Judgment

MITTER, J.:- The appellant along with two other persons were prosecuted on a charge under S. 379/34 of the Indian Penal Code for committing theft of a valuable parcel of diamonds from the person of one Wadilal C. Mehta in a railway train between Masjid Bander and Byculla railway stations on November 9, 1965, in furtherance of their common intention. One of these two other persons (hereinafter described as accused No. 2) was acquitted by the Chief Presidency Magistrate but the appellant and accused No. 3 were each sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 12 months. In appeal to the High Court the conviction of the appellant was altered to one under S. 411 and the sentence was reduced to one of nine months rigorous imprisonment. The appellant has come up to this Court by special leave his main contention being that a statement ascribed to him as having been made to the police was artificial and false and in any event there was no discovery of any fact made as a result of that statement to render it admissible in evidence against him under S. 27 of the Indian Evidence Act.

2. The case for the prosecution was as follows. Mehta who had about 215 pieces of diamonds in paper