Appeal by the accused. He was convicted under Sec.55 (a) of the Abkari Act. He was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for one year and a fine of Rs.1,00,000/-. He shall undergo rigorous imprisonment for one month if fine is defaulted.

2. The prosecution case is this: The accused possessed 2½ liters of arrack. He carried arrack in a bottle of 1½ liters capacity and in another bottle of the capacity of one liter. The Sub Inspector of Payangadi police station detected the offence. He was on patrol duty at that time. He found the accused holding a bag. The bag contained the bottles containing arrack. The detection of the offence was at 3.30 p.m. on 26.4.1999.

3. PWs 1 to 6 were examined on prosecution side. Exts P1 to P5 and MOs 1 to 3 were marked. Ext D1 was marked on the defence side.

4. Heard the learned counsel for the appellant/accused. Heard the learned Public Prosecutor too.

5. Possession of 2½ liters of arrack is the charge against the accused. PW1 detected the offence. His police team on patrol duty consisted of PW5, a police constable. PWs 1 and 5 spoke to the incident. PWs 2 to 4 are independent witnesses. They did not support the prosecution. PW6 conducted the investi