Judgment

MITTER, J.: These two appeals by special leave are from one judgment of High Court of Orissa hearing an appeal from an order of acquittal of 31 persons accused on charges under Sections 147, 323 and 325 of the Indian Penal Code for being members of an unlawful assembly and having voluntarily caused hurt and inter alia a grievous one by dislocating a tooth by means of a knife-like thing of one Jagabandhu Behera, the appellant before the High Court.

2. The incident is alleged to have happened on October 4, 1963 at about 11 A. M. in village Anantpur in course of which the accused persons are said to have assaulted Jaganbandhu Behera with lathis and sharp instruments. The motive for the crime was said to be enmity arising out of Gram Panchayat election and previous litigation between Jagabandhu Behera and Khetrabasi Samal, one of the said 31 persons. The first information report was lodged at 5 p.m. by one Maguni Charan Biswal who however was not examined at the trial. In this report ten persons were stated to have taken part in assaulting and hurting Jagabandhu. More than six weeks thereafter Jagabandhu filed a complaint before a Magistrate in which he named 31 persons includi