BABU LAL @ PAPPU Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Vide impugned judgment and order dated 7.5.2008 the learned Trial Judge has convicted the appellant for the offences punishable under Sections 302/364 IPC. For the offence of murder the appellant has been sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life and to pay a fine in sum of Rs.5,000/- in default to undergo simple imprisonment for 2 months. For the offence punishable under Section 364 IPC he has been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and to pay a fine in sum of Rs.5,000/- in default to undergo simple imprisonment for 2 months. The sentences have been directed to run concurrently. We understand this to mean that after undergoing the sentence for 10 years it would be treated that the appellant has undergone the sentence for the offence punishable under Section 364 IPC.

(2.) The broad contours of the case set up by the prosecution are that the deceased Kanhiya Lal aged 11 years along with his father Diwari Lal PW-3 and sister Rakhi PW-8 resided in a jhuggi near Hanuman Mandir, Bhama Shah Road, Model Town, Delhi. The appellant Babu Lal and juvenile co-accused Inder Dev also resided in the same jhuggi cluster. Appellant Babu Lal, co-accused Inder Dev and deceased Kanhiya Lal were all employed in a sweet shop, run by Vinod Sharma PW-4, situated near Hanuman Mandir. Appellant Babu Lal used to tease Rakhi PW-8, sister of the deceased, to which Diwari Lal PW-2 and Kanhiya Lal often objected. Motivated by this, appellant Babu Lal along with his co-accused Inder Dev kidnapped Kanhiya Lal and murdered him in the sweet shop of Vinod and hid the body in a trunk inside the godown of the adjoining temple.

(3.) The process of criminal law was set into motion on 9.2.2005 when Diwari Lal PW-3 went to PS Model Town and lodged a missing persons complaint Ex.PW-3/A wherein he inter alia stated that his son Kanhiya Lal left the house at around 7:00 am on 7.2.2005 to play near the temple and could not be found thereafter. He further stated that he suspected Babu Lal @ Pappu for the reason Babu Lal used to tease his daughter and in this context often had verbal duels with Babu Lal.