BABA KHAN Vs. STATE OF U P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) / - By the judgment dated 6-5-1980 the then AddI. Sessions Judge. Nainital has convicted and sentenced each of the appellants to life imprisonment under Section 302, I.P.C. to 7 years R.I. under Section 394, I.P.C. and two years R.I. under Sections 4/25 (1)(b), Arms Act. All the sentences have been ordered to run concurrently.

(2.) The prosecution story as revealed from the First Information Report Ex. Ka 1 and the evidence is that on 7-6-1978 Rajendra Singh PW1 alongwith Mahal Singh PW3 and Karnail Singh was going from his village Chandeli to Khatima. At about 9.30 a.m. when these persons were about-to approach towards Teraghat on the forest road. They heard an alarm coming from a distance of 25- 30 steps from the main road side. On hearing the alarm the witnesses rushed towards that side and saw that three miscreants were assaulting Guru Bachan Singh with knife. They further noticed that Guru Bachan Singh had been robbed of his valuables including wristwatch. On their challenge, miscreants ran towards the road. When the miscreants were about to reach the main road, Hajoora Singh, PW5 Chandan Singh and Tahloo Ram PW2, who were coming in a dunlop cart succeeded in apprehending two of the three miscreants with the help of first three persons whose names are mentioned above, but the third miscreant managed to escape in the forest. The two apprehended miscreants were Babu Khan and Ramesh Kumar Rastogi, the present appellants. When they were apprehended, each one of them was holding a blood stained knife in his hand. On search, a wristwatch and a sum of Rs. 5/- were recovered from Babu Khan appellant while from Ramesh Kumar appellant a sum of Rs. 6.40 ps. was recovered. The apprehended appellants were brought to the place of occurrence by the aforesaid witnesses and there they found that Guru Bachan Singh was lying on the ground and was bleeding profusely. In the meantime, several persons collected there including the son and the Wife of the deceased Guru Bachan Singh. They were shown knives and the wrist-watch which were recovered from the appellants. Lakhveer Singh. PW4 son of the deceased and the wife of the deceased identified the wristwatch as that of Guru Bachan Singh. Rajendra Singh PW1 then left the miscreants with the recovered articles on the spot in the care and custody of the persons collected there and himself went to the police station to lodge the report. The F.I.R Ex. Ka. 1, a written one was lodged at the police station at 11.05 a.m. and on its basis chick F.I.R., Ex Ka-9 was prepared. Thereafter, investigation was ensued and S.I. Vikram Singh Rana P.W. 9 immediately rushed to the spot and formally arrested Babu Khan and Ramesh Kumar Rastogi. He also recorded the statements of the witnesses and prepared site plan Ex. Ka 13 Investigating Officer completed the inquest and prepared Panchayatnama Ex. Ka-2 and other papers. The Investigating Officer also took into his possession blood stained and plain earth, wristwatch knives etc. The accused persons were brought to the police station and lodged there. After completion of the investigation, charge-sheet Ex. Ka-16 was submitted against both the appellants.

(3.) Dr. R.C. Maheshwari. P.W.7 performed post-mortem examination of the dead-body of Guru Bachan Singh on 7 -6-1978 at 6. 15 p.m. and he found the following ante-mortem injuries: