VIJAY Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Vide impugned judgment and order dated 5.6.1999, appellants Vijay and Hans Raj have been convicted for the offences punishable under Section 302/394/34 IPC and have been sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life for said offences. Appellant Hans Raj has additionally been convicted for the offence punishable under Section 397 IPC, for which offence he has been sentenced to undergo imprisonment for seven years.

(2.) Briefly stated, the case of the prosecution is that at about 5.30 AM on 17.4.1996, appellants Vijay Kumar and Hans Raj committed robbery and in the process murdered Ashok Kumar at City Service Center Petrol Pump, Mangolpuri, Delhi.

(3.) Process of law was set into motion, when at 5.30 AM on 17.04.1996, Const.Nirmal Singh PW-23, the duty officer at PS Mangolpuri received information that a person had been shot at new petrol pump by persons in a Tata 407 vehicle. He made an entry being DD No.7-B, Ex.PW-23/B wherein he entered said information. Copy of said DD No.7-B was entrusted to SI C.M.Meena PW-18 for investigation, who along with Const.Ramkesh PW-17 reached the spot. They found the dead body of Ashok Kumar, an employee of the said petrol pump, lying there with a bullet injury on the forehead and blood oozing therefrom. SI C.M.Meena met Dharampal PW-8, another employee of the petrol pump and recorded his statement Ex.PW-2/A. In the said statement Dharampal stated that at about 4.45 AM on 17.04.1996 a blue coloured tempo came to the petrol pump and the driver of the vehicle asked for 10 liters of diesel. After getting the diesel filled, the driver paid Rs.100/- to him i.e. Dharampal and when he took out a pack of notes from his pocket to pay back the balance sum of Rs.30/-, the driver attempted to snatch the money from him. He managed to escape from there and raised an alarm. As a result, his co-employees Jitender, Ashok and Surender got alert and rushed towards the tempo. Surender carried a stick (danda) with him from the cabin. On this, the tempo driver rushed back and started reversing the tempo. When they all i.e. Jitender, Surender, Ashok Kumar and Dharampal tried to stop the tempo, the person sitting on the conductor's seat fired with a pistol from the window of the tempo, which hit Ashok Kumar. Ashok Kumar died at the spot. SI C.M.Meena sent this statement of Dharampal for registration of an FIR through Const.Ramkesh. At 7.45 AM HC Rajbir Singh PW-2 registered FIR Ex. PW-2/B at PS Mangolpuri.