RAMDHANI GOPE Vs. JAGESHER MAHTO

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a reference made by the learned Sessions Judge of Gaya, under Section 438, Criminal P.C., recommending that the convictions of, and sentences imposed on, two men, Ramdhani Gope and Bhikhar Gope, should be set aside.

(2.) These two men were tried along with three others, namely Ramchand Gope, Deva Gope and Balchand Gope, and all five of them were convicted under Section 498, Indian Penal Code, and sentenced to pay fines of Rs. 50 each, or, in default, to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one month. Ramchand Gope, Deva Gope and Balchand Gope, who are now dead, were brothers and had two sisters, Deokalia and Rajkalia. Jagesher Mahto, at whose instance they were prosecuted, asserted that he was married to one of these girls, and that on 5 March 1940, her brothers and Ramdhani Gope had come to his house and taken her away. He further asserted that she had subsequently gone through a form of marriage with Eamdhani Gope and was living with him as his wife.

(3.) The judgment of the learned Honorary Magistrate who tried the case is a very meagre one, and the record, which he has made of the evidence, is so imperfect that portions of it are extremely difficult to understand. Apparently, summons was obtained against Bhikhar Gope on the ground that he was, in some way or other, concerned, either with the abduction of the woman, or with the bigamous marriage, which she went through with Ramdhani Gope. At the trial, however, no attempt whatever was made by the prosecution to show what this man had said or done.