The revision petitioners herein are the accused Nos.1 and 3 in C.C.No.625 of 1998 of the Judicial First Class Magistrate’s Court, Ranny. They faced prosecution in the court below on the allegation that on 17.12.1997, they trespassed into the Government Reserve Forest within the Goodrical Forest Range, cut a “kalmanikkam” tree, and attempted to remove the logs. The prosecution case is that they were intercepted by a team of forest guards, they were arrested by them, and the logs were taken into custody along with a sword seen at the place of detection. After investigation, the Forest Range Officer submitted complaint against three accused. The second accused remained absent throughout the trial, and so the case against them was split up and re-filed.

2. The accused Nos.1 and 3 faced trial before the learned Magistrate. They pleaded not guilty to the charge framed against them under Ss.27(i)(e)(iii) and 27(i)(e)(iv) of the Kerala Forest Act. The prosecution examined four witnesses, and proved Exts.P1 to P3 documents in the trial court. The MO1 weapon was also identified during trial. Both the accused denied the incriminating circumstances, when examined under S.313 Cr.P.C. They