JUDGMENT :-The appellant in these appeals was convicted under Section 420, I.P. Code for having taken money from the complainants. The prosecution case was that some companions of the accused told the complainants that the accused could cure diseases, that he does not take money and that he spends money on charities. After the companions told them about the accused, the accused himself asked the complainants to give him whatever money they had. The complainants therefore parted willingly with the money believing what was told by the companions of the accused as to the powers of the accused. The money was parted with willingly. The accused - himself did not make any representation to the complainants. What the companions of the accused told the complainants would not amount to a false representation. A false representation must relate to some fact that is either past or present. A statement purely affecting the future will not suffice. But the state of mind of a person may be a present fact. In this case, the representation made was that the old man has got the powers of curing all diseases. It did not relate to a past fact or present fact, but related to the future powers of the old man. It is, therefore, not a false representation to come within the meaning of the definition of 'cheating'. Moreover, it is not false in the sense that no human being can have the power of curing all diseases. To state that a human being has got the powers of curing all diseases itself must be known to be an exaggeration or tall talk. It does not therefore, amount to a false representation to constitute an offence of cheating. 2. The appeals are, therefore, allowed, and the convictions of the appellant and the sentences passed upon him in all the three appeals are set aside. Fines, if paid, should be refunded.