1942 Present: Soertsz and de Kretser JJ.

THE KING v. PIYASENA.

 64-D. C. Colombo, 395.

Cognate offences-Charge of theft-Power of Court to convict accused of assisting in disposal of stolen property-Doubt which offence the facts proved will . constitute-Criminal Procedure Code, ss. 181 and 182.

Where an accused person is charged with the offence of theft under section 367 of the Penal Code, the Court has no power to convict him of the offence of assisting in the disposal of stolen property under section 396 of the Penal Code.

Sections 181 and 182 of the Criminal Procedure Code which enable a Court, when an accused is charged with one offence, to convict him of another offence apply where the different offences contemplated are cognate offences and it is doubtful which of these offences the facts proved will ultimately be found to constitute.

The doubt must arise from the nature of facts or series of facts and not from a failure to appreciate the value of unambiguous facts or from an inaccurate view of the position in law arising from those facts.

APPEAL from a conviction by the District Judge of Colombo.

H. V. Perera, K.C. (with him N.