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Judgment
In this case the accused were charged with an offence u/s 395 of the Indian Penal Code triable by jury and also with offences u/s 147 and other
sections triable by a judge with the help of assessors. Five gentlemen were selected to form a jury and two of them were chosen as assessors to
help the judge with reference to the charges'' not triable by a jury. The trial of the accused on all the charges was joint. The accused were acquitted
by the jury of the offence u/s 395, I.P.C. The Judge, differing from the two assessors convicted them of rioting. It is contended in appeal that
according to Section 269 of Cr.P.C. the Judge was bound to constitute all the members of the jury as assessors for trying the non-jury offences
and that he not having done so the conviction is illegal. This contention appears to us to be sound and to be in accordance with the principle of the
decision in Ramakrishna Reddi v. Emperor ILR (1903) M. 508, though on the facts that case may be distinguishable. We must set aside the
conviction and the sentence passed on the accused and direct a retrial of the accused on the charges triable with the help of assessors. The
accused may remain on the same bail as now.