SANJAY Vs. STATE (NCT OF DELHI)

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ON 10.6.2004, the complainant, Kishan Dev Pathak, came to police station Shahdara and lodged an FIR, alleging therein that in the night intervening 9/10.6.2004, he hired an auto -rickshaw from Hanuman Mandir, Shahdara for going to his house. Two other persons were sitting on the passenger seat of the auto -rickshaw whereas one person was sitting with the driver. When the auto -rickshaw reached near Loni Road Tikona Park, the auto -rickshaw was got stopped and the other passengers who were sitting on the passenger seat of the auto -rickshaw alighted from the vehicle and sought to pay Rs.20/ - to the auto -rickshaw driver, who demanded Rs.32/ - as fare. On this both of them asked the auto -rickshaw driver to take the auto - rickshaw inside. He (the complainant) took out Rs.3/ - from his pocket and gave it to the auto -rickshaw driver. In the meanwhile one of the passengers who had got down from the auto -rickshaw caught him by neck, became angry with him and asked him to take out whatever he had. According to the complainant, he noticed a knife in his hand. Thereafter that person threatened to give knife blow to him whereas his companion gave a blow on his head, as a result of which he fell down and became unconscious. When he gained consciousness, he found himself on the road and also noticed that his mobile phone No.9810100492, make Sony Ericsson; Rs.200/ - in cash and his identity card were missing. An FIR under Section 394/34 of IPC was then registered.

(2.) THE case of the prosecution is that the appellant Sanjay was one of the persons involved in the robbery. The appellant was correctly identified by the complainant in a judicial TIP conducted during the investigation of the case.

(3.) THE complainant came in the witness box as PW2 and stated that in the night intervening 9/10.6.2004 he boarded an autorickshaw from Hanuman Mandir, Shahdara for going to his house. Four (4) persons including the driver were already present in the autorickshaw at that time. Two (2) of them were sitting on the passenger seat whereas one (1) was sitting with the driver. When the autorickshaw reached Tikona Park, Kabul Nagar, Shahdara, the TSR driver demanded Rs.32/ - as fare from the two (2) passengers who had only Rs.20/ - with them. They said to the driver that if the autorickshaw is taken in the street, they would pay the remaining amount from their house. Suspecting something wrong, the complainant gave Rs.3/ - to the driver. In the meanwhile the other persons travelling in the autorickshaw got down and when the complainant was giving money to the driver, one (1) of them caught hold of him by neck. He was carrying a knife in his hand and threatened to stab the complainant. Thereafter he was surrounded by all the four (4) persons and one (1) of them hit him on his head from the backside, as a result of which he fell down on the ground. According to the complainant though he was feeling unconscious, he could make out that the robbers were snatching his mobile phone and his purse which contained Rs.5,200/ - in cash besides an identity card, some visiting cards and other papers. When he gained consciousness he found the mobile phone and other articles missing. During the course of trial, the complainant identified all the four (4) persons including the appellant Sanjay. He further stated that during TIP proceedings he had identified the driver, the person who was sitting near the driver and one of the passengers travelling in the autorickshaw. He further stated that the appellant Sanjay was the person sitting on the passenger seat and he was the person who had shown knife to him. He also claimed that he had correctly identified the appellant Sanjay during TIP proceedings. The witness also identified his mobile phone Ex.P1 which was stolen from his possession. During cross -examination he denied the suggestion that the police had picked up certain persons who were shown to him in the police station. He also denied the suggestion that he was shown photographs of those persons and on the basis of the said photographs he had identified them.