BHAGWAN SINGH Vs. STATE OF UTTARAKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE three criminal appeals are directed against the same judgment and order dated 05.04.2005 passed by Addl. Sessions Judge / II F.T.C., Udham Singh Nagar whereby accused appellant Pawan Singh alias Guddu has been convicted for the offence punishable under section 302 IPC; accused / appellants Bhagwan Singh and Mahesh Singh have been convicted for the offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 34 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 in Sessions Trial No. 239 of 2003 and all the three accused have been sentenced to imprisonment for life and directed to pay a fine of Rs. 5,000/ - each, in default of payment of which they are directed to undergo one year further imprisonment. Accused/appellants Bhagwan Singh and Mahesh Singh have also been convicted under Section 307 and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a period of five years and directed to pay a fine of Rs.2,000/ - each, in default of payment of which they are directed to undergo six months further imprisonment. Accused / appellant Pawan Singh alias Guddu has also been convicted under Section 307 read with Section 34 of I.P.C. and was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a period of five years and directed to pay a fine of Rs.2,000/, in default of payment of which he is directed to undergo six months further imprisonment. All the three accused / appellants have also been convicted under Section 427 of I.P.C. and were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a period of one year. Accused / appellant Pawan Singh alias Guddu is further convicted under Section 27 of the Arms Act (in Sessions Trial No. 240 of 2003) and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a period of three years. Accused / appellant Bhagwan Singh is further convicted under Section 30 of the Arms Act (in Sessions Trial No. 240 of 2003) and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a period of six months. All the sentences are directed to run concurrently by the trial court.

(2.) PROSECUTION story, in brief, is that P.W.1 Jaikishan lodged a first information report (Ext. Ka -1) with police station Sitarganj, District Udham Singh Nagar with the allegation that on 15.06.2003 at about 04:00 P.M., his neighbour Bhagwan Singh s/o Kanhai Singh armed with lathi along with Mahesh Singh s/o Dasiram armed with spade and Pawan Singh s/o Bhagwan Singh armed with licensed gun of his father, in an attempt to demolish their thatch and cowshed, came there. Thereafter Bhagwan Singh armed with lathi and Mahesh Singh armed with spade, started assaulting Dinesh Singh (brother of the informant) Balmukund and Sachin (both sons of Shyamlal) with the weapons they were carrying. When the informant along with Bhajan Singh s/o Dhan Singh and Gopal Singh s/o of Ramji Lal came ahead to intervene in the matter, suddenly Pawan Singh s/o Bhagwan Singh armed with gun in an attempt to kill them started firing which hit Balmukund, Dinesh and Sachin s/o Balmukund. Balmukund succumbed to the injuries sustained by him on the spot. The informant (Jaikishan) after taking the injured Dinesh and Sachin to the hospital came to the police station and lodged the report. On the basis of said complaint, chick FIR (Ext. Ka -23) was prepared and Crime No. 221 of 2003 was registered against the accused Bhagwan Singh, Mahesh Singh and Pawan Singh in respect of offences punishable under Section 302, 307 / 34 of I.P.C. The licensed gun belonging to accused Bhawgan Singh was recovered by the police from the possession of accused Pawan Singh alias Guddu on 16.06.2003 at 05:30 P.M. from the house of accused Mahesh Singh r/o village Anjaniya, within the limits of police station Sitarganj, District Udham Singh Nagar. The police took the dead body in their possession, prepared inquest report (Ext. Ka -10) and other necessary papers and the dead body was sent in a sealed cover for postmortem examination. The postmortem examination was conducted by Dr. N.S. Bhatt (P.W.7) on 16.06.2003, at 12:30 P.M., who prepared autopsy report (Ext. Ka -8). The Medical Officer found one ante mortem gunshot injury on the body of the deceased and opined that Balmukund had died of shock and haemorrhage as a result of ante mortem injuries. Meanwhile, injuries on the person of Manglesh, Dinesh Singh and Sachin as well as the accused Mahesh Singh, who also received injuries, were examined by the three Medical Officers, viz., P.W.4 Dr. N. Chand, P.W.5 Dr. R.C. Sharma and P.W.6 Dr. V.S. Deopa, who recorded the same in Ext. Ka -3, Ext. Ka -4, Ext. Ka -6 and Ext. Ka -2, respectively.

(3.) THE Magistrate, on receipt of both the charge sheets and after giving necessary copies to the accused, committed the case to the court of sessions for trial. Learned Addl. Sessions Judge / F.T.C. (First), Udham Singh Nagar, after hearing the parties on 24.08.2003, framed charge of offences punishable under Section 307, 302 read with Section 34 and 427 of I.P.C. against the accused Bhagwan Singh and Mahesh Singh. Charge in respect of offences punishable under Section 307 read with Section 34, 302 and 427 was framed against accused Pawan Singh alias Guddu. A separate charge was also framed against accused / appellant Bhagwan Singh under section 30 Arms Act and Pawan Singh alias Guddu in respect of offence punishable under Section 27 of the Arms Act. All of them pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried. On this, prosecution got examined P.W.1 Jaikishan (informant and eyewitness); P.W.2 Dinesh; P.W.3 Sachin (injured eyewitness); P.W.4 Dr. Naresh Chand (who recorded the injuries on the person of accused Mahesh); P.W.5 Dr. R.C. Sharma (who examined the injuries on the person of Manglesh); P.W.6 Dr. V.S. Deopa (who examined the injuries on the person of Dinesh Singh; P.W.7 Dr. N.S. Bhatt (who conducted the postmortem examination); P.W.8 Dr. M.S. Sharma (Radiologist); P.W.9 S.I. D.S. Verma (arresting officer); P.W.10 S.I. B.R. Divakar (who started the investigation); P.W.11 Constable Matloob Khan (member of the arresting party); P.W.12 S.I. Ashok Kumar (who investigated the crime relating to Arms Act); P.W.13 Dr. J.P. Bhatt; P.W.14 Inspector Rajeev Kumar (who submitted charge sheet (Ext. Ka -19) and P.W.15 Pradeep Kumar Pant (Village Panchayat Development Officer). In defence D.W.1. Ashok Kumar was examined. The oral and documentary evidence was put to the accused under Section 313 of Cr.P.C., in reply to which they alleged that the evidence adduced against them are false. The trial court found accused / appellants Bhagwan Singh & Mahesh Singh guilty of charge of offences punishable under Section 302 IPC read with Section 34 IPC, 307 / 34 and 427 of I.P.C. and accused -appellant Pawan Singh alias Guddu was found guilty of charge punishable under Section 302 IPC and one relating to offence punishable under Section 27 of Arms Act. Accused -appellant Bhagwan Singh was convicted for the offence punishable under Section 30 Arms Act. After hearing the parties on sentence, each one of the convicts was sentenced to imprisonment for life and directed to pay fine of Rs. 5,000/ - under Section 302 read with Section 34 of I.P.C (accused Pawan Singh under section 302 IPC). Convicts Bhagwan Singh and Mahesh Singh were also sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a period of five years and directed to pay fine of Rs. 2,000/ - under Section 307. Convict Pawan Singh alias Guddu was further sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a period of five years and directed to pay fine of 2000/ - under Section 307 read with Section 34 of I.P.C. Each one of the convicts was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a period of one year under Section 427 of I.P.C. As to the offence punishable under Section 27 of Arms Act, convict Pawan Singh alias Guddu was further sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a period of three years and convict Bhagwan Singh was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a period of six months under Section 30 of the Arms Act. Aggrieved by said judgment and order dated 05.04.2005, present criminal appeals have been filed by the convicts separately.