HARENDRA RAI Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Everything was going as per the plan and wish of the main accused Prabhunath Singh, a political leader and a sitting Member of Parliament at the relevant time as he had mustered full support of the Administration and the Investigating Agency; he had influenced and won over almost all the witnesses of fact mentioned in the chargesheet (who were declared hostile), the relevant formal witnesses including the Investigating Officer were not produced in the trial by the prosecution, the Public Prosecutor prosecuting the case was supporting the defence, the Presiding Officers were completely insensitive towards their pious duty, but everything turned upside down when he committed a glaring mistake and that one mistake cost him heavily. He got the court witness, Smt.Lalmuni Devi, mother of deceased Rajendra Rai abducted ten days before the date fixed for recording her statement. This led to filing of a Habeas Corpus Petition before the High Court, a report submitted by the Inspecting Judge as a result of an unruly incident which occurred in the Trial Court on the date Smt.Lalmuni Devi- CW-1 deposed before the Trial Court and another report of the Inspecting Judge commenting upon the judgment of acquittal by the Trial Court. All these aspects would be dealt in detail at a later stage.

(2.) This appeal assails the correctness of the judgment and order dtd. 2/12/2021 passed by learned Single Judge of the Patna High Court in Criminal Revision Petition No. 1345 of 2009, whereby the said Revision Petition was dismissed confirming the judgment of the Additional Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court- III, Patna dtd. 24/10/2008 passed in Sessions Trial Nos. 469 of 2007 and 470 of 2007, acquitting Respondent Nos. 2 to 8 of all the charges.

(3.) FIR was registered on 25/3/1995 at the Police Station Masrakh (Panapur) District Saran at Chapra, Bihar as Case No. 62 of 1995 under Ss. 147, 148, 149/307 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 (In short, "IPC") and Sec. 27 of the Arms Act. Later on, Sec. 302 IPC was added as two out of three injured died during treatment. The said FIR was registered based on the statement of one of the injured Rajendra Rai at about 10AM, who subsequently succumbed to injuries. The statement was recorded at the corridor of Camp Rajkiya Hospital, Panapur by Sub-Inspector N.N. Thakur of Police Station, Panapur in the presence of two other injured namely Daroga Rai and Smt. Devi and also before two other persons namely Narendar Singh and Sanjeev Kumar Singh who had signed as witnesses in the FIR.