MEREDITH Vs. SANJIBANI DASI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this case the accused petitioner, one H. Meredith, a bailiff of the Presidency Small Cause Court, has been convicted under Section 323 of the Indian Penal Code, and sentenced to pay a fine of Rs. 50.

(2.) It appears that, at about 4 P.M., on the 31st of January 1913, he was entrusted with a writ or warrant (Exh. M.) which required and authorized him to give possession to the decree- holder, Kali Charan Pal, of certain premises then in the occupation of the judgment-debtor, Purna Chandra Pal. As the warrant was to be executed that very day, he forthwith proceeded on his errand, reached the premises (No. 4, Jagannath Sur s Lane) at or about 4-30 to 4-45, and, as he reported on the 31st, succeeded, "after considerable difficulty," in giving vacant possession to the decree-holder at 5 minutes after 6.

(3.) At 11-45 P.M., a complaint was lodged against him and his companion, one Bomsweteh, at the neighbouring thana. The complaint was made by the judgment-debtor Puma Chandra Pal, or by the judgment-debtor s wife, one Sanjibani Dasi, and was summarized in the thana Daily Register of cases as follows: "Assault (i. e., on Sanjibani); abrasion marks (chila dag) on both elbows, abrasion mark on right knee, and pain all over the body complained (or spoken) of; (she) does not want to go to hospital."