NANDAN Vs. STATE OF U P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard Mr. Jai Narayan, the learned Counsel for the Appellant Nos. 1 and 3 and Dr. Abida Syed, the learned amicus curiae appointed by this Court and the learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the lower court record.

(2.) The Appellants Nandan, Chhedu, Shrikishan and Subedar have preferred this appeal against the common judgment and order dated 3.2.1982 rendered by Shri K. M. Chaturvedi, the then vIth Additional Sessions Judge, Fatehpur in Sessions Trial No. 414 of 1980 and Sessions Trial No. 83 of 1981, whereby he has convicted the Appellants under Section 307/34, I.P.C. and sentenced each of them to undergo rigorous imprisonment of seven years.

(3.) According to the prosecution story, in the night between 12/13 October, 1979, the complainant Jagannath alias Bhagat alongwith his son P.W. 1 Sohan Lal had gone for watering his paddy field from the canal within the limit of village Suswan Buzurg. After watering the field, when the complainant and his son were coming back and reached in front of the field of one Nathuwa at about 1.30 a.m., the Appellant No. 2 Chhedu duly armed with a gun, the Appellant No. 4 Subedar duly armed with a country made pistol and the Appellant No. 1 Nandan and the Appellant No. 3 Shrikishan duly armed with lathi arrived there all of a sudden and on the exhortation given by the Appellant No. 3 Shrikishan, the Appellant No. 2 Chhedu and the Appellant No. 4 Subedar fired at the complainant Jagannath alias Bhagat with their respective fire arms. Consequently the complainant sustained fire arm injuries. On hearing alarm, the witnesses Deonath and Girdhari arrived at the place of occurrence and witnessed the occurrence. The complainant Jagannath alias Bhagat lodged the F.I.R. (Exhibit Ka-1) at the police station Asothar in the next morning at about 5.00 a.m., on which basis the police registered the case and proceeded to make the investigation.