RAM KUMAR Vs. STATE OF UTTARAKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present appeal is directed against judgement and order dtd. 19/10/2010 of the High Court of Uttarakhand passed in Criminal Appeal No. 1515 of 2001 (Old No. 636 of 1999) titled Ram Kumar and five Ors. v State of UP (Now State of Uttarakhand). The Division Bench dismissed the Signature Not Verified appeal insofar as appellants Ram Kumar, Satvir and Ram Pal are concerned. Insofar as appeal of Jaibeer Singh alias Pappu and that of Rajdev was concerned, it was partly allowed by maintaining their conviction however the sentence of life imprisonment was set aside extending them benefits under the Juvenile Justice (Care and protection of Children) Act, 2000. As they had already undergone more than 3 years, but as they were on bail, they were not required to surrender. Accused Jitendra @ Jasbir died during pendency of the appeal as such it was abated as against him. The three convicted appellants have filed the present appeal, however, during the pendency of the appeal, Satvir died, as such the present appeal survives only as against Ram Kumar and Ram Pal.

(2.) Deceased Hem Pal and accused Ram Pal and Ram Kumar are real brothers. Accused Pappu and Jasvir are sons of Ram Pal and accused Satvir and Rajdev are sons of Ram Kumar. It is apparent that the six accused are close relatives.

(3.) According to the prosecution story, on 9th of February, 1997, the deceased, along with his wife Saroj (PW-1), his mother and two children had gone to consult a doctor regarding illness of one of his children. At around 5 p.m., while they were returning close to the village, the six accused caught hold of the deceased and pushed him to a nearby field where they assaulted him with 'lathi', 'danda', 'tabbal' and also fired at him. As a result of the injuries received, he died. After investigation, chargesheet was submitted against all the six accused and they were put to trial. The prosecution examined Saroj, wife of the deceased, as PW-1, Dr. KK Karoli, who conducted the post-mortem examination as PW-2, Sub-Inspector Chandra Shekhar, the Investigating Officer as PW-3, Head Constable Mahipal Singh who had made relevant entries in the police records as PW-4 and Sub- Inspector Ram Prakash Yadav who prepared the inquest as PW-5. What is noticeable is that only one witness of fact, PW-1, was examined. Though according to the First Information Report, there were at least, four adult eye-witnesses and one child eye-witness. Out of these, two witnesses were named as Prosecution Witnesses in the charge sheet also viz. Babu Ram and Tejpal.