STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH Vs. LALLOO

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal by special leave is by the State of Uttar Pradesh against the acquittal of the respondents Lalloo, Ganga Dayal Gond, Sri Kishun Chamar and Jagan Nath Godaria by the High Court, reversing the judgment of the trial Court which convicted them and sentenced them to death under S. 302, I.P.C. for the murder of one Babu Jaleshwar Singh at about 8 p.m. on 24-9-1974.

(2.) The case of the prosecution has been set out in the judgments of the Courts below. Therefore, it is not necessary to set out in detail the facts of the case in this judgment. Suffice it to say that the prosecution case is that there was long-standing enmity between the respondents and the deceased Jaleshwar Singh who was a leading land owner and agriculturist of Mangalpura and the Pradhan of that village for 18 or 20 years before he was murdered at about 8 p.m. on 24-9-1974 at the end of the moonj jungle situate about 11/2 furlongs away from Mangalpura village when he was coming along the footpath running through that moonj jungle in the company of Ram Surat (P. W. 1), Subhan Sain (P. W. 2), Bansidhar (P. W. 3) by the respondents attacking him with a tamancha (country-made pistol) and daos (long heavy knives used for slaughtering goats and cutting wood). There was bright moonlight during that night it being the day of Bhado Sudi 9 and there were also torch-lights with P. Ws. 1 and 3. P. Ws. 1 to 3 belong respectively to Mangalpura, Ram Nagar and Shankerpura which is situate about 11/2 miles north of Mangalpura. P.W. 1 is Adhyaksha (President) of the Co-operative Society of Mangalpura besides being a member of the Gram Sabha of that village. The respondent, Jagan Nath belongs to Gosainpur which being a nearby village is included in Mangalpura Gram Sabha while the other three respondents belong to Mangalpura itself. The respondent, Jagan Nath is also a member of the same Gram Sabha. There was admittedly long-standing enmity between the respondents and the deceased Jaleshwar Singh right from 1959. The deceased had stated in his complaint Ex. Ka-13 dated 14-2-1973 that the respondents and one Chandrika Mallah were planning to kill him due to election and litigation enmity and were collecting money for that purpose amongst themselves. The respondents and others had moved two complaints for the removal of the deceased as Pradhan of Mangalpura. The first of those complaints had been rejected by the Sub-Divisional Officer, Ballia on 10-5-1974 while the second was pending enquiry before that Officer at the time of his death. The deceased accompanied by P. Ws. I to 3 was returning on 24-9-1974 from Ballia where he had gone in connection, with the enquiry into the second complaint which had been posted on that day. The facts relating to the admitted enmity between the respondents and the deceased are mentioned in para 10 of the trial Court's judgment.

(3.) When the deceased was going a little ahead of P. Ws. 1 to 3 in the eastern end of the Moonj Jungle, the respondents emerged from the moonj plants, armed, Lalloo with a tamancha, Sri Kishun and Ganga Dayal with daos and Jagan Nath with a whip. Lalloo fired with his tamancha and the deceased fell down after receiving injury on his chest. Thereafter, Lalloo exhorted the other respondents for cutting the neck of the deceased whereupon the other respondents pounced upon the deceased for severing his neck. When P. Ws. 1 to 3 shouted in disapproval of what the respondents were doing, Lalloo pointed his tamancha towards them and threatened to kill them. They, therefore, got frightened and ran towards Gosainpur and after informing Ayodhaya and Sheo that the respondents had attacked the deceased they rushed to Mangalpura where they met Kharag Bahadur (P. W. 6) and others and informed them also about the attack on the deceased by the respondents. Subsequently all of them went to the scene of occurrence and found the deceased's headless body lying in a pool of blood.