LexAJENDRA NATH versus STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH
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3 S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 280 AJENDRA NATH v. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH (K. SUBBA RAO, RAGHUBAB DAYAL and J. R. MUDHOLKAR JJ.) Criminal Trial-Property reco~ered not protoed to be 1lole11 properly-Acquittal by Se.sion8 Jwlge-State appeal agairwl few-Allowed agaimt the app£llant-Flnding 01& Ile qw•on reverm1-High Court, if could record ita o .. n flnding1-AHi1· tanct in concealment of ·•lolen property-Scope of-1111.ian Penal Code (Act 46 of 1860), ss. 120-B, 379, 414. Five bales, containing woollen shawls and muft'lcra despatched from Kanpur by the British India Corporation Ltd. and another bale despatched from Haimanpur to Kanpur, were loaded in wagon at I tarsi rail way station. The leek of the wagon was found broken open and on checking at Nagpur the aforesaid bales were found mi•sing. On search, certain articles including some torn labels were recovered from the house of one Gopi Nath. The same day the appellant and few other persons were found by the Police, c0ming out of Gopi Nath's house whose front door was locked. They were taken to the Police Station and at the instance of the appellant, the police recovered woollen shawls, mufflers, bed 1heets and certain house-breaking implements from different place1 of that house. After investigation, six persons Including the appellant were put on trial before the Magistrate for several charge1 under ss. 120•B, 379 and 414 of the Indian Penal Code and except one Birendra Nath, all were convicted. On appeal, all the convicted persons were acquitted by the Additional Sessions Judge, on further appeal by the State, against the acqui:tal of Gopinath and the appellant, the High Court allowed the appeal only against the appellant with respect to the offence under s. 414 of the Indian Penal Code. On appeal by special leave, this Court held : H eU1 that the mere fact that the other accused per110D1 were acquitted on the ground that the property recovered wao not proved to be stolen property did not preclude the State from appealing against the acquittal of the appellant against 196S ..f;ril 2J. 196J .djmdra Nath v. Stattaf MadhJa · Puidtsh Raghubar DaJal. J, 290 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1964] VOL. whom there Is better evidence. The State could challenge the correctness of the findings of the Additional Seuion• - Judge about the property being stolen property and the High Court could record its own 'findings on that question. Held further, that it Is not necessary for a person to be convicted under s. 414 Indian Penal Code that another person must be traced out and convict,d of an offence of committing theft. The prosecution ha1 simply to establish that the property recovered is stolen property and that the appellant provided help in its concealment and disposal; Th• circum· stances of the_ recovery in the present case sulficiently prove that the appellant had assisted in the concealment of the stolen property and had thus committed the offence under 1. 414 Indian Penal Code. The appeal therefore, mll!t be dismi8'ed. CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No. 226 of 1960. Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated July 28, 1960 of the Madhya Pra.desh High Court in Criminal Appeal No. 385 of 1959. A. R. Ohoubay and Naunit Lal, for the appe- llant. I. N. Shroff, for the respondent. 1963. April 23. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by RAGHUBAR DAYAL J.-This appeal, by special leave, is directed against the order of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh reversing, on State appeal, the order of the Additional Sessions Judge, Hoshanga- bad, acquiting the appellant, and convicting him of an offence under s. 414 l.P.C. Five bales, containing woolll'o shawls 2nd mufflers despatched from Kanpur by the British India Corporation Ltd., Kanpur Woollen Mills Branch, Kanpur, and another bale despatched from , 3 S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 291 Haimanpur to Kanpur were loaded at !tarsi railway station on September !8, 1957, in Wagon No. C.R. 325. The lock of the wagon was found broken open at Pandhurna Railway Mation at about 1.00 a.m. on September 20, 1957. Un checking at Nagpur the aforesaid bales were found missing. One of the bales despatched from Kanpur was found lying the next morning near the railway line between railway stations J aulkheda and Multai. On September 23, 1957, the house of one Gop! Nath, at Multai, was searched and certain articles, jncludin
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