aforesaid offences items 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,, 14, 15, 16 17, 20, 21, 23, 26, 27, 28, 30 and 31 were committed by the gang either with or without the participation of the approver but that in respect of items 18, 19, 22, 24, 25 and 29 it was not clearly established that the gang was responsible for these offences.