(1.) This is an appeal by four persons against a conviction by the learned Officiating Sessions, Judge of Allahabad and a jury under Secs.330/34 and 384/34, I.P.C.
(2.) The appellants were found guilty for voluntarily causing hurt to extort a confession and money, and for house trespass. As this was a jury case, the appellants can only succeed if they can show that there has been any misdirection by the learned Judge to the jury which has in fact occasioned a miscarriage of justice. The prosecution story was that four Koals were seized by the accused, who were officials of the Manda estate, and that they were put to torture and beaten in order to make them confess that they had cut the barley produce of one Ram Partab. The defence evidence was that the whole story of the prosecution was mythical, and the defence called several witnesses to say that they had been present all the day in question with the accused and that no such thing took place.
(3.) The points made by Mr. Iqbal Ahmad, the counsel for the appellants in this case, are that there was misdirection in that, firstly, the learned Judge summed up in too summary a manner the evidence for the prosecution. I do not like to criticise the summing up of an experienced Judge such as the learned Officiating Sessions Judge of Allahabad; but I must say I think the evidence for the prosecution might have been dealt with at greater length.