THAKUR GULAB SINGH Vs. EMPEROR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These two appeals are connected and may be disposed of by one judgment. They have arisen out of a trial held in the Court of the Additional Sessions Judge of Bareilly in which three persons were concerned, namely, Abdul Hamid Khan, Asiadar Husain and Gulab Singh. Of these the first named was, in the month of August 1914, Sub-Inspector of the Jahanabad Police Circle in the Pilibhit District: the second accused, Azadar Husain, was at that time. The Kotwal of Pilibhit, while Gulab Singh, the third accused, was the Prosecuting Inspector of the Pilibhit District. The case in which these three accused were implicated had its origin in certain events which took place in the Pilibhit District in the month of August 1914, of which a short narrative may be given by way of introduction.

(2.) It appears that on the night of the 15th and 16th August 1914 a dacoity was committed in the house of one Tika Ram, the Station Master of Shahi, one, of the stations on the Rohilkhand and iKumaun Railway, situated a few miles away from Pilibhit. A report of this affair was made at the Jahanabad Police Station and an investigation was made by the Thanadar Abdul Hamid Khan and one of his assistant officers. No names of any of the offenders concerned were given to the Police and no clue was obtained till the night of the 25th August. On the evening of that day the Kotwal of Pilibhit, the accused Azadar Husain, made a capture of five persons in a grove some little distance away from the town of Pilibhit. It is stated that this capture was made in consequence of some information previously received, to the effect that a number of criminals intended to meet together outside Pilibhit for the purpose of committing a dacoity. The Police took action accordingly and lay in wait close to the scene. The live men who were arrested at the grove were Jahangir Khan, Gobre Singh, Tika, Chhote Singh and Mohan Lal, all of whom (except Mohan Lai) are residents of villages in the Shahjahanptsr District which lie close to the railway station of Kuraya. At the time of the capture of these men two swords and a wooden fencing sword were found in their possession. It is stated that besides the five men mentioned several others were present in the grove, who managed to escape when the Police surrounded the spot: three of these were arrested late the same night, namely, Bandhu Singh, Puttu Singh and Shib Singh. Of these three Bandhu is the brother of Chhote Singh who had been caught in the bagh, and he was captured in the waiting room of the Pilibhit Railway Station. It is said that Bandhu Singh give information to the Police which led to the arrest of the other two, Puttu Singh and Shib Singh, who were taken into custody just as they had taken their seats in a train which arrived at the Pilibhit Station about 11 P.M. The eight prisoners were taken to the Kotwali Police Station where a charge under Section 402, Indian Penal Oode, was entered against them. Further information alleged to have been given by Bandhu Singh led to the arrest of three other men on the following day. These were Kanhaya Lai, Bania of Pilibhit, Kanhaya Brahman and a Goshain named Ramgir, who according to the story told by Biodhu had been concerned with him-self and others in the Shahi dacoity. The Bania was arrested in the forenoon of the 26th August and in consequence of a statement made by him a piece of a silver chain was found subsequently in the possession of one Narain Dliimar. The hitter s story was to the effect that he had bought the chain from the Bania this chain was later on identified as his property by the Station Master Tika Ram whose house had been raided on the night if the 15th-16th August.

(3.) Kanhaya Brahman is a gate-keeper on the railway at a level crossing a few miles from Pilibhit and he was arrested at his hut on the evening of the 26th August after Ram Gir had been captured at or near the same place. Ram Gir, like Bandhu Singh, also made a statement by way of confession implicating himself and others in the Shahi and other dacoities, and the information given by him resulted in the arrest of five others said to have been engaged in the Shahi case. These were Pitam Singh, Dalli Singh, Bhima, Shah Nur and Ganesha. Following upon these arrests certain-identification proceedings were held on various dates in the month of September in the Pilibhit Jail and eventually two cases were instituted, one under Section 402, Indian Penal Code, against those who had been captured on the evening of the 25th August, and the other under Section 395, Indian Penal Code, against those persons and the others who were arrested later. The charge under Section 395, Indian Penal Code, related to the Shahi case. In both cases the accused were committed to the Court of Session, where the charges were withdrawn in consequence of information having been obtained that the Police had been guilty of malpractice for the purpose of obtaining false evidence of identification. It was discovered that photographs had been taken of seven out of the eight men arrested on the 25th August and it was supposed that the photographs had been improperly used in order to bring about the identifications in the Pilibhit Jail. After the charges had been withdrawn in the Sessions Court, steps were taken to obtain sanction for the prosecution of the Police Officers said to have been concerned in the manufacture of this false evidence and, after certain preliminary proceedings to which it is unnecessary to refer, an inquiry was held under the provisions of Section 478 of th6 Code of Criminal Procedure by Mr. Burkitt, Additional Sessions Judge of Bareilly.