PANA HARA BHATI Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellants were accused before the City Sessions Court No. 5, Ahmedabad, in Sessions Case No. 41/2003. They came to be tried for the offences punishable under Section 302 r.w. Section 34 or 114 of the Indian Penal Code ['IPC' for short] and Section 135 of the Bombay Police Act ['BP Act' for short]. The trial Court, after considering the evidence led by the prosecution, found that the charges were proved against the appellants-accused and recorded conviction by judgment and order dated 21st September, 2004.

(2.) The prosecution case, in brief, is that the incident took place during the night falling between 27.9.2002 and 28.9.2002 at Gulbai Tekra in Ahmedabad, where four accused persons collectively assaulted deceased Virabhai Savabhai Rathod with weapons like dharia, pipe, gupti and axe. The deceased was sitting with his sister Premiben near a small temple located in the area, which is near the house of Premiben. There was a dispute between the accused side and the victim side on account of teasing of Goviben, daughter of victim Virabhai Savabhai and, therefore, upon seeing the victim and Premiben, the four accused persons rushed towards them with weapons in their hands. Premiben asked the victim to run away and she also tried to escape. The victim was chased by the accused persons and was attacked near the house of Amarabhai Ramabhai. Upon seeing the incident, Premiben raised shouts, but, in vain. She was scared and, therefore, she ran away from the place and reached Panjarapole area. Thereafter, she reached to the house of her sister Daluben in a rickshaw, who stays at a place nearby the place of the incident called Bhudarpura. There Premiben narrated the incident to her sister Daluben and thereafter they also told their sister Hariben about the incident and then all the three went to Navrangpura Police Chowky and informed the police. Therefore, the police accompanied them to the place of the incident, where from they took the deceased to V.S. Hospital and there FIR of Premiben was recorded. On the basis of that FIR, offence was registered and investigated. During the course of investigation, the appellants-accused came to be arrested on 1.10.2002. The charge sheet was filed against them in the Court of learned Metropolitan Magistrate, who in turn, committed the case to the City Sessions Court, Ahmedabad, where Sessions Case No. 41/2003 came to be registered.

(3.) Charge was framed against the accused persons at Exh.1. All the accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charge and claimed to be tried.