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CRIMINAL  COURTS  AND  THEIR POWERS                                        I

knowledge of the burglary, they were made to stand in a courtyard with their legs
stretched apart. They were asked to bend down, and pebbles wer»e placed on their necks
and backs. Those who dropped the pebbles were severely belaboured with sticks. Two
of them, were hung from rafters in a room, their legs being tied with ropes. Various
other forms of torture were alleged to have been practised on them. The "stinging
nettle " was used on Bata Natha, one of the victims. The torture extended over a period
of thirty-six hours. They were ultimately set free. When the police had left the village,
those who had received injuries went to Godhra for medical treatment. Batha was
admitted to the Civil Hospital, as it was found that one of his palms had been crushed
under the legs of a cot. The other victims made a petition to the District Superintendent
of Police.

The additional District Superintendent personally conducted the inquiry and •
arrested Narsing Chandrasing and six others on charges of torture, wrongful confinement
and abetment. They were tried by the Sessions Judge, Broach and Panch Mahals, who
sentenced Narsing constable to three years' rigorous imprisonment for causing grievous
hurt to Batha with a view to extorting a confession, and to one year's rigorous imprison-
ment for wrongful confinement, the sentences to run concurrently. Virsing, assistant to
the police patel, was bound over in the sum of Rs. 200 for a year. The other five accused
were found not guilty and were acquitted.

Narsing filed an appeal in the High Court of Bombay against his conviction and
sentence, but Their Lordships upheld the conviction and sentence. — Times of India,
March 5, 1936.

9.   A case occurred in Bombay where six Chinese, in order to extract a confession,
blindfolded and gagged a Chinese cloth hawker, and after binding his hands and legs
together hung him on a wall head downwards and subjected him to terrible and brutal
torture for several hours.    He was whipped and battered against the wall, kicked and
fisted.   Still he refused to confess that he had anything to do with the theft of Rs. 1,700
worth of cloth belonging to one Sin Yung Thong.

Finding him obstinate, his assailants were alleged to have stuffed his nose witli
chilly powder and dusted him on the knuckles. Unable to bear the pain any longer,
Chang, the victim, mentioned the name of another Chinese as concerned in the theft.
On this he was freed of the ropes, but locked up in a room where he remained without
food or drink for two days. On the third day he managed to break open the window
and leapt down through it. He was picked up in an unconscious state and taken to
hospital, where only after three days he was able to make a statement to the police. —
Times of India, Dec. 18, 1940.

10.    One Noor Mohmad was in love with his step-daughter, who, however, wanted
to marry  a  youth,  named Usman  Ismail.    He  threatened Usman with  "dire   conse-
quences", and to implicate him falsely murdered an unknown boy on August 19, 1948,
in a garage at Dadar Main Road with the help of Zaidyarkhan Waidyarkhan.   The police
arrested both these men, who were tried before the Additional Sessions Judge, Greater
Bombay.   The special jury unanimously found Noor Mohmad guilty and he was sentenced
to death.   Zaidyarkhan was found not guilty and was acquitted.   Against his conviction
and  sentence  Noor Mohmad  appealed  to the  High  Court, Bombay.    Their Lordships
dismissed the appeal and confirmed the sentence. — Times of India, Nov. 19, 1949.

CRIMINAL COURTS AND THEIR POWERS

There are three kinds of courts for the trial of offenders in India. These
are the High Courts^ the Courts^ of Session and the Courts presided over by
Magistrates. ~ """There are three classes of Magistrates, thefirst^Jhe second^
and_the_ third. There is also** the class of theTKsi^ncyTvIagistrates, who
are appointed for Presidency towns. First clais JVIagistrates ' commit their
cases to the Courts of Session and Presidency Magistrates direct to the High
Courts, Btrt the Presidency Magistrates of Bombay have to commit their
cases to the Court- of Session for Greater Bombay under thejCode of Criminal^
Procedure (Bombay Amendment) Act, 1948. From the class oF tne Magis-
first class ja Magistrate is appointed to the charge of a district

A~1?^gistf^r^~1te^first *>r~ 'second-

,

class, whenjplacecT in cTSargejof^ a^^b-jIhdsiOTy^
Magistrate.    3r              "

™""~The High Courts are the highest tribunals in the country, and ar*e con-
stituted by Parliamentary Statutes. They are established at Allahabad,
Bombay, Calcutta, Lahore, Madras, Patna and Nagpur, while the ^Cld^CoTirts
are the highest Courts in Oudh and Sind, and the Judicial ConnnissEoner's