Judgment

HEGDE, J.:- This appeal by special leave is directed against the decision of single Judge of the High Court of Judicature at Patna setting aside the acquittal of the appellants and convicting them under Ss. 379/149, I. P. C. as well as under Section 143, I. P. C.

2. The appellants were prosecuted before the Munsiff Magistrate, 1st Class, Arrah, for dishonestly cutting and removing the paddy crop in plots Nos. 340 and 346 pertaining to khata No. 82 in village Ibrahim Nagar District Shahbad. The complainant s case is that those lands belonged to him and the appellants unlawfully trespassed into that property on November 19, 1961 and harvested the rice crop. The appellants pleaded not guilty to the charge. The learned trial Magistrate held the appellants guilty and convicted them as mentioned earlier. In appeal the learned District Judge, Shahbad acquitted the appellants. He felt unable to rely on the prosecution case for three different reasons. Firstly he came to the conclusion that the witnesses who spoke about the occurrence are all interested witnesses and it is unsafe to place reliance on their testimony. He secondly came to the conclusion that there was considerable dela