RAVI MANDAL Vs. STATE OF UTTARAKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These two appeals are against the judgment and order of the High Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital (for short "the High Court"), dtd. 7/4/2010, dismissing Criminal Appeals Nos.54 and 59 of 2004 filed against the judgment and order of Additional Sessions Judge/Fast Track Court Haldwani, Nainital (for short "the Trial Court") dtd. 28/1/2004, and, thereby, affirming the conviction and sentence awarded to the appellants detailed below: (i) life imprisonment under sec. 302 read with sec. 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short "IPC") along with one year R.I. under sec. 201 IPC in Sessions Trial (S.T.) No.93/2002 (State vs. Shabbir Ahmad and Another); (ii) one year R.I. with fine of Rs.500.00 under sec. 25 Arms Act to appellant Shabbir in S.T. No.104 of 2002 (State vs. Shabbir Ahmed); and (iii) one year R.I. with fine of Rs.500.00 under sec. 4/25 of Arms Act to appellant Ravi Mandal in connected S.T. No.105 of 2002 (State vs. Ravi Mandal).

(2.) On 1/11/2001, Man Singh (PW-1), father of Chhotu @ Surjeet (the deceased), on finding his son's dead body in a forest, 150 meters west of Government Inter College, lodged a first information report (FIR) at P.S. Lalkuan, Haldwani, district Nainital at about 7.30 hrs, alleging therein that, - on 31/10/2001, at about 2100 Hours, the deceased was with his friends Govind and Ravi Bangali (later identified as Ravi Mandal); Govind, a criminal, had been influencing his son to choose a wrong path; therefore, he suspects that these persons have killed his son and concealed his body in the forest. Thereafter, on 10/11/2001, PW-1 gave a written information to the police stating that it was not Govind but Shabbir who along with Ravi and one Mazhar Khan were with the deceased on that fateful night. In this written information, it was alleged that Babloo (PW-7) had misled him to take the name of Govind.

(3.) During the course of investigation, the police effected arrest of the two accused, namely, the appellants herein, and disclosed recovery of a 12 bore country made pistol with one live cartridge from Shabbir and a knife from Ravi Mandal, giving rise to two separate cases against each of the two accused under the Arms Act.