B.R. James, J. - (1.) THESE are three appeals by the State against the judgments and orders of acquittal passed by the Additional Sessions Judge of Bulandshahr in three Sessions Trials. Cr. A. No. 2011 of 1958 arises out of Sessions Trial No. 30 of 1957, while Cr. A. Nos. 2012 of 1958 and 2013 of 1958 arise out of Sessions Trials Nos. 28 of 1957 and 29 of 1957 respectively. The Circumstances under which they arise are as follows:
(2.) IN April 1956, S.N. Singh (PW 16) who was then posted to Kanpur as Inspector, CID Investigation Branch, U.P. was entrusted with the investigation of a case under Section 420 IPC. In connection with the investigation of the said case he went to Bulandshahr and arrived there on the night of the 9th May 1956. Next day, he obtained orders from the District Magistrate of Bulandshahr for inspecting the postal records of the General Post Office, Bulandshahr, because the case which he was investigating related to those records. Armed with that order he went to the GPO, contacted the Post Master and inspected the record. In the course of that inspection he discovered that the Respondent to these appeals, Radha Krishan by name, was one of the three postmen who were concerned with the distribution of some of the money orders and other postal articles which formed the subject -matters of the investigation of that case. He therefore, requested the Superintend -dent of Police, Bulandshahar, on the 11th May, 1956 to give him a police force, so that he (S.N. Singh) could take the house search of those postmen, including the Respondent. The Superintend dent of Police gave the necessary order to the S.O. Kotwali and the latter deputed Masood Murtaza, S.I. (PW 2) S.P. Tyagi and Saxena to make the said searches the former being entrusted with the search of the house of the Respondent. Masood Murtaza went to the house of the Respondent in Mohalla Teliwala at about 6 a.m. on the 12th May 1956, in the company of Harpal Singh, S.I. (CW 1) and two constables. He also took with him two persons from the public, viz. Dharam Prakash and Babudeo Sharma (PW 14) to act as witnesses of the search. When Masood Murtaza reached the house of the Respondent the latter was not at home, but his father Dewan Singh was present. After complying with the legal formalities which precede searches, Masood Murtaza along with his party entered the house of the Respondent. In one of the rooms there they found a locked aknirah. On being asked Dewan Singh gave the key of that almirah to Masood Murtaza. The almirah was then opened in the presence of Dewan Singh and the witnesses and from inside it a number of postal articles, including five registered letters, 247 postcards and 121 envelopes were recovered. All these letters were undelivered letters. After getting a recovery list of the five registered letters, the 247 postcards and the 121 envelopes duly prepared and attested, they were put in a bag and sealed, while another and a more exhaustive list of the remaining postal articles which were also recovered in that very search Was -likewise prepared and attested. After completing the search Masood Murtaza returned to PS Kotwali Bulandshahr and on reaching there he wrote a report about it in the general Diary at 10 O'clock the same morning. The same night at 10 -45 O'clock a First information report was dictated by him to Lajja Ram, the Head Clerk of that Police Station. Meanwhile S.N. Inspector CID, came to learn from Dhani Ram, one of the other two postmen whose houses were similarly searched, that the Respondent had gone to Delhi. He therefore went in search of him to Delhi in the company of Dhani Ram. The Respondent, however, could not be found there and S.N. Singh and Dhani Ram returned to Bulandshahar the same afternoon at about 4 -30 p.m. At 6 p.m. S.N. Singh came to learn on the telephone about the recovery of the registered letters, postcards, envelopes and other articles from the house of the Respondent. He thereupon directed Masood Murtaza to prepare detailed lists of all the articles which had been put in the sealed bundle in the presence of two witnesses. Masood Murtaza then sent for two public witnesses, Raj Kishore (PW 5) arid Sarfaraz Ahmad Khan and in their presence the sealed bundle was opened and a detailed his of the registered letters, envelopes and postcards which were inside it was prepared and attested by those witnesses. Five registered letters purporting to bear Nos. 838, 123, 129, 124 and 155 were amongst the said articles. Of these registered letters No. 424 and 155 form the subject -matter of the trial which has resulted in Cr. A. No. 2011 of 1958, while registered letter No. 838 forms the subject -matter of the trial which has given rise to Cr. A. No. 2012 of 1958 and registered letters Nos. 23 (123) and 29 (129) form the subject -matter of the trial which has resulted in Cr. A. No. 2013 of 1958. One of the charges common to all these three appeals is under Section 52 of the Indian Post Office Act - -hereinafter to be referred to as the Act - -though in Cr. A. Nos. 2012 and 2013, there are charges under Sections 467 and 471 IPC as well. The acquittal of the Respondent of the latter two charges does not concern us in these appeals as no grounds challenging the correctness thereof have been taken in the Memoranda of Appeal relating thereto. The only point, therefore, which falls for our determination in these appeals is the one concerning the correctness of the acquittal of the Respondent of the charge under Section 52 of the Act.
(3.) THE Respondent denied the prosecution case and stated that he had been falsely implicated as a result of party factions. He totally denied the recovery of the said postal articles from his house and in the alternative pleaded that even if they were recovered from his house they could not be held to have been recovered from his exclusive and conscious possession. In support of his defence the Respondent examined five witnesses. * * *;