Judgement

MAHAJAN C.J.I. : This appeal, by leave of the High Court of Judicature at Simla, raises a novel and interesting question of law, viz., whether a person accused of an offence under the Indian Penal Code and committed in a district which after the partition of India became Pakistan, could be tried for that offence by a criminal court in India after his migration to that country, and thereafter acquiring the status of a citizen.

2. The material facts relevant to this enquiry are thesc : The respondent Ram Narain, acting on behalf of his firm Ram Narain Joginder Nath, carrying on business at Mailsi in Multan District, was allowed a cash credit limit of rupees three lakhs by the Mailsi branch of the Central Bank of India Ltd. (the appellant) on the 23rd December, 1946, shortly before the partition of British India. The account was secured against stocks which were to remain in possession of thc borrowers as trustees on behalf of the Bank. On 15th August, 1947, when British India was split into two Dominions, the amount due to the bank from Ram Narain was over Rs 1,40,000/-, exclusive of interest, while the value of the goods pledged under the cash credit agreement was approximat