"Person once convicted or acquitted not to be tried for same offence again". Comment on the statement in the light of decided case law(s).

Section 300 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) protects a person from being prosecuted for the same offence again. Section 300 of CrPC cannot be definitely interpreted to mean that if a person steals a property and gets convicted of the offence of theft, he should not be prosecuted for the same offence if it arises out of another theft. Section 300 of CrPC is unique in the sense that it requires either a conviction or acquittal as a pre-requisite for the protection to be available. In the case of Kerala High Court in Bharat Plywood and Timber Products Private Limited and Onr. v. Registrar of Companies and Another. [2002] 108 Comp Cas 601 (Ker) held that "Section 300 of the CrPC provides that so long as an order of acquittal or conviction handed down by a court of competent jurisdiction stands in respect of a person charged with committing an offence, that person cannot again be tried on the same facts for the offence for which he was earlier tried or for any other offence arising there from. Section 300 of CrPC becomes applicable when a court of competent jurisdiction had already tried the accused and that he is either acquitted or convicted. It is also necessary to note that for the first part of sub-section (1) of Section 300 to apply, the prior prosecution and subsequent prosecution should be for the same offence."