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PETITIONER: K. N. MEHRA
Vs.
RESPONDENT: THE STATE OF RAJASTHAN
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 11/02/1957
BENCH: JAGANNADHADAS, B. BENCH: JAGANNADHADAS, B. IMAM, SYED JAFFER MENON, P. GOVINDA
CITATION: 1957 AIR 369 1957 SCR 623
ACT: Aircraft, Theft of-Used for training-Implied consent- Dishonest intention-Temporary retention-Theft and Larceny, Distinction -Indian Penal Code (Act XLV of 1860), SS. 23, 24, 378.
HEADNOTE: By s. 378 of the Indian Penal Code: " Whoever, intending to take dishonestly any movable property out of the possession of any person without that person’s consent, moves that property in order to such taking, is said to commit theft ". P and the appellant were cadets on training in the Indian Air Force Academy, jodhpur, but P had been discharged on the ground of misconduct, and on the day of the incident the appellant was due for a local flight in a Dakota as part of his training as a Navigator. With the help of P, who knew flying, he took off another type of aircraft, Harvard H.T. 822, without authorisation, and on the same day they force- landed at a place in Pakistan. Some days later they contacted the authorities in the Indian High Commission and on their way to India they were arrested at jodhpur and prosecuted for the theft of the aircraft. It was contended for the appellant that as a cadet under training he was entitled to ta...