Buhagiar J:

This is an appeal by the Public Prosecutor against an order made by the learned Magistrate acquitting and discharging both respondents at the conclusion of the case for the prosecution without calling them to make their defences.

The respondents were charged with offences punishable under s. 193 of the Penal Code.The case arose out of statements which the respondents made on 20 December 1954 to Police Officers in the course of a Police investigation into an alleged offence of attempted robbery.On that day the first respondent made a statement to ASP Sunderaraj and the second respondent made a statement to Inspector Subbiah.Both respondents were witnesses in the preliminary enquiry before Inche Abdul Rani into an alleged offence of attempted robbery and in their evidence they made statements which, it was alleged, were contradictory to the statements made to the Police Officers.

At the beginning of the trial the learned Magistrate asked Counsel for the accused whether he was of opinion that his clients would be prejudiced by the hearing of both charges; Counsel replied that he had no objection to the joint trial and the Magistrate ruled that the two charges agains