INDERJEET Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a revision petition directed against the concurrent judgments and orders of the courts below convicting one, Inderjeet Sharma, hereinafter calledthe petitioner",under Section 409 R.P.C. and sentencing him to rigorous imprisonment for two months and a fine of Rs 25/ - or in default to further rigorous imprisonment for 15 days. Alongside the State has filed a petition for enhancement of sentence. The disposal of both these petitions shall be governed by this judgment.

(2.) BRIEFLY started, the prosecution case in the trial court was that at the relevant time the petitioner was employed as a clerk in the Head Post Office, Jammu Tawi. On the night intervening 24/25th August, 1964, he was detailed on duty for sorting out; parcels received in the Post Office. These parcels included parcels No. 324 addressed to one, Captain Narain Singh, of village Satwari, which was cut open by the petitioner who abstracted a silver necklace from it and kept it hidden in a wooden almirah in the Mail room occupied by him while also concealing the tin container and its wrapper in a cash box in his possession. These articles were recovered at his instance by Harbans Singh, Post Master, on the following morning from the wooden almirah and the cash box after he was informed that during the night, the petitioner was seen cutting open a parcel with a blade and abstracting a white glittering article from it in the room occupied by him which was bolted from inside. The petitioners defence was that he had received the parcel in a broken condition and therefore kept it apart for safe custody.

(3.) APPEARING for the petitioner Mr. Sehgal contended that no offence under Section 409 R.P.C. was brought home to the petitioner for the reason that there was no entrustment nor also the requisite mens res.