CHANDRA MOHAN TIWARI Vs. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The two appellants, namely, Chandra Mohan Tiwari and Ram Pal Singh Sengar have filed this criminal appeal canvassing the correctness and legality of the judgment and order dated 17th of November 1978 of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Jabalpur rendered in Criminal Appeal No. 477 of 1973, whereby the High Court has allowed the appeal preferred by the State by setting aside the order of acquittal passed by the trial Court and convicted the first appellant under Section 302, I.P.C. and the second appellant under Section 302 read with 34, I.P.C. and sentenced each of them to imprisonment for life.

(2.) The matrix of the case which has led to the filing of this appeal briefly stated is as follows: P.W. 6 Ahiwaransingh was at the material time, a compounder in the Veterinary Hospital, Budhni. He was residing in one of the quarters situated in the compound of the Veterinary Hospital. On the opposite side of the compound there are Government quarters, one of which was occupied by appellant Ram Pal Singh (Appellant No. 2), who was serving as Gram Sevak in the Block Development Office. He is married and distantly related to P.W.-6. The first appellant Chandra Mohan Tiwari was wielding high influence in that locality and was well known to the members of the family of P.W.-6. It appears that he contested the election to the Legislative Assembly from Budhni constituency.

(3.) The members of the family of P.W.-6 included P.W.-5, the deceased Saroj aged about 16 years, who is P.W.-6's wife and eldest daughter respectively. P.W.-6 had settled the marriage of his daughter Saroj at Dahiyapur, Etawah District (U.P.). On 24-5-1970 he along with his deceased daughter, Saroj, left Budhni for Bhopal enroute to Dahiyapur. At Bhopal he stayed with his relative by name Arjun Singh. On 25-5-1970 at about 1 1.00 a.m. P.W.-6 had gone to the market leaving Saroj alone in the house. According to the prosecution, the second appellant came to the house of P.W.-6 and told Saroj that her father wanted her presence for selection of clothes. Saroj believing the words of second appellant and without entertaining any doubt on the representation of the second appellant accompanied him in a jeep which was driven by the first appellant. Then she was taken to a house where she was wrongfully confined for about two and a half months. During this period both the appellants are stated to have forcibly committed sexual intercourse with Saroj. P.W.-6 lost his nerve on the sudden disappearance of his daughter, but he instead of lodging a report with the police, which evidently he thought would adversely affect the future life of his daughter and her impending marriage and so bring the family in disrepute, unsuccessfully made a frantic and intensive search for his daughter. Then he lodged a report Ex. P/ 10 on 3-8-1970 at the Police Station of M-angalwara, alleging that he had reason to believe that Saroj might have been kidnapped by both the appellants. The police did not take any prompt action on the report. By that time, the appellants, on coming to know of the lodging of the report, devised a plan to forestall any action being taken against them. The second appellant took Saroj in a taxi to Hoshangabad and left her near the police station with an instruction to lodge a false complaint at the police station that she was kidnapped from Bhopal on 25-5-1970 by one Ramnath and Indrasen and was wrongfully confined by them. She was also threatened that the appellants would be keeping a watch over her and that in case she divulged the truth, serious consequences would follow. As instructed by the second appellant, Saroj lodged a complaint Ex. D/ 15 on 9-8-1970 at Hoshangabad Police Station. However, when she was taken to the Police Station, Mangalwara in connection with the report, lodged by her father (P.W.-6) she told the entire truth to the police and her parents. Even then no progress was made in the investigation on the report of P.W.-6 at Mangalwara. So P.W.-6 made a fervent plea to the then Chief Minister of the State and requested him to take action in the matter. It was only thereafter, on the instructions of the higher authorities wheels of investigation started moving on. The police after completing the investigation filed the charge-sheet before the Additional District Magistrate (Judicial), Bhopal against both these two appellants for offences punishable under Sections 363, 366 and 376, I.P.C.