V.BOSE, J.

(1) THE appellant Bihari Singh has been convicted of the murder of his brother Fakira Singh and has been sentenced to death. The conviction is based on the evidence of the appellants wife Mst Gujri. She has been believed and ordinarily that would have concluded the matter. But the trial has been so perfunctory and the examination of the evidence so careless and uncritical that we consider it proper to exercise our special powers to set aside the conviction and acquit the appellant.

(2) TO begin with, there is the examination of the appellant under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Despite the repeated pronouncements of this court about the importance of this part of a trial and despite the decision reported in Tara Singh v. The State, AIR 1951 SC 441 (A), the provisions of Section 342, as expounded by this court, have been disregarded and, in our opinion, grave prejudice has been caused to the appellant because of it.

(3) IN the Committal court this was all the examination:

"Q. Have you heard the statements of the witnesses? A. Yes, Sir. Q. Did you commit the offence? A. No, Sir." In the trial court it was no better. The trial was held