JUDGMENT

Rankin, C.J. - The appellant Manmatha Nath Biswas was on 27th April last convicted of an offence against Section 19(f), Arms Act-viz., of having in his possession or under his control a revolver and six cartridges on 18th February. He was tried by the Chief Presidency Magistrate sitting as a Special Magistrate under the Bengal Emergency Powers Ordinance, 1931. Another man, Lalit Mohan Singha was tried together with him. The prosecution evidence was as follows: That these two persons had been seen at about 5 p.m. on 27th January standing and talking together for fifteen minutes in front of the office of a newspaper called "Liberty" in the Upper Circular Road, after which they went together to the Sealdah crossing and separated, that some three weeks afterwards, viz., at about 6-30 p.m. on 18th February, they were again seen near to the same spot, but on the east side of the street where there are railway lines; that they loitered and talked together there for about an hour, after which they proceeded northwards along the street till they came to the crossing of Rani Swarnamoyee Road, where there is a petrol shop, that they stopped and loitered in front of that shop till a li