JUDGEMENT

1. The appellant and another co-accused person, namely, Baina Das, stand convicted for commission of an offence of dacoity under Section 395 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced thereunder to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of five years by Mr. G.S. Patra, then functioning as the Additional Sessions Judge, Balasore, by his judgment and order of conviction dated 30th Sept., 1983, solely based on the confession of one of the accused persons, namely, Narendra Behera who had stood trial previously with the other accused persons and not jointly with the appellant and the co-accused Baina Das and who had implicated himself and the appellant and the accused Baina Das in the commission of the crime of dacoity in the house of Dibakar Jena (P.W.1) at village Keratapadia in the district of Balasore during the night of 6th/7th Nov., 1975 in the course of which the culprits were alleged to have removed case and other properties after assaulting the inmates of the house being armed with dangerous instruments, On the basis of the first information report lodged by P.W.1, investigation had been taken up by the Officer-in-charge of the Nilgiri Police Station (P.W.8) and on its