Petitioner is the 1st accused in C.C. No. 350 of 1988. He was tried along with another accused for offences punishable under Ss. 457 and 379 read with S. 34, I.P.C. on an allegation that he along with another broke open the door of a kitchen in the house belonging to P.Ws. 1 and 2 and committed theft of a gold chain weighing 28 gms. by snatching away the same from the neck of P.W. 2 at about 1.15 a.m. on the night of 31-8/1-9-1988.

2. On the above allegations the trial Court while acquitting the other accused convicted the petitioner and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of 2 years each for the offences under Ss. 457 and 379, IPC with a direction that the sentences will run concurrently. On appeal the appellate court confirmed the conviction and sentence imposed upon the petitioner and hence this revision.

3. The case of the prosecution is that on the night of 31-8/1-9-1988 the petitioner along with the other acquitted accused broke open the door of a kitchen in the house belonging to P.Ws. 1 and 2 and snatched away a gold chain weighing 28 gms. from the neck of P.W. 2, the wife of P.W. 1. On 1-9-1988 P.W. 1 went to the Palai Police Station and