JUDGMENT

Sulaiman, J. - This is a criminal appeal by Yamin and Barkat from an order convicting them u/s 395 of the Indian Penal Code and sentencing them to 5 years' rigorous imprisonment each.

2. There can be no doubt that on the 24th of August 1923 a very serious and deplorable communal riot took place at Saharanpur. It is neither necessary to go into the history of that riot nor to give any details of it. The present appellants were charged with having been concerned in the looting of the shop of the complainant Rupchand. Rupchand's statement is that at about 3 or 4 o'clock on that afternoon he was at his shop when a great gathering of Muhammadans took place in the bazar. They were taking out their akharas. He says that he saw a crowed of 50 or 60 Muhammadans coming from the Halwai's quarter crying " Kafiron ko mar lo" When he saw them he naturally got frightened, locked his shop and went straight away to his home which is at some distance from the shop. He did not actually see his shop being broken into or looted. He remained at his house for 2 or 21/2 hours and then, when he heard that things had settled down, he went to his shop and discovered that it had been broken into and lo