JOY CHANDRA SARKAR Vs. EMPEROR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These two appeals arise out of a prosecution of the prisoner under Secs.124A and 153A of the Indian Penal Code. The appeal against that part of the conviction which was under Section 124A was filed in this Court, and the appeal regarding the conviction under Section 153A was filed in the Sessions Court. We have called up the appeal regarding the conviction under Section 153A from the Sessions Court for trial by this Court under Section 526, and heard both the appeals. Under Section 35(3), if a person is convicted of several offences at one trial, the aggregate sentences are to be deemed as one sentence for the purpose of appeal. As the prisoner was convicted under Section 124A and sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment under that section, and also under Section 153A and sentenced to one year's rigorous imprisonment under that section, the aggregate sentence of three years should be considered as one sentence for the purpose of appeal, and as Section 408, proviso (c), provides that a person convicted under Section 124A has an appeal direct to the High Court, it is a reasonable inference that the appeal against the single sentence of three years under both the sections should lie to the High Court. It is, however, not necessary to decide this point in this case, as the appeals were separately filed and. they have been virtually unified.

(2.) It appears from the judgment of the learned Magistrate that the prisoner was previously convicted under the same sections and underwent imprisonment for one year for the same. We have been unable to find the judgment in that case, and do not know enough of the circumstances to allow us to consider it in connection with the question of sentence.

(3.) The prisoner was charged with the offence of sedition under Section 124A in respect of three articles published in the Rangpur Bartabaha, a local newspaper of the district, of Rangpur. The articles are named: (i) "Pratikar" or redress (of grievances), (ii) "Bijoya" or the ceremonial send-off given to the goddess Durga on the fourth day of the Puja, (iii) "Sipahir Katha" or the talk of sipahis, being a report of an imaginary conversation between the writer and two sipahis.