DULLI Vs. EMPEROR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal filed by four appellants. The first three have been convicted under Section 397 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment each, and the fourth under Secs.397 and 75 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to eight years rigorous imprisonment. It has also been ordered that the sentences of the first two appellants should run concurrently with previous sentences passed on them in other dacoity cases.

(2.) Quite irrespective of the question of fact involved, the order on the face of it is defective in several particulars. In the first place, Section 897 of the Indian Penal Code does not contain any substantive offence, but merely prescribes the minimum punishment which can be passed if robbery or dacoity is attended with certain circumstances mentioned therein. It follows that a conviction merely under Section 397 has no meaning. The conviction in the case of a dacoity should be under Section 395 read with Section 397 of the Indian Penal Code.

(3.) The second defect in the judgment is that it nowhere shows that the appellants either used any deadly weapon or caused grievous hurt to any person, or attempted to cause death or grievous hurt to any person at the time when the alleged dacoity was committed. What the judgment merely shows is that some of the dacoits had a pistol, a sword and big knives and that a pistol was actually fired. It does not however show that either of the appellants himself used any such deadly weapon. In order to satisfy myself whether the evidence establishes this fact or not, I have read the entire prosecution evidence and I find that there is no satisfactory evidence that either of these appellants did any of the three acts mentioned in Section 397. Their convictions under Section 395 read with the Section 397 cannot be justified.