ANIL KUMAR Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Vide this appeal, the appellant challenges the judgment dtd. 15/1/2019 passed by Ld. Addl. Sessions Judge, Special Judge (NDPS), Dwarka Courts, Delhi, ('impugned judgment' in short) whereby the appellant was convicted for the offence u/Ss 302/307/436 The Indian Penal Code, 1860 ('IPC' in short) in FIR no. 121/2015, Police Station Palam Village; and order on sentence dtd. 28/1/2019, whereby the appellant was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life u/S. 302 IPC along with fine of Rs.1,00,000.00, in default of payment of fine, to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 03 months; the amount if deposited shall go to the family of deceased in equal proportion, the appellant was further sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 12 years u/S. 307 IPC along with fine of Rs.50,000.00, in default of payment of fine, to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 02 months; and the appellant was further sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 04 years u/S. 436 IPC along with fine of Rs.25,000.00, in default of payment of fine, to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 01 months.

(2.) Briefly stating, the prosecution case is that on 28/2/2015 at about 03:20 a.m., an information was received at PS Palam Village regarding the fire in house no. F-140, Sadh Nagar Part-ll, Palam Colony, New Delhi, which was recorded vide DD No. 6A /Ex.PW36/A. On receipt of the same, SI Sandeep Kumar/PW-43 along with Ct. Ram Niwas/PW-19 reached the spot at about 03:35 a.m., where Insp. Akhilesh Kumar Mishra/PW-44, the then SHO, was also present along with the staff. There was fire in the building and fire brigade staff was trying to douse the fire and the CAT ambulance was shifting the injured persons from the spot. Initially, as the possibility of short circuit was not ruled out by the in-charge of the fire brigade, SI Sandeep Kumar (PW-43) prepared rukka (EX. PW43/A) and got the FIR (Ex. PW36/C) registered through Ct. Ram Niwas (PW-19) for the offence under Sec. 304A IPC. CCTV footage of the nearby houses including the house of Sh. Shashi Kant Thakur (PW-26) and Sh. Anil Kumar (PW-35) were checked by HC Bharat Lal (PW-20) and Ct. Kapil (PW-21). In the said CCTV Footage, one person was seen carrying some object in a polythene in his hand out of which some liquid was dropping. The CCTV footage was taken in pen-drive and the same was shown to Sh. Vijender Singh Ahlawat (PW-8), owner of the building under fire; and on seeing the same, he identified the person in the CCTV footage as Anil Kumar the appellant, son-in-law of one of his tenants in the building namely Smt. Kailash (deceased). CCTV footage was also shown to Smt Mamta (PW-7), daughter of Smt Kailash (deceased) and on seeing the same, she also identified the person in the footage as her husband namely Anil/the appellant. It was further revealed that the appellant had set ablaze the building by throwing petrol as he wanted to take revenge from his mother-in-law Smt. Kailash as he believed that she was the reason behind his strained relations with his wife Smt Mamta (PW-7). In the incident, four persons namely Smt. Kailash, Sh. Jagdeep, his wife Ms. lndu and son Akshay lost their lives and Ms. Mamta (PW-7), Sh. Ritesh Aggarwal (PW-9), Sh. Sheetladin (PW10), Ms. Shweta (PW-11) and Ananya Aggarwal sustained severe burn injuries. Accordingly, Ss. 436/307 and 302 IPC were added in the case.

(3.) Vide order dtd. 9/2/2017, the appellant/accused was charged for offences punishable u/Ss. 302, 307 and 436 IPC.