M.R.Verma, J.

1. Out of the ten petitioners, seven have been found guilty under Sec. 427 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisoment for three months each. They were also found guilty under Sec.143 of the Indian Penal Code, but no separate sentence was passed on that count. Three of the petitioners, namely, Petitioner No. 10 Ganesh, Petitioner No. 7 Jhamlal and Petitioner No. 3 Sundar, were also found guilty, but they were not given any punishment, but were discharged after due admonition under Sec.3 of the Probation of Offenders Act.

2. The occurrence is said to have taken place in village Balaitha, P.S. Sonbarsa, in the district of Saharsa, in the early hours of the 26th/27th November, 1967. It is said that these petitioners, along with others, raided the field of the complainant Hariballabh Jha, whose master was Brajeshwar Thakur. He found that Meth crops were being grazed by 20-25 heads of buffaloes and the petitioners were cutting and removing the crops also. The complainant raised hulla which attracted the prosecution witnesses who saw the occurrence. According to the complainant, damage worth Rs. 600 was caused to him. The motive for the oc