AYUB ALI Vs. EMPEROR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The seven appellants before us and one Monomohan De alias Munna were placed on their trial before the Additional Sessions Judge of Tippera on a number of charges. They were tried by the learned Additional Sessions Judge and a common jury. The jury returned a majority verdict in respect of all the accused on all the charges framed. The verdict of the majority, namely, three of the jury was as follows: Appellants Ayub Ali, Kader Ali and Nur Mian were guilty of offences punishable under Secs.147, 341, 365 and 366, Indian Penal Code. Appellants Nur Bux Gazi, Julmat Dhali, Abdul Rahman and Sujat Ali were guilty of offences punishable under Secs.147,341, 365/109 and 366/109, Indian Penal Code. The non-appealing accused Monomohan alias Munna was found guilty of offences punishable under Secs.365/109 and 366/109, Indian Penal Code.

(2.) The learned Judge accepted the majority verdict of the jury and he sentenced Ayub Ali under Section 366, Indian Penal Code to undergo rigorous imprisonment for six years. He sentenced Nur Mian and Kader Ali under the same section to undergo rigorous imprisonment each for four years. Under Section 366 read with Section 109, Indian Penal Code, he sentenced Julmat Dhali, Nur Bux Gazi, Abdul Rahman and Sujat Ali each to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years; and under Section 866 read with Section 109, Indian Penal Code, he sentenced Monomohan De alias Munna to undergo rigorous imprisonment for four years. No separate sentences were passed against any of the accused persons in respect of the other offences of which they were found guilty.

(3.) The case for the prosecution briefly is as follows: One Sukhada Sundari widow of Suresh Majumdar was living with her five children in her husband's house in the village of Gulisha within the jurisdiction of Chandpur police station. On 12 June 1940 this woman left her home and on the following morning attended at the Chandpur mosque and went through a ceremony of some kind there. As she was coming away from the mosque in the company of Ayub Ali and another she was arrested by the police and made over to her relatives. A case under Section 366 was started against Ayub Ali and another. Ayub Ali and the other man were placed on trial on that charge before the Court of Session. During the pendency of that case and after the accused was acquitted, the woman Sukhada Sundari resided at the basha of a pleader, namely Nagendra Singh in the town of Chandpur. That case came to an end on 6th September 1940 with the acquittal of the two accused persons.