NAGENDRA NATH RAY Vs. BASANTA DAS BAIRAGYA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is by a defendant against whom a suit for damages for malicious prosecution was dismissed by the Court of first instance, but has been decreed on appeal.

(2.) The Munsif held that there was no prosecution, far less any at the instance of the defendant, that there was reasonable and probable cause on the part of the defendant, and that there, was no malice. The Subordinate Judge has held just the contrary on all these points.

(3.) The facts, which are more or less undisputed, are the following : There was a theft in the defendant's house on the night of 28 July 1922. He informed the police on the next day about the theft, which was committed by cutting a sindh; gave a detailed list of the articles stolen, together with their value, the aggregate coming up to Rs. 556 and odd; stated that the steel trunks and boxes in which the articles were contained were found in the latter part of the night in the village itself; and also stated that he suspected the plaintiff in connexion with the occurrence. It is not alleged that any of these facts is not true.