N. C. Talukdar, J. :- The point involved in this Rule is one of law, raised in the backdrop of the new Code of Criminal Procedure. To be more precise, the point relates to the interpretation of Section 457 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

2. The backdrop of facts necessary for the consideration of the point at issue is a short one. On 18-4-74 at about 10.45 p.m. three persons boarded a taxi, bearing No. WBT 7316, on the Diamond Harbour Road near about the Calcutta Hospital and while taxi was proceeding towards the Esplanade, passing by the side of the Race Course, one of those three persons all of a sudden directed the claimant-petitioner to stop the taxi. As soon as the taxi was stopped, the three occupants threatened the claimant-petitioner at the point of a dagger and snatched away about Rs. 80/- from him. Thereafter they pushed him out of the taxi which was driven away by them. The claimant-petitioner proceeded to the Hastings Police Station and reported the incident whereupon a case started, being Hastings Police Station Case No. 93 dated 19-4-74, under S. 384/34, I.P.C. The taxi in the meanwhile was found abandoned, with some parts missing, on the Lee Road on