KRISHNA SINGH AND ORS. Vs. STATE OF UTTARAKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By means of this appeal, the challenge is to the judgment and order of conviction dated 19.8.2010 rendered by learned Sessions Judge, Nainital in Sessions Trial No.90 of 2006. Such trial pertains to crime no.4/2005 for the offence of Sections 148, 302/149, 307/149 and 506 IPC. The area where the crime was committed falls in the Revenue Circle Patalia, Tehsil Dhari, District Nainital, so the first information report was lodged at the outpost of such Circle recorded by the concerned Patwari (it may be mentioned here that in the hilly terrain, a Patwari remains empowered to investigate the matter like a regular Sub Inspector of Police). So, the said revenue official investigated the matter and submitted the chargesheet (Ex.Ka-20) for the said offences, which was the basis of levelling the Charge against all the accused persons by the Trial Judge.

(2.) For convenience, we would like to refer the accused Krishan Singh as 'A1', Yogesh Singh 'A2', Diwan Singh 'A3', Suresh Singh 'A4' and Puran Singh as 'A5'. It may also not be lost sight that A1 and A2 are the real brothers while rest of three are also the real brethren. Both set of accused persons further are inter-related to each other and reside in the village Thali of the same revenue circle, which is almost 2 kilometers away from the place of occurrence viz. Village Khujeri.

(3.) This is a diabolically conceived pre-planned murder of a 30 years' youth which was cruelly executed in the house of victim itself. The 16th July, 2005 around 7 PM is the fateful day when all the depredators, afore-named, boarded in a small Tata Sumo vehicle UA04/0459 and armed with deadly weapons, entered in the house of deceased and straightway headed to his room; A1 was armed with a gun; A2 was having a Khukhri (a sharp edged weapon) and A3 was with a knife. While A4 and A5 were catching hold of the deceased Bhim Singh, A2 and A3 began to cause fatal blow on the whole body of deceased, especially the upper part, with the object of this macabre killing of youth. In the course of such stabbing, A1 handed over his gun to A2 in exchange of Khukhri, and he (A1) too stabbed a number of wounds making Bhim Singh fatally injured. The entire spot was soaked with blood. As Bhupendra Singh (PW4), the real younger brother of deceased, arrived at the spot meanwhile and picked up a baton from the courtyard of the house to his brother's rescue, so in that course, the grip of A4 and A5 on the deceased became loose and he (deceased) escaped from the spot, as a last resort, to save his life. He could barely run 50 paces from this spot and entered the house of one Smt. Leela Devi, confining himself in a room inside. He bolted such room from inside, but there too, accused persons, after chasing such seriously wounded Bhim Singh, thronged in the house of Smt. Leela and began to break the door of such room where the hapless deceased had closed himself. Smt. Leela was on the roof of her house; she shouted on the accused persons but by that time, they succeeded in entering the same room and further ensured that Bhim Singh had breathed his last.