MUNNA @ CHHOTE MUNNA @ LANDHU Vs. STATE OF CHHATTISGARH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These appeals are directed against the judgment dated 11th of August, 2009 passed in Sessions Trial No. 286/2005 by the Fourth Additional Sessions Judge (FTC), Ambikapur, District (Surguja). By the impugned judgment, Accused- Munna (A-1), Iliyajar Kujur (A-3), Gadna (A-4) and Somar Sai (A-5) have been convicted under Sections 302/34; 394/397/34 and 460/34 IPC and sentenced to undergo life imprisonment, R.I. for 10 years and R.I. for 10 years with fine sentences under each count. Accused- Khiru (A-2) has been convicted under Sections 302/120-B, 394/397/120-B and 460/120-B IPC and sentenced to undergo life imprisonment, R.I. for 10 years and R.I. for 10 years with fine sentences. The sentences awarded to all the accused persons have been directed to run concurrently.

(2.) The facts, briefly stated, are as under:-

(3.) Learned counsel for the Appellants have argued that the two accused persons i.e. Gadna (A-4) and Somar Sai (A-5) were not put for identification; they have been directly identified by Preetlal (PW-2) in the court after a very long time; there is no seizure from their possession, therefore, their conviction on the dock identification simplicitor cannot be sustained. About Munna (A-1) and Iliyajar (A-3), they have argued that the incident took place in a dark night, therefore, it was not possible for the inmates of the house to identify even these two accused persons. About Khiru (A-2), they have argued that there is no evidence of criminal conspiracy. Khiru (A-2) has been dragged in the matter on the evidence of Muklu (PW-1), Bhoti Ram (PW-3) and Bechan Ram (PW-8), who have deposed that they had seen four accused persons going to the house of Khiru (A-2) one day prior to the incident. According to the counsel for the Appellants, these three witnesses namely Muklu (PW-1), Bhoti Ram (PW-3) and Bechan Ram (PW-8) were not reliable witnesses.