MANJITNATHAYA AND SUBARAYA BHATTA Vs. EMPEROR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Criminal Revision Petition No. 568 has been filed by the second accused, Manjunathaya and Criminal Revision Petition No. 582 by the first accused, Subaraya Bhatta. They were convicted under Sections 461. and 380 of the Indian Penal Code on the finding that they broke open a closed copper dabbi burried in the store room of the Kamalashili temple situated in a village in the Coondapur Taluk. I may at once say as regards the second accused that there is no evidence worth the name that he committed theft of any coins from the dabbi of the temple which contained the cash and metal plate offering s made by the temple devotees. His confessional statement, if it is admissible in evidence at all, merely shows that he received some coins from the first accused. This may be evidence of his having received stolen property, but not of his having committed theft. His conviction and sentence must be set aside and his bail bond discharged.

(2.) Coming to the case of the 1st accused, his conviction is based upon the following facts, namely, that he told P.W. No. 1 some time before the theft was discovered on the 6th June 1913 that as his pay had not been disbursed to him, ho would steal the dabbi in which the offerings in cash and gold and silver trinkets are placed by the devotees of the temple. The evidence of the prosecution witnesses Nos. 6 and 7 proves that the 1st accused obtained from the prosecution 6th witness in April 1913 the duplicate key of the room in which the dabbi was kept on some pretext, that the key was afterwards returned and that he had another key made for himself through the prosecution witness No. 7 (a goldsmith) in accordance with the impression of a key made in wax and left with the prosecution 7th witness by the accused.

(3.) The evidence of the prosecution witnesses Nos. 1 to 5 proves that the 1st accused made the following statements : namely, that he and the 2nd accused stole the missing money from the dabbi, and that that stolen money will be found in a heap of rubbish close to his house. Then there is the fact that just after making these statements he went to that rubbish heap in the presence of two Police constables and of the witnesses who made the search in his house and took out certain coins and metal plates similar to the coins and plates usually offered by the devotees and kept in the dabbi. On the above facts, the first accused was found guilty by both the Courts below.