BHOLA AND ORS. Vs. SATE OF U.P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) TWO appeals are directed against the judgment and order dated 7.8.1980 passed by the IIIrd Additional Sessions Judge, Fatehpur, whereby the learned Addl. Sessions Judge found Appellants Bhola, Lootey, Harish Chandra, Bhadaiya and Ram Vishal in Appeal No. 1717 of 1980 guilty of offences Under Sections 147/148 and 302/149, I.P.C. The Appellants Harish Chandra and Bhadaiya have been convicted for the offence Under Section 148, I.P.C. and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for two years each. Appellants Bhola, Lootey and Ram Vishal were found guilty of an offence Under Section 147, I.P.C. and have been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one year each. All the five Appellants have been found guilty of an offence Under Section 302 read with Section 149, I.P.C. and have been sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life. The Appellants have also found guilty of an offence Under Section 201, I.P.C. but no separate conviction has been recorded against them because they have been convicted for the main offence Under Section 302, I.P.C.

(2.) KULLI and Shripal Appellants in Criminal Appeal No. 1716 of 1980 have been found guilty of an offence Under Section 201, I.P.C. read with Section 149, I.P.C. and have been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of three years each and to pay a fine of Rs. 100 each and in default of payment of fine to undergo imprisonment for a period of three months.

(3.) THE prosecution commenced on the basis of first information report purporting to have been orally lodged by Smt. Bhanmati wife of Monohar resident of village Loharan Garhwa, police station Ghazipur at 3.10 p.m. at police station Ghazipur in the district of Fatehpur. The story set up in this F.I.R. which is Exhibit ka -1 is on record was that at about 12 O'clock in the day on 13.9.1979 she along with her sister -in -law (Deorani) Smt. Laxmaniya and her children Kunni Devi and Shyam aged 6 and 7 years and bhanja Bodhi who used to live with them, was sitting at the chabutra of her house. Lootey along with his brother Bhola and son Harish Chandra and Bhadaiya son of Bhola and Ram Vishal son of Sanwaliya who are residents of the same village and belonged to the informant's caste, i.e.. Kevat, and live in the neighbourhood of her house arrived there. Harish Chandra and Bhadaiya were armed with axes (Kulhari) while Lootey, Bhola and Ram Vishal had lath is. Lootey and Harish Chandra caught hold of Bodhi and started dragging him. As Bodhi resisted, all the accused thrashed him to the ground and then dragged him to the door of their house. She and the aforesaid members of her family raised an alarm and tried to intervene but the assailants threatened them. They assaulted Bodhi with lathis and kulhari and killed him. The first informant Smt. Bhanmati and other persons including Prasad, Girdhari and Rajaram who arrived at the spot, saw the occurrence from the place in front of the house of Ghasitey. The accused said that the dead body be thrown in the Yamuna river after severing the head. Some other persons of the village were also attracted to the spot but no body dared to intervene. Accused Shripal and Kulli also arrived there. Lootey accused asked Shripal to bring his bullock and put the dead body in the cart of Gaya Prasad and proceeded towards river Yamuna. Bhanmati ran towards the cart to prevent the assailants from taking away the dead body but she was pushed with force and the assailants moved away brandishing their weapons.