The presence of reasonable doubt and discrepancies in witness testimony can influence the court's decision and lead to the setting aside of a conviction.

Burn, J.

1. The appellant in Cr. Ap. No. 769 was accused 2 and the appellant in Cr. Ap. No. 772 was acoused 1 in S.O. No. 89 of 1940 tried by the learned Sessions Judge of Kurnool. The charge against the accused was that accused 1 at the instigation of accused 2 had murdered Pedda Eangadu, the husband of accused 1, by means of poisoning. The prosecution theory was that the two accused were on terms of illicit intimacy, and that Pedda Eangadu was also incensed against accused 2 because accused 2 was keeping as his concubine the aunt of accused 1. In these circumstances the case was that accused 2 had supplied accused 1 with powdered root of aconite which accused 1 had mixed with the food prepared and served by her to her husband on the evening of 3rd July last.

2. Pedda Eangadu died at about 10 P.M. on 3rd July and there is no reasonable doubt about the fact that he died of poisoning. The chemical examiner certified that "aconte" was found in some vomited matter sent to him for inspection. This was matter which Pedda Eangadu had vomited some time after he took his evening meal. "Aconitine" was also found by the ohemioal examiner on some bits of rag which were produced by accused 1 when the Police In-spector (P.W. 10) questioned her on 5th July. We experienced some difficulty over this "aconitine," because the works of Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology to which we have access, state quite clearly that "aconitine" is an alkaloid extracted from the ropt of aconitum napellus. The root which accused 2 is said to have alleged that he had had in his possession and supplied to accused 1 was called in the vernacular "Vasanabhi" (Telugu) and this is undoubtedly aconitum ferox, Aconitum napellus is apparently rare in this country but aconitum ferox is said to be very common on the slopes of the Himalayas and in other hilly places. Aconitum ferox, according to the books, contains no "aconitine" but is the source of an alkaloid known as "pseudo aconitine." The treatises also show that these two alkaloids have different chemical compositions. If therefore the chemical examiners certificate that aconitine had been found in the vomit and on the rags were accurate, it seemed to us that there could be no case of any kind against either of the accused involved.

3. We thought it necessary therefore to take the evidence of the chemical examiner under Section 420, Criminal P. 0. He appeared before us today and gave evidence; and from his evidence it appears that by aconitine he only meant any alkaloid of the aconitine typo derived from any of the poisonous varieties of aconite. The books show that there are many varieties of the plant aconite, that a large number of them are poisonous and that some are not. The evidence of the chemical examiner is that from the roots of the poisonous varieties, alkaloids can be extracted which vary in their chemical composition but have certain toxilogical resemblances and which produce similar pharmacological results. The chemical examiner told us that the tests he is able to apply do not enable him to distinguish between the various alkaloids. They do enable him to say whether the matter submitted to him contains any of the alkaloids of the "aconitine" type, but the quantities available are so small that it is not possible to distinguish between, for instance, aconitine" and "pseudo-aconitine." The chemical examiner, we are glad to say, has undertaken for the future to word his certificates more accurately, so that there may be no danger of misunderstanding.

4. There was evidence given by the father and sister of the deceased (P.Ws. 5 and 6) that on 3rd July accused 1 served food to her husband. P.W. 5 says that his son complained of the taste of the food and then accused 1 said that the dholl had been burnt in cooking. She then, it is said, added milk to the food that she had offered to her husband and told him to get on with his meal. Her husband finished his meal and afterwards went out to listen to a st