BHOLA NATH Vs. EMPEROR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These are four connected revision applications arising out of the same judgment and can therefore be conveniently disposed of together. Bola Nath, Bakshi Ram, Salig Ram and Debi Das, applicants, were tried in the Court of the learned Assistant Sessions Judge of Dehra Dun along with several other persons. The accused persons were charged with having committed offences contrary to Secs.408, 417, 120-B, 467 and 471, I.P.C. Eleven accused persons were sent up for trial before the Court of the learned Assistant Sessions Judge. Two of them were acquitted by him and he found that the case was proved against the remaining nine accused who were convicted and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. These convicted persons preferred appeals against their convictions and sentences which were heard by the learned Sessions Judge of Saharanpur. He accepted the appeals of Narendra Nath and Gur Dat Singh. In the case of Sri Kishen he confirmed his conviction but reduced the sentence of imprisonment to the term for which he had already been in jail. The appeals of the other accused were dismissed. Four of them named above have preferred revision implications against the order passed by the learned Sessions Judge. Mohan Lai has not preferred an application for revision. One Ram Kishen Singh had filed a revision which was dismissed by a learned Judge of this Court. The prosecution story which has been believed by the Courts below can very briefly be stated as follows.

(2.) In the mon August, 1935, Babu Ram Chandra Singh, Sub-Inspector, District Intelligence Staff, was posted at Hardwar. It was alleged that he received some information on 23 August that some people at Hardwar were in the habit of forging used railway tickets so that they might be used strain. These tickets were forged and then passed on to various persons. According to the information, one Mohan Lai, who resided in Hardwar, used to receive used railway tickets by post from various persons residing in other stations. On the receipt of this information, the Sub-Inspector named above paid a visit to the Post Office at Hardwar in order to find out whether any such correspondence could be detected. On 24 August 1935 the Sub-Inspector paid a second visit to the Hard-war Post Office. It is said that this time he was successful and that he found in the Post Office one letter addressed to "Diwan Chand, c/o Mohan Lal." The letter was opened in the presence of the Post Master and some other persons and the prosecution case was that inside it five used railway tickets were found. The Sub- Inspector got these tickets initialled by the Post Master and then they were put back in the letter which was closed and was sent in ordinary course to the addressee thereof. Mr. Earn Chandra Singh received further information that Mohan Lai had received the used tickets referred to above and that some persons would be using those tickets at the railway station of Hardwar. It is alleged that in the evening of 24 August 1935 the Sub-Inspector proceeded to the railway station of Hardwar and there arrested Mohan Lai and Gur Bachan Singh who were sitting inside a third class compartment. When their persons were searched one genuine ticket was found in the possession of each of them and several used and forged tickets from the possession of Mohan Lal.

(3.) On the same date after effecting the arrest of these two persons the Sub- Inspector went to another part of Hardwar known as Har Ki Pairi. The prosecution case is that it had been arranged by the Sub-Inspector with the help of Harish Chandra and others to make an attempt to arrest the persons who were in the habit of selling used tickets. That day the Sub-Inspector had approached Mr. Murari Lal, a Deputy Magistrate, and had made an application before him showing what his intention was and the result was that a currency note of the value of Rs. 5 was initialled by the Deputy Magistrate Mt. Murari Lal and this the Sub-Inspector kept with him. In the evening the Sub-Inspector along with certain other persons was near Har Ki Pairi. The note initialled by. the Deputy Magistrate had been given by the Sub-Inspector to Babu Harish Chandra and it had been arranged between the police party that on a given signal the police party would come forward and arrest person's who might be found attempting to sell the used tickets. It is alleged that Harish Chandra saw Sunder Singh, approver, who was accompanied by Debi Das and Sunder Singh was asked to sell a ticket. The prosecution case is that Sunder Singh in his turn asked Debi Das to hand over one ticket to Harish Chandra on payment of Rs. 2. Harish Chandra handed over that initialled currency note to Sunder Singh. He had no change. He asked Debi Das whether he had some change. Debi Das replied that be had none but that he himself had a note of the value of Rs. 5 and that he would go and get it changed so that the balance due to Harish Chandra might be paid. Thereupon he proceeded to get the note changed. In the meantime at the given signal the police rushed forward and arrested Sunder Singh. Immediately afterwards Debi Das, who had gone to change the Rs. 5 note, returned and he was also arrested. One used railway ticket, Ex. 3 is said to have been found on the person of Debi Das at the time of the search which was made. After this the party of the Sub-Inspector went to the shop of Mohan Lai. There a search was made but with the exception of two envelopes and a piece of paper, Ex. BB nothing else was recovered. When Sunder Singh had been apprehended shortly before one key which was in his possession had been taken over by the Sub-Inspector and when his party arrived in the building in which Sunder Singh's quarters were, that key was handed over to him and then at a search a number of articles were recovered. They included 22 used tickets, 13 used bits of sand paper, some rubber erasers, sticking matter and some post cards (Exs. 49 to 70) and some unused sand papers were also found.