MOHAN SINGH Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) On 24-2-1981 three persons are alleged to have committed trespass into the house of Smt. Sham Lata Goel to commit an offence of robbery. They were armed with deadly weapons like knife and in the process of committing the robbery they caused injury to Sham Lata and decamped with Gold Bangles, Ear Rings, Diamond set, cash and other valuable articles. The fourth person dealt with and disposed of stolen articles.. Charan Singh accused was arrested on 6-9-1981 in some case and on 15-9-1981 Police was able to apprehend Mohan Singh accused. Ram Pal Singh was able to delay his arrest till 12-11-1981. Sher Singh accused has not yet been arrested and so rightly declared as proclaimed offender. The charges under Sections 392/394/34 read with Section 397 Indian Penal Code against the accused persons. were framed on 23-3-1983. They pleaded not guilty and claimed trial. The accused faced a protracted trial for a period of more than two years. Accused Charan Singh and Mohan Singh were held to have committed the offences punishable under Section 395/450 read with Section 397 Indian Penal Code and sentenced to R.T. for a period of seven years each while Ram Pal Singh was held guilty of the offence under Section 411 Indian Penal Code and sentenced to R.I. for two years, by a judgment dated 16-7-1985. This very judgment is under challenge in the three appeals bearing Criminal Appeal No. 216/85, Criminal Appeal No. 179/85 and Criminal Appeal No. 182/85. By this judgment I propose to dispose of all the three appeals as they arise out of the same occurrence and the impugned judgment.

(2.) Public Witness 2 Smt. Sham Lata Goel is the most material witness. She has given in detail the circumstances leading to the commission of the robbery in her house. She is the wife of Shri Devinder Kumar Goel a practising Advocate at Tis Hazari Courts. According to her on 24-2-1981 at about 10.30 AM she was all alone in her house. Her husband had left for the courts at about 9.30 AM. Near about that time somebody knocked at the door. Sham Lata without opening the door enquired as to who was there. The man standing outside asked that he wanted to see the Advocate. Sham Lata told him that her husband had already left for the courts and that they should come in the evening. The person, however, wanted to hand over the file of his case and requested Sham Lata to open the door. She fell a victim of this deceipt and opened the door. Immediately she noticed that the man who had asked her to take the file was a clean shaven person, having a knife in his hand. Behind him there were two other Sikh gentlemen. They forcibly entered the house <PG>178</PG> and pushed Sham Lata aside. The person armed with knife attacked Sham Lata but she warded of the blow and caught hold of the knife with her left hand, as a result of which she received injuries on her thumb. The other two Sikh gentlemen also took out knives and threatened to cause bodily injuries. All the three persons then took her to a room and threatened to kill her in case she does not hand over the valuable articles lying in the house. Sham Lata then requested them not to harm her and take away whatever was in the house. The accused then tied the bands and feet of Sham Lata and gagged her mouth with a piece of cloth. They then threw her in a small room. Without wasting any time the accused broke open many of the trunks and searched the almirahs. The accused succeeded in removing a sum of Rs. 15,000 in cash and many other items of Gold and Diamond Jewellery. They also removed the Ear Rings which she was wearing at the time. The whole act was completed within minutes and after collecting the valuables all of them left the house leaving her tied gagged in the room. The room was closed from outside.

(3.) It is the case of the prosecution that at about 1.00 p.m. one old woman by the name of Asharfi came there and finding the door open entered the house. She noticed that almost all the items were lying scattered all over the house. She heard screams of Sham Lata coming from the closed room. Asharfi then untied Sham Lata and brought her out of the room. An information was immediately sent to Shri Devinder Kumar Goel and the police was also informed. As Sham Lata was bleeding she was taken to the Hospital where the police recorded her statement on the basis of which a case under the above said provisions of the Indian Penal Code was registered. Sham Lata was discharged from the Hospital on 27-2-1981. She then searched for the missing articles and on the same day they filed a list of the articles which had been taken away by the accused persons. No progress in the case could be made and it was filed as untraced.