Yohana s/o Joseph v. R., Crim. App. 606-M-69, 4/12/69, Seaton J.

Yohana s/o Joseph v. R., Crim. App. 606-M-69, 4/12/69, Seaton J.

The appellant was charged and convicted of arson contrary to section 319 of the Penal Code and was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. At his trial appellant wished to call three defence witnesses and so informed the court. But his witnesses were not present in court. The learned magistrate in his judgment has commented regarding this request as follows: “The accused in his defence elected to make unworn statement and later abandoned his intention to call his witnesses because he could into afford it, nor could the court afford to pay for the fare and posho of his witnesses because the vote for assessors and witnesses at that time was exhausted

            Held: “It was apparently upon financial reasons that the learned resident magistrate based his failure to assist the appellant to procure witnesses in his offence Section 145 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code authorizes the trial court to issue summons for a witness’s whenever it is made to appear that material evidence can be given by any person. Section 353 of the Criminal Procedure Code authorizes any court to order payment of reasonable expenses of any assessor, complainant or witnesses attending before such court could for the purpose of an inquiry, trial or other proceedings under the code. If, as the learned magistrate has stated in his judgment, the court could not afford to pay for the fare and posho of his witnesses, then in fair-ness to the appellant the trial should have been postponed until such time as additional funds were available to the court.” Conviction quashed and re-trial ordered.