STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH Vs. PYARE RAJA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is directed against the order of acquittal dated March 23, 1981 passed by the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, Jabalpur Bench in Criminal Appeal No. 287 of 1979 after setting aside the order of conviction of the appellants under Section 302 read with Section 34, Indian Penal Code passed by the learned Second Additional Sessions Judge, Gwalior, dated September 1, 1979, is Sessions Trial No. 51 of 1979 and sentencing the accused persons to life imprisonment.

(2.) The prosecution case in short is that the accused persons and the deceased, Dhanuwa, were not having good relations for some days prior to the incident of murder. Sometime before the incident of murder when the accused persons had been assaulting a bus driver, Razzaq, the deceased Dhanuwa had intervened and the said Dhanuwa was also beaten by the accused persons. The accused persons particularly the accused Pyare Raja also wanted to drive out Dhanuwa from the village altogether. On January 24, 1979, shortly before the said incident of murder, the accused Pyare Raja had given a slap to Imaratibai, the widow of the deceased Dhanuwa over some altercation. Thereafter, Imaratibai had returned to her house and was sitting in front of the door. There was a Maddiya belonging to the accused Pyare Raja which is also close to the house of the deceased Dhanuwa and near a flour-mill of Pran Singh. It is the case of the prosecution that when the deceased Dhanuwa returned from village Kheda at about 2.30 p.m. on January 24, 1979, the accused persons were lying in wait for the said Dhanuwa in the Maddiya and the accused persons assaulted him. The Accused Pyare Raja, Veerendra Singh and Sawai Diwan were armed with lathis and Vijay Singh was armed with a pharsa. It is also alleged that Pyare Raja first dealt with a lathi blow at the back of the deceased and as a result of such blow, the deceased fell down. Thereafter, all the accused persons started assaulting the deceased with lathis and pharsa. The son of the deceased Radhey Lal (PW 1) having seen the accused persons assaulting his father rushed to call the village constables and the constable Jagdev (PW 3) while coming to rescue the deceased had found that the accused persons were taking the body of Dhanuwa but seeing the constables left the body and disappeared in the nearby jungle. Dhanuwa was found to be dead on the spot due to injuries caused to him.

(3.) A report of the incident was lodged by Radhey Lal to the Police Station and the crime case under Section 302 read with Section 34, IPC was registered and investigation was taken up. The spot map was prepared and the inquest of the dead body was held and the body of the said Dhanuwa was sent for post-mortem examination and bloodstained earth and bloodstained piece of stone from the spot were seized and seizure of bloodstained plastic shoes was also made. On January 30, 1979 the Police arrested all the four accused and they were interrogated. On the basis of statements made by the said accused persons, the pharsa, and the lathis (excepting one) were recovered from the place where the same were concealed.