Section 106 Evidence Act cannot shift the prosecution's primary burden where relevant facts are equally accessible to it.

Section 106 of the Evidence Act applies only to facts especially within the accused's knowledge and cannot relieve the prosecution of its primary burden in a criminal case. The railway-ticket illustration is confined to special situations where the passenger alone can readily explain the facts; it does not apply where the prosecution can obtain the relevant information from its own records and registers with due diligence. On the material discussed, the facts were not shown to be exclusively within the accused's knowledge, so the burden did not shift and no conviction or retrial could safely be founded on the evidence adduced.

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Issues: Whether the prosecution could shift to the accused the burden of proving payment of the railway fare by invoking section 106 of the Evidence Act, and whether the evidence on record was sufficient to sustain a retrial or conviction.

Analysis: The general rule in criminal law is that the prosecution must prove the facts constituting the offence. Section 106 of the Evidence Act is an exception, but it applies only where a fact is especially within the knowledge of the accused. The section cannot be used to relieve the prosecution of its primary burden or to expand the scope of the illustration appended to it. The illustration concerning railway travel without a ticket is directed to special cases where the passenger alone can readily explain the position, but it does not apply where the prosecution, by using its own records and registers, can obtain the same information with due diligence. On the material available, the prosecution had not shown that the relevant facts were exclusively within the accused's knowledge, and no conviction could safely rest on the evidence adduced.

Conclusion: The burden did not shift to the accused, and the prosecution failed to establish a basis for conviction or further retrial.

Ratio Decidendi: Section 106 of the Evidence Act operates only for facts especially within the knowledge of the accused and cannot displace the prosecution's primary burden of proof in a criminal case where the relevant facts are equally within the reach of the prosecution.

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