BAHADUR BHOI AND 4 ORS. Vs. THE STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE five Petitioners were convicted on a charge of alleged theft of paddy crops from certain plots of land stated to be adjacent to the land of the accused persons and sentenced to pay a fine of Rs. 5/ - each; in default, to undergo simple imprisonment for seven days each.

(2.) THE prosecution case is that on November 24, 1963 at 6 A.M. the accused -Petitioners removed paddy crops from certain lands being plots Nos. 23, 246 and 247 stated to be adjacent to the lands of the accused Petitioners on information lodged by the complainant (P.W. 1) at the local police station the same day at 7 A.M. In due course, after investigation, the Petitioners -along with others who were acquitted -were charged under Section 379 Indian Penal Code and were tried by the Magistrate, First Class Titllagarh, who convicted and sentenced them as aforesaid.

(3.) THE reasoning on which the learned Magistrate convicted the accused -Petitioners as stated in his judgment is this: