The task of the court in a criminal trial under section 172(1) of Act 29 is not to embark upon the determination of the ownership of property as between the complainant and the accused . . . Thus as soon as the prosecution realises from the investigation into the complaint that the trial is bound to be a camouflaged civil trial into the ownership of the property, they must decline prosecution since the accused's claim to the ownership of the property is bound to negative the unlawfulness of his conduct.
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