EMPEROR Vs. BHOLA PRASAD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal by the Provincial Government from an order of a learned Magistrate acquitting the respondent, Bhola Prasad, upon a charge under Section 47 (a), Bihar and Orissa Excise Act, 1915, and a notification of 18 November 1940 made under Section 19, Sub-section (4) of that Act. The facts of the case, which are no longer in dispute, can be shortly stated as follows:

(2.) At about 4 A.M. on the morning of 5 February 1941 the respondent arrived at Sonepur Railway Station by train from Motihari on his way to Chapra. He alighted from the Motihari train carrying a suit case and proceeded towards the Chapra train which was apparently standing at a platform in the station. The suit- case aroused the suspicion of Hanuman Singh, (P. W. 2), an excise peon, who stopped the respondent and asked him to open the suit-case and show him the contents thereof. The suit-case was opened before a number of witnesses, and it was found to contain two bottles of country liquor.

(3.) Later he was charged with an offence under Section 47(a), Bihar and Orissa Excise Act, for being in unlawful possession of two bottles of country liquor in the prohibited area of Saran, in which admittedly Sonepur Railway Station is situate, contrary to the terms of the notification already referred to issued under Section 19, Sub-section (4) of the Act.