SABITRI SHARMA Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has challenged the order of conviction and sentence for an offence under S.411 of the Indian Penal Code ('I.P.C.' for short).

(2.) The facts of the case may be stated in brief. P.W. 2, an employee in the office of the Revenue Divisional Commissioner, Sambalpur, was living in R.D.C. Colony, Sambalpur. In the month of Nov. 1979 he lost a pregnant cow which had gone out for grazing with a cowherd boy (P.W. 4). Although P.W. 2 searched and reported the fact to the residents of the colony he did not lodge a missing report at the police station. On 10-2-1980 the cow with a new born heifer was found in the house of one Halayudh Nanda serving as an Assistant Settlement Officer and residing in the nearby H.L.O. Colony. When P.W. 2 along with his companions (P.W. 1 and others) met Halayudh Nanda, the latter gave out that he had purchased the cow from the petitioner for a consideration of Rs. 400/-. He could not, however, produce a written document. He also promised to return the cow to her. On the same day P.W. 2 lodged F.I.R. (Ext. 1) at the police station. The cow with the new born heifer, as a matter of fact, was seized from the petitioner's cowshed on the same day and charge-sheet was submitted against her under S.379, I.P.C.

(3.) The petitioner asserted that the cow and heifer belonged to her. After considering the evidence adduced by the prosecution, however, the learned Judicial Magistrate, Sambalpur, held that the pregnant cow belonging to P.W. 2 was stolen and was recovered from the house of the petitioner who failed to prove its ownership. Accordingly, instead of convicting her under S.379, I.P.C. he convicted her under S.411, I.P.C. and imposed a sentence of fine of Rs. 1000/-, in default to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of 3 (three) months. The learned Additional Sessions Judge, Sambalpur, upheld the finding and sentence.