Public Prosecutor vs Ramanatham Pillai

Lakshmana Rao, J.—This is an appeal by the Provincial Government against the acquittal of the respondent of an offence u/s 328, Penal Code. The respondent is stated to have caused arsenic to be mixed in the food of P. Ws. 4 and 5 through P.W. 3, a girl aged 13 years, with intent to injure them; and according to the prosecution, P.W. 3 was an innocent agent. The Assistant Sessions Judge convicted the respondent on her evidence; and on appeal he was acquitted by the Sessions Judge on the ground that P.W. 3 was an accomplice. Hence this appeal, and the view of the Sessions Judge that P.W. 3 was an accomplice cannot be supported. The order of acquittal is therefore set aside and the appeal is remanded to the Sessions Judge for disposal on the merits.