RAMESH CHANDRA DAS Vs. EMPEROR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant, Ramesh Chandra Das, was tried by the Sessions Judge of Chittagong and a jury on three charges of perjury framed under Section 193 of the Penal Code, The jury returned a verdict of guilty, and the Sessions Judge sentenced the appellant on each charge to three years rigorous imprisonment, directing at the same time that the sentences should run concurrently.

(2.) The charges relate to a will bearing the date the 19th August, 1913, alleged to have been executed by the late Dr. Rajani Kanta Das Gupta who died on the 28th August 1913. He left him surviving five daughters and two brothers, Ramesh Chandra Das, the appellant, and Mahendra Lal Das, a pleader, who died on the 8th April, 1914. of the daughters, the eldest only was married at the time of her father s death; three have since been married and the youngest is still unmarried.

(3.) The valuation of the estate of the deceased accepted by the Collector for purposes of duty was Rs. 32,715, from which Rs. 4,250 must be deducted on account of debts. According to the terms of the will, which is a short and simple document, the testator bequeathed to his three nephews all the moveable, and immoveable properties which he had, and appointed his brothers to make management as their guardians. The bequest to the nephews is subject to a direction that his brothers should marry his four unmarried daughters to suitable bridegrooms by "spending ten to twelve thousand rupees." The testator further directed that his eldest daughter should receive Rs. 2,000 out of a sum of Rs. 6,000 owing to him by her father-in- law, and that his wife should receive Rs. 2,000 out of his estate and also expenses for spiritual acts and travelling to holy-places.