Judgment

S. K. DAS, J. : This appeal by special leave is limited to a particular question only, namely, correctness of the conviction of the appellant Gallu Sah for an offence under Section 436 read with S. 109, Indian Penal Code, and the property of the sentence passed thereunder. The short facts are these. Some 22 accused persons, of whom the appellant was one, were tried by the learned Assistant Sessions Judge of Darbhanga for various offences under the Indian Penal Code alleged to have been committed by them. The prosecution case was that on May 16, 1954, in village Dharhara in the district of Darbhanage a mob of about 40-50 persons, including the accused persons, formed an unlawful assembly, the common objects of which were (1) to dismantle the hut of one Mst. Rasmani, (2) to set fire to it and (3) to commit assault, it resisted. One Tetar Mian, who was the chaukidar of village Dharhara, had come to village at about 10 a.m. to ascertain birth and deaths for the purpose of supplying the said information to the officer-in-charge of the police station for registration. When this chaukidar reached near the hut of Mst. Rasmani, who was the widow of one Ganpat, he found the mob engag