Rex Okumba and Another (Cr. Revision Case No. 764-35.)
Observed later treatment
No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.
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Holding
Section 27(8) of the Penal Code does not authorize indefinite detention of an accused found unfit for corporal punishment until he recovers health sufficiently to receive a whipping. Section 27(8) only makes legal the short detention necessary to obtain a medical report and for attendance of a prison officer to administer punishment. When a prisoner is found unfit at the time of sentence to undergo whipping, section 27(7) requires imposition of a substituted sentence. The magistrate's order detaining the accused for fourteen days was illegal.
Outcome
Convictions quashed; no retrial ordered as accused had already undergone punishment
Facts
Two accused persons were convicted by a magistrate and sentenced to corporal punishment. One of the accused was found unfit to receive a whipping at the time of sentence. The magistrate ordered that this accused be detained for fourteen days until he was fit to receive the whipping. The Attorney General declined to support the convictions as neither accused had been called upon to make his defence. The court considered whether the magistrate's detention order was competent under section 27(8) of the Penal Code.
Issues
- Whether section 27(8) of the Penal Code authorizes detention of an accused found unfit for corporal punishment until he recovers sufficiently to receive a whipping.
- Whether the magistrate's order detaining the accused for fourteen days until fit to receive a whipping was a competent order.
Orders
- Convictions quashed.
- No order for retrial made as both accused have already undergone the punishment imposed.
- Magistrate's order detaining the accused for fourteen days held to be illegal.
Rules and key headnotes
Legislation cited (2)
- Penal Code s.27(7)
- Penal Code s.27(8)
Full judgment
The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.