Judgment

IMAM, J. : These appeals are on a certificate granted by the Punjab High Court and they have been heard together as they arise out of a single judgment of the High Court. In Criminal Appeals Nos. 100 to 105 of 1954 Satwant Singh is the appellant and in Criminal Appeals Nos. 124 to 129 of 1954 the State of Punjab is the appellant.

2. Although in these appeals only questions of law have been urged it is necessary to set out briefly some of the facts which led to the prosecution and conviction of Satwant Singh. As a result of the Japanese invasion of Burma in 1942 the Government of Burma and the Allied forces stationed there were compelled to leave that country. In connection with the evacuation from Burma and the defence of that country, the Government of Burma and the army had to execute certain works such as the construction of roads, repairs and construction of bridges, strengthening and repairing of old tracks and converting railway lines into motor roads. Some of these works were executed by the army and some were entrusted to contractors.

3. After evacuation of Burma its Government was located at Simla. In August, 1942 the Government of Burma advertised inviting claims from contractors who had executed works or had supplied materials in Burma and had not yet been paid. Satwant Singh had worked as a contractor in Burma. He at first submitted a claim for a sum of a little over Rs. 18,000. Later on, he put in further claims the total amount of which ran into several lakhs of rupees. These claims were sent by the Government of Burma to Major Henderson at Jhansi in March and May, 1943 for verification as he was the officer who had knowledge of these matters. This officer certified many of these claims to be correct and sent the papers back to Simla. He did not pass one claim because it was within the knowledge of another officer Mr. Nasee. On the certification of the claims by Henderson, the Finance Department of the Government of Burma sanctioned the same and the Controller of the Military Claims at Kolhapur was directed to pay the amounts sanctioned. On the request of Satwant Singh cheques drawn on the Imperial Bank of India at Lahore were posted to him from Kolhapur and these cheques were encashed at Lahore. In all Satwant Singh was paid Rs. 7,44,865-12-0.

4. Subsequently, suspicions of the Government of Burma were aroused concerning the many claims made on it and it was discovered that many of them, including some of those of Satwant Singh, were false. A police investigation followed which revealed that a large number of claims made by various persons including Satwant Singh in respect of works done for the benefit of the army were false. Satwant Singh was arrested on 12-4-1944, at Ambala and was taken to Lahore. He had also submitted a claim in the name of his wife Surjit who was also arrested. Henderson was arrested at Imphal and brought to Lahore for interrogation.

5. According to the prosecution, Satwant Singh had committed the offence of cheating punishable under S. 420, Indian Penal Code and Henderson had abetted him in the commission of that offence by falsely certifying Satwant Singh s claims to be true, knowing that they were false and thereby had committed an offence punishable under S. 420/109, Indian Penal Code.

6. Satwant Singh having expressed a desire to make a confession, his confession was recorded by a First Class Magistrate on 9-5-1944.

7. There being many cases of acceptance of bribe and criminal breach of trust by public servants and cheating of Government by certain persons and cases similar to that of Satwant Singh, Ordinance No. XXIX of 1943, hereinafter referred to as the Ordinance, for trial of such cases was promulgated by the Governor-General of India in 1943. Subsequently, this Ordinance was amended by Ordinance XII of 1945. By virtue of a notification issued under the Ordinance as amended the case of Satwant Singh was allotted to the Third Special Tribunal at Lahore for trial with Henderson a