Judgement

Appeal (No. 103 of 1945) by special leave, from an order of the High Court (August 24, 1943) which directed that the convictions and sentences passed on the appellants by Mr. S. Chaudhury, acting as a special magistrate under the Special Criminal Courts Ordinance, 1942, be set aside, and that the appellants be retried in the district of Hooghly.

The following facts are taken from the judgment of the Judicial Committee. In January, 1943, the accused were tried on a charge of dacoity under s. 395 of the Indian Penal Code by Mr. Chaudhury acting as a special magistrate under the Special Criminal Courts Ordinance, 1942. On January 19, 1943, they were acquitted on the charge under s. 395, but were convicted under s. 403 of the offence of misappropriation and sentenced to pay a fine of Rs.50 each. Subsequently, the High Court at Calcutta, of its own motion, called for the record of the case, and on August 24, 1943, a bench consisting of Derbyshire C.J., Khundkar and Lodge JJ., set aside the convictions and sentences passed on the appellants and ordered that they be retried in the district of Hooghly. The ground on which that order was made was that in the view of the High Court