Wakilii

Rex v Dossani (Criminal Appeal No. 77 of 1945)

East African Court of Appeal · [1946] EACA 39 · 1946 Appeal Dismissed — Re-trial Ordered AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Appeal from High Court of Nyasaland order for re-trial following conviction for offences against Defence (Price of Goods) Regulations, 1943
Decision
Matter remitted for re-trial before another magistrate

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Court of Appeal upheld the High Court's order for re-trial where the accused had not had a satisfactory trial due to omissions and irregularities prejudicial to the accused. An order for re-trial is proper under section 334 of the Criminal Procedure Code when there is evidence on the record which might support conviction but unsatisfactory features prejudicial to the accused resulted in an unsatisfactory trial. The Court observed serious departures from approved procedure in the police trap operation.

Outcome

Matter remitted for re-trial before another magistrate

Facts

The appellant was convicted by the Magistrate, Blantyre, for offences against the Defence (Price of Goods) Regulations, 1943. The prosecution case depended entirely on the evidence of an agent provocateur, Teladia, who allegedly purchased goods at prices exceeding the controlled price. On appeal to the High Court of Nyasaland, the Chief Justice found omissions and irregularities prejudicial to the appellant: rejection of defence witness Abubakar's evidence based on inadmissible evidence; rejection of witness de Silva's evidence on grounds resulting from an improper question by Crown Counsel; and failure to examine an important invoice at trial. The money used in the trap was Teladia's personal money, not police funds, and the notes were neither recorded nor marked for identification. The High Court ordered a re-trial. The appellant appealed against the re-trial order.

Issues

  1. Whether the High Court properly ordered a re-trial where the accused had not had a satisfactory trial due to omissions and irregularities.
  2. Whether the order for re-trial should be set aside on grounds of inadequate proof of controlled price.
  3. Whether the procedure followed by investigating officers in setting a trap was proper.

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed.
  • Re-trial ordered before another magistrate.

Rules and key headnotes

Criminal Law & Procedure — Re-trial — Power to Order — Unsatisfactory Trial
An order for re-trial is the proper order to be made under section 334 of the Criminal Procedure Code when an accused has not had a satisfactory trial due to omissions and irregularities prejudicial to the accused, provided there is evidence on the record which might support a conviction.
Criminal Law & Procedure — Re-trial — Distinction from Filling Gaps in Prosecution Case
A re-trial should not be ordered for the purpose of allowing the prosecution to fill up gaps in its case, but may properly be ordered where there is evidence on the record which might support conviction but the trial was unsatisfactory due to prejudicial irregularities.
Evidence — Agent Provocateur — Proper Procedure for Police Traps
In cases involving police traps using an agent provocateur, proper procedure requires that money used be supplied by the police rather than the personal money of the agent provocateur, and that notes be recorded and marked for subsequent identification, to avoid the agent provocateur having a direct personal interest in securing conviction and to enable identification of marked notes in the accused's possession.

Legislation cited (2)

  • Defence (Price of Goods) Regulations, 1943
  • Nyasaland Criminal Procedure Code s.334

Cases cited (2)

  • Kamunan v Rex (11 E.A.C.A. 122)
  • Varadarajulu Naidu v The King (42 Madras 885)

Full judgment

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The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

Rex v Dossani (Criminal Appeal No. 77 of 1945) [1946] EACA 39 (1 January 1946)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.