STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH Vs. MUKUNDE SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Criminal Appeal Nos. 232 of 1983 and 233 of 1983 by the State and Criminal Appeal No. 373 of 1982 by the complainant are filed against the judgment of the Allahabad High court in which the convictions awarded against the respondents-accused by the trial court have been set aside. All the 22 respondents-accused before us weretried for offences punishable under S. 147, 148, 302/149, 307/149 and 201 Indian Penal Code. It is alleged that all these accused formed into an unlawful assembly and committed the murder of three persons Dinesh Singh, Mahesh Singh and Sirmaur Singh on 4/08/1975 in Village Badera and also caused injuries to Ram Dayal, Public Witness 1 and Ramesh Singh, Public Witness 2 and removed the dead bodies from the place of occurrence to the house of Shiv Vir Singh, accused. The prosecution mainly relied on the evidence of PWs 1, 2, 3 and 5, the eyewitnesses and the trial court accepting their evidence convicted all the 22 accused persons under S. 302/149 Indian Penal Code and also for other offences and sentenced them accordingly. The convicted accused preferred appeals to the High court and the High court acquitted all of them holding that some of the accused persons were also injured during the same occurrence and therefore they had the right of private defence and that they did not exceed the same in causing the death of the three deceased persons.

(2.) Learned counsel appearing for the State as well as the complainant-appellant challenged the order of acquittal passed by the High court on a number of grounds. It is submitted that the eyewitnesses are natural witnesses and that the presence of PWs 1 and 2, the injured witnesses at any rate cannot be disputed and the fact that three persons were killed by gunshot injuries as well as by the injuries inflicted with sharp-edged weapons, would go to show that the common object of the unlawful assembly was to commit the murder and that the trial court rightly convicted them and that the High court in a cryptic manner acquitted all of them and that at any rate even if the accused had the right of self-defence they have clearly exceeded the same.

(3.) The case of the prosecution is as follows. All the accused persons, the deceased persons and the material witnesses belong to Village Badera and some of them are interrelated to each other. One Baijnath sold six Bighas of land situated at Village Sikrodi from the joint khata of Public Witness 1 and his brothers to one Narsinghde Singh and the sons of Man Singh. The said land, however, was not mutated in favour of the vendees till the occurrence. Public Witness 1 filed an objection for issue of Bhumidhari Sanad in respect of the said land which was rejected by the Tehsildar. Ram Dayal, Public Witness 1 filed an appeal which was dismissed and a further revision filed by him before the Commissioner was pending. However, Narasinghde Singh and the sons of Man Singh could not obtain possession of the land. A Panchayat was held at the instance of the villagers and it was decided that vendees would not cultivate the land and the same would be cultivated on Batai. It was accordingly cultivated for two years and in the third year the vendees cultivated a portion of the land and the remaining land was cultivated by Public Witness 1 which was not liked by the vendees. On 4/08/1975 at about 9 a. m. when Public Witness 1 was at his house and when his brother Public Witness 2 also was there, all the accused came there and abused them saying that they would upturn the crop sown by Public Witness 1. Soon thereafter Jhaman Singh, Shiv Pal Singh, two deceased persons Sirmaur Singh and Mahesh Singh and other villagers came there and the two deceased persons told the accused that they were the firstto disobey the decision of the Panchayat. However, at that time no fight took place. At about 12 noon on the same day while PWs 1 and 2 and the three deceased persons were going to lodge a report at Police Station Ajitmal regarding the aforesaid incident and had reached near the house of Chhotey Singh in Village Pareda, all the accused forming into an unlawful assembly came there. Mukunde Singh, accused was armed with a gun, Shiv Vir Singh, was armed with a rifle, Hanumant Singh, and Badan Singh, were armed with Kantas and Ashok Kumar Singh, was armed with a spear and the remaining accused were armed with lathis. They surrounded the deceased persons and the PWs. On the alarm raised by them PWs 3 and 5 and some others also came there. Badan Singh, accused instigated the remaining accused to assault them and Shiv Vir Singh and Mukunde Singh, accused fired from their respective weapons and the remaining accused wielded the weapons with which they were armed as a result of which the three deceased persons received firearm injuries and also spear and kanta injuries and died on the spot. Public Witness 1 received gunshot injuries and Public Witness 2 received blunt weapon injuries. Public Witness 5 gave a report at the police station on the same day. The case was registered and the investigation was taken up. Inquests were held over the dead bodies and the same were sent for post-mortem. The doctor, who conducted the post-mortem on all the three dead bodies, found gunshot as well as punctured wounds which could have been caused by sharp-edged weapons. On Public Witness 1, the doctor found two gunshot injuries and on Public Witness 2 the doctor found two contusions and three lacerated wounds which could be caused by blunt weapon. All the accused pleaded not guilty. However, Shiv Vir Singh and Hanumant Singh and some other accused persons set up counter version and pleaded that on the day of occurrence at about 9 a. m. when these accused persons were sitting on the Gonda of Shiv Vir Singh, accused in Village Badera, the deceased persons and others came there armed with lathis, ballams and country-made pistols and attacked them and that Mahesh Singh, deceased fired from-his country-made pistol and they continued to advance. Shiv Vir Singh, accused fired in self-defence and that they also went to the police station to lodge a complaint. It may be mentioned at this stage that DW 1 Dr Mittal examined the accused Hanumant Singh, Brij Mohan, Ramesh Singh, Vidya Ram and Yadhunath Singh and found some abrasions, contusions and lacerated wounds on them.