RITESH SHARMA Vs. STATE OF UTTARAKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BOTH these appeals having arisen out of the same judgment dated 21.1.2004 rendered by the Additional Sessions Judge, Dehradun, so are being adjudicated together herein below. Five accused persons, namely, Devi Prasad Bhatt (A1), Aditya Pandit (A2), Janardan (A3), Ritesh Sharma (A4) and Sushil Kumar Sharma (A5) were tried for the offences of Section 120B, 397, 394 IPC by the learned Trial Court and after the trial, the learned Judge found the crime proved only against Ritesh Sharma for the offence of Section 394, 411 and 120B IPC. He has appropriately been sentenced, while rest of the accused persons were let free by the impugned judgment. So, the convict Ritesh Sharma has challenged the impugned judgment by way of filing the Criminal Appeal No. 25/2004, while State has preferred Government Appeal No. 244/2008 challenging the acquittal of A1 and A2.

(2.) I have heard the arguments for and against and have gone through the merits of the impugned judgment.

(3.) ON 24.2.1996, the police got an information from an unknown person regarding the arrival of A4 and A3 as passengers in some bus at the roadways bus stand, Dehradun and after getting down from the bus they had planned to go to the house of some Pandit. The police came into action and took Mahesh Kumar Grover with them. Mr. Grover identified both the persons, who were Ritesh Sharma and Janardan. They were arrested by the police and the cash inasmuch as rupees seventy thousand was recovered from the personal possession of Janardan and the cash of rupees ninety -five thousand was recovered from the personal possession of Ritesh Sharma. This cash was also identified to be that of the bank which was looted in the incident reported on 1.2.1996 as has been stated above.