MAHMOOD Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Nine accused were charged for offence under Section 396 IPC. Three of them, namely, Jamil, Mokid Alam and Mahmood were further charged for offence under Section 412 IPC as well. Briefly the case of the prosecution is :

(2.) The prosecution examined 12 witnesses. The informant Bhupendra Mohan Singh is PW4. PW1 and PW2 are his brothers. PW3 is Dinesh Chandra Singh, the neighbour from whose house PW4 claims to have seen the entire occurrence. All four of them claim that they had witnessed the occurrence. PW5, Manoranjan Singh, is also resident of the same village and said to have reached the place of occurrence soon after the dacoits had left. PW 10 is the investigating officer. The other witnesses are formal.

(3.) The Court of Session convicted 5 accused, namely, Jamil, Mahmood, Mokid Alam, Salim and Post Card @ Jagdish Mahto for offence under Section 396 IPC and sentenced them for rigorous imprisonment for life. Accused Jamil, Mahmood and Mokid Alam were also convicted for offence under Section 412 IPC as well and were further sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for seven years for the said offence. The remaining four accused, namely, Mehruddin, Mohd. Dara, Mokimuddin and Alim were acquitted. The conviction of the five accused has been upheld by the High Court. Three of them, namely, Mahmood, Mokid Alam and Post Card @ Jagdish are appellants before us.