Rangarajan, J.:- This is an appeal by the State of Tripura against the acquittal of all the four respondents of offences punishable under S.42 of the Indian Forest Act and of respondent No. 1 Sashimohan Malakar, under Ss.353 and 323 of the I. P. C.

2. The case of the prosecution is briefly as follows:-

The 4 respondents were each of them found carrying certain logs of wood without a valid transit permit; it was also stated that the logs had no required mark and that royalty had not been paid on them. According to P.W. 1 (Shri Asit Kumar Chakraborty, Beat Officer of Ananda Bazar Beat Office) when the accused persons, along with yet another, were sought to be apprehended they threw the wooden posts, caught hold of himself and others an averment which stands contradicted by the evidence of P.W. 4 (Hari Mohan Sarkar, Forester of Aicharang Bari Forest Beat Office) who merely said that on seeing the officers named above the said 4 persons left the logs and ran away. There is thus no reliable evidence that all of them came to catch hold of the prosecution witnesses. It is further stated by P.W. 1, which is supported by P.W. 4 to this extent, that when P.W. 2 (Sukhendu Ch. Chakrabor