Summarize the following court judgment. iminal Appeal No. 49 of 1969. Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated December 2	 1968 of the Allahabad High Court in Criminal Appeal No. 1277 of 1968. R. L. Kohli	 for the appellant. O. P. Rana	 for the respondent. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by Sikri	 J. The only question which arises in this appeal by special leave is whether the appellant	 Sheo Nath	 should be convicted under section 396	 I.P.C.	 or section 411	 I.P.C.	 or section 412	 I.P.C. The facts as found by the High Court are these. A dacoity was committed at the shop of Ram Murat in Dhaneja village by 15 to 20 persons on August 19	 1966	 at about 11.30 p.m. One dacoit	 Ram Shankar	 was armed with a gun while others carried 797 spears	 Gandasas and lathis. During the course of the dacoity Ram Murat was injured. One Pancham	 who lived in a house not far from Ram Murat 's shop	 and two others came running on heating the noise. Pancham was shot down with the gun by dacoit Ram Shankar. The dacoits then escaped with clothes	 ornaments	 cash	 etc.	 looted from Ram Murat 's shop. After the dacoits left Ram Murat dictated a report about the occurrence in which lie named Ram Shankar Singh	 Jaintri Prasad Singh	 Nanhe Singh and Sulai accused as having been among the culprits and this report was sent to the Jalalpur police station	 five miles away	 where it was received and recorded at 6 a.m. next morning. On August 22	 1966	 i.e.	 three days after the dacoity	 the house of Sheo Nath	 appellant	 was searched and three lengths of cloth were recovered which were subsequently identified by Ram Murat and a tailor named Bismillah as having been stolen from Ram Murat 's shop in the dacoity. The High Court	 agreeing with the learned Sessions Judge	 relied on the evidence of three eye witnesses regarding the manner in which the occurrence took place and regarding the participation of the four named accused persons. Sheo Nath had not been named by the eye witnesses or in the dying declaration of Panchain and no witness claimed to have identified him taking part in the dacoity. But	 relying on the discovery of three lengths of cloth and their identification	 the High Court convicted Sheo Nath under section 396	 I.P.C. The High Court observed : "From the material on record we are fully con vinced that the Exhs. 2 and 3 were stolen from the shop of Ram Murat in the course of the dacoity committed in the night between 19 to 20 August 1966	 and since they were recovered from the possession of Sheonath appellant only 2 or 3 days later	 it is legitimate to infer that he was one of the dacoits vide illustration (a) to section 114 of the Evidence Act. Sheo Nath	 therefore	 has been rightly convicted under section 396	 I.P.C." The learned counsel for the appellant contends that in the circumstances of the case the High Court should not have convicted the appellant under section 396	 I.P.C.	 but only under section 411 I.P.C. Section 114 of the Evidence Act and illustration (a) read as follows : " 114. The Court may presume the existence of any fact which it thinks likely to have happened	 regard being had to the common course of natural events	 human conduct and public and private business	 in their relation to facts of the particular case. illustrations. 798 The Court may presume (a) that a man who is in possession of stolen goods after the theft	 is either the thief or has received the goods knowing them to be stolen	 unless he can account for his possession." This Section was considered by this Court in Sanwal Khan vs State of Rajasthan(1). This Court	 after considering some High Court cases	 observed : "In our judgment no hard and fast rule can be laid down as to what inference should be drawn from a certain circumstance. Where	 however	 the only evidence against an accused person is the recovery of stolen property and although the circumstances may indicate that the theft and the murder must have been committed at the same time	 it is not safe to draw the inference that the person in possession of the stolen property was the murderer. Suspicion cannot take the place of proof. " In Wasim Khan vs State of Uttar Pradesh(2) this Court held that " recent and unexplained possession of the stolen property while it would be presumptive evidence against a prisoner on the charge of robbery would similarly be evidence against him on the charge of murder." On the facts of that case this Court held that the appellant was rightly convicted of the offence of murder and robbery. But	 apart from the possession of stolen property	 there were other circumstances indicating that the appellant was guilty of murder and robbery. The circumstances were that the appel lant in that case had travelled with the deceased on his bullock cart alone and the deceased never reached his home and was found murdered. The appellant was found in possession of the goods 	of the deceased three days after and the appellant made no effort to trace the whereabouts of the deceased or lodge information of his disappearance from the bullock cart. In the present case three presumptions are possible from the recovery of the stolen goods from the appellant three days after the occurrence of the dacoity (1) that the appellant took part in the dacoity; (2) that he received stolen goods knowing that the goods were stolen in the commission of a dacoity; and (3) that the appellant received these goods knowing them to have been stolen. (1) A.I.R. 1956 S.C. 54. (2)[1956] S.C.R. 191. 799 The choice to be made	 however	 must depend on the facts proved in this case. It is quite clear that all the property which was	 stolen by the dacoits was not recovered from the appellant. We may repeat that clothes	 ornaments	 cash	 etc. were stolen. The only articles that were found with the appellant were a length of muslin (Exh. 2) and a length of charkhana doriya (Exh. 3). The appellant is stated to be a cloth merchant and he may well have acquired these goods as a receiver. It has not been shown that in the village in which the appellant lived it was known that a dacoity had taken place and goods had been stolen in the dacoity. On the facts of this case it seems to us that the	 only legitimate presumption to be drawn is that the appellant knew that the	 goods were stolen but he did not know that they were stolen in a dacoity. The appellant	 therefore	 can only be convicted under section 411	 I.P.C. In this connection we may refer to a decision of the Rajas than High Court in Bhurgiri vs The State(1) (Wanchoo	 C.J.	 and Dave	 J.). Wanchoo	 C.J.	 after holding that the recovery of ornaments from Bhurgiri had been established	 observed : "The next question is whether on this evidence Bhurgiri can be convicted for dacoity. The	 recovery took place five days after the dacoity. It is not impossible that during that period the property might have passed from the dacoits to a receiver. Under these circumstances	 we are of opinion that it would not be safe to convict Bhurgiri of dacoity on the evidence of this recovery alone. It would be more proper to convict him as a guilty receiver. Then the question arises whether he should be convicted under section 411 or 412	 I.P.C. So far as section 411 is concerned	 he is clearly guilty under that section. The presumption under section 114 applies	 and we can safely presume that he is a guilty receiver of stolen property particularly when we find that the property was kept in the Bara	 and not at his own house. He must have	 had reason to believe that it was stolen when he received the property	 and that is why he left it in the Bara. But we feel that it would not be proper to convict him under section 412 because that section requires that the receiver should know or have reason (1) I.L.R. [1954] Rai. 476	 482 83. 800 to believe that the property had been transferred by the commission of dacoity. The prosecution	 in our opinion has to show something more than the mere possession of stolen goods for a conviction under section 412. If the prosecution is only able to show mere possession	 the proper section to use is 411. " In the result the appeal is allowed and the appellant convicted under s.411	I.P.C.	 instead of section 396	 I.P.C.	and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years. R.K.P.S Appeal allowed.

The house of the appellant	 a cloth merchant	 was searched and three lengths of cloth were recovered which were subsequently identified as having been stolen from a shop in a dacoity in which clothes	 ornaments	 cash etc. were stolen. The appellant was not named by the eye witnesses or in the dying declaration as having taken part in the dacoity. Relying on the discovery of the cloth and their identification the High Court convicted him under section 396 Penal Code. The Court observed that it was legitimate to infer that he was one of the dacoits in view of illustration (a) to Section 114 of the Evidence Act. In the appeal to this Court it was contended that the High Court should have convicted the appellant only under section 411 Penal Code. Allowing the appeal	 HELD : On the facts the only legitimate presumption to be drawn is that the appellant knew that the goods were stolen but he did not know that they were stolen in a dacoity. All the property which was stolen by the dacoits was not recovered from the appellant. The appellant	 a cloth merchant	 may well have acquired these goods as a receiver. It has not been shown that in the village in which the appellant lived it was known that a dacoity had taken place and goods had been stolen in the dacoity. [799 B C] Wasim Khan vs State of Uttar Pradesh	 [1956] S.C.R. 191 distinguished; Sanwal Khan vs State of Rajasthan A.I.R. 1956 S.C. 54	 referred to.