BATASI MONI DASSI Vs. KING-EMPEROR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant before us Srimati Batasi Moni Dassi has been convicted by the learned Additional Chief Presidency Magistrate of Calcutta under Section 46 of the Bengal Excise Act (Act 5, B.C., of 1909) for having sold cocaine and for being in possession of cocaine without a pass or license and has been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one year under each of the said two charges, the sentences to run consecutively.

(2.) The trial commenced on the 5 February 1925 and did not terminate till the 10th November 1925. On the day the trial commenced, the case against the present appellant was split up into two parts, viz., one charge in respect of the sale of three ounces of cocaine, and the other in respect of possession of cocaine. The case relating to the sale of cocaine was ordered to be proceeded with and on the 3 March 1925 the Magistrate passed an order to the effect that the case in respect of possession of cocaine would be taken up after the disposal of the case in respect of the sale of cocaine. This was done apparently because as the Magistrate himself said later on he had no idea that the second charge against the accused related to a case of possession of cocaine on the same day as that on which it was alleged she sold the three ounces of cocaine. This Court having been moved by the accused against the order for adjournment of the hearing of the second charge, the Chief Justice and Mr. Justice Panton directed on the 27 May 1925 that the two charges, viz., for sale and for possession of cocaine against the accused should be proceeded with in one and the same trial. This was accordingly done and as stated above the trial came to an end on the 10 November 1925, the delay in disposal being partly due to the accused's illness.

(3.) In passing sentence upon the accused the Magistrate observed as follows: The evidence shows that the accused was carrying on cocaine dealing in a very large way. It has been elicited in cross-examination that her reputation for years has been that of one of the most notorious of cocaine dealers. In the course of his speech for the prosecution Babu Kristo Lal Dutt stated that she possessed some of the finest equipages in Calcutta and three motor-cars and exemplary punishment is necessary. I sentence the accused to one year's rigorous imprisonment under each charge, the sentences to run consecutively.