DURGA SINGH Vs. MD ISA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THERE is one petitioner in this case named Durga Singh. He has been convicted under Section 221 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for six months. The charge against the petitioner was as follows : -

(2.) THE learned Magistrate, who tried the petitioner along with Moula Bux, accepted the prosecution case and convicted the petitioner for the offence charged. Moula Bux was convicted and sentenced under Section 225 (B) of the I. P. C. by the learned Magistrate. On appeal by the two convicted persons, the convictions recorded by the learned Magistrate have been affirmed. Only the petitioner has come up to this Court in this case.

(3.) LEARNED Counsel appearing for the petitioner has submitted that upon an interpretation of Section 221 of the Indian Penal Code, read with the duties of a dafadar, governed by the Bihar and Orissa Village Administration Act, 1922 (Bihar and Orissa Act 3 of 1922), it should be held that no offence had been committed by the petitioner. It is urged that the duties of a dafadar, as a public servant, are governed by Sections 27 and 28 of Act 3 of 1922, and that on the facts of the present case, the petitioner cannot be said to have committed an offence under Section 221 of the Indian Penal Code, in the sense of intentionally sufferings Moula Bux to escape when he was legally bound to keep Moula Bux in confinement.