STATE OF GUJARAT Vs. HANSURAM RAMPATIRAM HARIJAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The above referred Criminal Appeal is preferred by the State under Section 378 of the Code of Criminal Procedure against the judgment and order delivered by the Presiding Officer, Second Fast Track Court, District ? Valsad, on 8th of August, 2005 in Sessions Case No. 10 of 2005 whereby present respondent, being accused of the Sessions Case, came to be acquitted by the Trial Court for the charges levelled against him under Sections 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code.

(2.) The facts of the prosecution case are complicated and could be ascertained from the Record and Proceedings called for from the Trial Court. The present accused is booked by police for causing murder of one Ashok Shayamlal Lalta. The facts in respect of murder of Ashok was revealed in other crime for which the present respondent was found responsible and accordingly it was alleged that the present respondent had also caused murder of one Keshavkumar. According to prosecution case, deceased Ashok, deceased Keshavkumar and the accused Hansuram were serving in a factory situated at Vapi in Gujarat and they were staying at Daman in rented rooms owned by PW-7 Dyanand Baheru and he refers Keshavkumar as Doctor. According to PW-7 Dyanand, in one room, Doctor was staying and in other room four persons were staying. Thereafter, deceased Ashok and Keshavkumar had a quarrel and thereafter deceased Ashok and Hansuram started staying together. After two months, Ashok was missing and Keshav to whom he refers as a Doctor had been to his village. Accused Hansuram thereafter at the instance of PW-7 Dyanand Baheru, had vacated the said room. Hansuram i.e. present accused was staying with his wife, named as, Gayatriben and according to prosecution case, Keshav as well as Ashok, both deceased, had some illicit connection with the wife of the accused. This fact became the motive for death of Ashok and Keshavkumar.

(3.) The prosecution case is disclosed through the discovery of dead body of Keshav on 5th of April, 2004. At that time, PSI Sebastiyan Devsiya was on duty at Daman Police Station and around 5th of April, 2004, person named Satishkumar Ramlal Jadav, approached him and conveyed that Keshavkumar was working with him, was taken away by some unknown persons from the factory and thereafter dead body of Keshavkumar was found on the road leading to Ganesh Industry and according to information someone had inflicted injuries on his body and Keshavkumar was done to death. PW-6 Sebastiyan Devsiya, therefore, registered a crime under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code in respect of death of Keshavkumar Shaini and relatives of deceased were informed. Rameshkumar, brother of deceased Keshavkumar, reached at Daman and approached PW-6 Sebastiyan Devsiya, who was Investigating the death of Keshavkumar. It was learnt by PW-6 Sebastiyan Devsiya from Ramesh that the accused was close friend of deceased Keshavkumar, and even then, he did not attend funeral ceremony. PW-6 Sebastiyan Devsiya interrogated accused in respect of death of Keshavkumar and it was found that accused had some injuries on his hand which he explained that while cutting vegetables, that wound was caused by a knife. During interrogation of the accused in respect of death of Keshav, it was revealed before PW-6 Sebastiyan Devsiya that before some time both the deceased Ashok and Keshav had committed rape with the wife of accused and, therefore, in the month of November, 2003, he had taken deceased Ashok in a bar and was offered drinks. When Ashok was heavily drunk, he was taken by the accused on a railway track with the help of other two friends. Deceased ? Ashok was made to sit on railway track. They took tobacco and when one down train was passing on the track, Ashok was pushed by the accused on the railway track and, therefore, Ashok was cut in two pieces beneath the train.