The petitioner, one P.V. Govindan Nair alias P.V.G. Nair, was tried in Sessions Case No. 37 of 1965 in the Court of the Assistant Sessions Judge, Tellicherry, for the offences under sections 406, 420 and 467 of the Indian Penal Code. The learned Assistant Sessions Judge found that the petitioner was guilty of the offences under sections 406 and 467 Indian Penal Code; and acquitted the petitioner of the offence under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, giving him the benefit of doubt. The petitioner was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years for each offence; and the sentences were directed to run concurrently. The petitioner filed an appeal before the Sessions Judge of Tellicherry as Criminal Appeal No. 69 of 1965. The learned Sessions Judge, while accepting the findings arrived at by the trial Court, held that the petitioner was guilty of the offence under section 420, Indian Penal Code and not under section 406, Indian Penal Code. Accordingly, he altered the finding of the trial Court and maintained the sentence under section 423(1)(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as regards the charges against the petitioner under sections 406 and 420, India