Balappa and Gangappa were convicted of an offence under section 66-B of the Bombay Prohibition Act in Criminal Cases Nos. 883 and 884 of 1958 respectively on the ground that each of them had been found in possession of illicit liquor on 30th October, 1958 and sentenced to simple imprisonment for one day and to pay a fine of Rs. 100. Each of them preferred an appeal to the Court of the Sessions Judge, Dharwar; they are Criminal Appeals Nos. 70 and 71 of 1959: both the appeals were filed beyond time, the delay being nineteen days: each of them filed an application under section 5 of the Limitation Act for condonation of the delay on the ground that he belonged to a backward community and was ignorant of the law and procedure relating to the preferring of appeals. Relying on. the decision Janakiramayya v Brahmayya1 as indicating the proper procedure in such cases, the learned Judge has submitted the papers in the two cases to this Court for exercising its revisional powers.

The learned Judge appears to proceed on the assumption that the above decision lays down that if the appellate Court is not satisfied about the existence of sufficient cause for not preferring the appeal wi