EMPEROR Vs. JAMALDI FAKIR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this case nine accused persons were tried by the Sessions Judge of Pabna and Bogra and a Jury on charges of dacoity under Secs.395 and 396 of the Indian Penal Code. The Jury in some cases unanimously and in some cases by a majority found all the accused guilty of the offences charged.

(2.) The learned Judge accepted the verdict in the cases of four accused whom by his judgment he convicted and sentenced. In; these cases there is no ground for our interference and the appeal from the convictions and sentences must be dismissed.

(3.) As regards the other five accused, Jamaldi Fakir, Kafiraddi Fakir, Kudratulla Malik, Hakoo Mandal and Ainulla, the learned Judge disagreed with the verdict of the Jury on the ground that as against these accused the only evidence was the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice who had accepted a tender of pardon and was examined as a witness at the trial. Being of opinion that these five men should be acquitted, the learned Judge referred their cases to the High Court under S307 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Now, the learned Junior Government Pleader appearing for the Crown has conceded that the evidence against these men is confined to that of the approver. No stolen property was found in their houses, nor is there any independent testimony which implicates or tends to implicate them individually in the commission of the offences charged.