The Alipore Bomb Trial

EIGHTEENTH DAY’S PROCEEDINGS

Mr. Das continuing his address on behalf of Sudhir Kumar Sirkar said, there were three or four Sudhirs and there was nothing in the documents found to show which Sudhir was meant. Then again there were several Sudhirs who stayed at the garden. If there Lordships were satisfied that exhibit 774 was written by Sudhir, then his case stood on a different footing. Exhibit 774 was a post-card addressed to Upendra Nath Banerjee, Sil's Lodge, Deoghar, and was signed by Sudhir. There was nothing in that post-card about the garden except the postscript which ran as follows "The condition of the garden is bad ; monkeys are entering. There is possibility of spoiling. The boys are like that." If their Lordships were not satisfied that Sudhir wrote that post-card then the case against him was one of mere suspicion only.

     The Chief Justice : I don't know, Mr. Norton, whether you say Sil’s Lodge was a place of conspiracy in that sense or a place where a certain number of persons, according to your view of the evidence were shown to have been.

     Mr. Norton : We go further and say that they were there for conducting experiments in chemistry in furtherance of the conspiracy.

     Mr. Das continuing said it was a significant fact that in not one of the confessions was there the slightest reference to Sil's Lodge. If the confessions were true then that was a significant omission. The nearest approach to chemical experiments was a label, while the nearest approach to bombs was nine pieces of tin.

     Another line of argument, continued Counsel, to show that Sil's Lodge was a place of conspiracy was that certain documents or articles which were at Sil's Lodge were now found to be at 134, Harrison Road, and at the garden. The first one was exhibit 276, a gunny bag found in the garden on the 6^th May with the words—"P. Chaki, Baidyanath" written on it.

     Counsel then went on to say that the next article was exhibit 641 which was said by the prosecution to be a plan of Sil’s Lodge found at 134, Harrison Road. That plan was shown to Debendra Nath Sil, the owner of Sil’s Lodge, who could not make it out.

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Then there were certain letters which passed between Prokash Chandra Ghose who lived there and Debendra Nath Sil. These letters were found at 134, Harrison Road. On the 7^th May another plan was found in the garden and the prosecution said that this was also a plan of Sil’s Lodge. It had not been made out that these were plans of SiI’s Lodge.

     Counsel then said that his submission would be first that it was not proved that these were plans of Sil's Lodge. Secondly assuming they were plans of Sil’s Lodge, it merely proved that Prokash Chandra Ghose who lived there brought his letters to 134, Harrison Road. How did that affect the case of Sudhir ?

     Mr. Das next referred to a point which was made that many a time a man who was found to be given to preaching Swadeshi was also given to picketting and from it the prosecution took it that the man would naturally show a predilection for waging war against the King or conspiracy. Counsel disclaimed that insinuation altogether. There were many men in this country who were strong Swadeshites but who would never dream of conspiracy or waging war against the King. There was a sharp line of distinction between waging war against the King and politicians of all schools in Bengal. The one was not to be confounded with the other.

     The Court rose for the day.

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