T.V.R. Indra Talavar vs R. Narasimha Rau

Oldfield, J.—The accused was charged with an offence punishable u/s 430, Indian Penal Code. The Sessions Judge dealt with his appeal against his conviction under that section by referring to the reasons given in the judgment in a connected case in which his conviction was upheld on a charge of an offence punishable u/s 379. In the latter, accused was alleged to have stolen stone from the bed of a tank, and the ownership of the tank and the bona fides of his claim to it were important. But they could not be decided in this case, iu which accused''s intention to cause wrongful loss was the essential matter to be considered. The accused''s case in fact was that he cut the tank Inmil in order to build a new sluice there, the existing sluice being out of order, and this would be an offence punishable u/s 430, only if the intention specified in Section 425 as well as the other roquisities of the former section were established. The learned Sessions Judge has not dealt with this aspect of the case. His decision is set aside and he is directed to re-hear the appeal in the light of the foregoing.