LEKHRAJ Vs. STATE OF U P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE sole appellant Lekhraj s/o Pan Singh, r/o village Naugavan, P.S. Kasganj, district Etah has knocked the door of this Court under section 374(2) Cr.P.C., by preferring instant appeal, being aggrieved by his conviction under section 396 I.P.C. and impose sentence of seven years R.I. for that charge recorded by Vth Additional Session's Judge, Aligarh vide impugned judgment and order dated 3.2.1982, passed in S.T. No. 88 of 1980, State v. Lekhraj and another, PS Gangiri, District Aligarh. By the impugned judgment Trial Judge has acquitted another co-accused Chandra Pal.

(2.) STATED briefly, prosecution allegations were that in the intervening night between 31st May, 1979 and 1st June. 1979, at about 12.30 a.m., in village Nagla Khaggu, 10 or 11 dacoits committed dacoity in the house of informant P.W.2 Tota Ram armed with firearm, knife and blunt objects, when informant P.W.2 Tota Ram, his brother Munshi Lal, were sleeping outside their house and their sons Hari Singh P.W.3, Om Prakash P.W.5 and Soran P.W.4 were sleeping on the roof and Ashrafi, wife of informant, Veera Devi wife of Munshi Lal, both daughter-in-laws, wives of Om Prakash and Hari Singh were sleeping inside the house. During course of dacoity, women folk of the house were belaboured, who had shrieked on which house inmates and other villagers were awakened. Dacoits were in the attires of pant, shirts, trousers and dhoti. They had entered into the house from backyard staircase. A lantern was hanging in the covered courtyard (Agan), which facilitated identification of the dacoits. Terror striken Sri Devi, informant's daughter, had opened the front door. Brother of informant, Munshi Lal, picking up a club, endeavour to enter into the house, on which he was shot at by the dacoits from inside the house causing him fatal injury on front of his chest resulting in his instantaneous death. Informant meanwhile, had put the heap of straw stacked in Tilak Singh's precinct to fire, because of which flames sufficient for identification of dacoits illuminated the scene of the incident. Witnesses had identified the dacoits in the light of flames and torch, which was carried by Hari Singh, s/o informant. After committing dacoity, dacoits escaped from the spot. Amongst the dacoits informant and other inmates had identified three of them namely, Naubat, Kanchan Singh, Ramveer @ Deena. Rest of the dacoits could be identified, if produced before the witnesses. Informant Tota Ram P.W.2, got FIR Ext. Ka-2, scribed from Foran Singh and after covering a distance of four miles south, went to the police station Gangiri and lodged his FIR the same morning on 1.6.1979 at 7.00 a.m. against those three named and rest unnamed dacoits.

(3.) ACCUSED persons were summoned on the basis of aforementioned charge- sheets and finding their case triable by Session's Court, it was committed and was registered as S.T. No.88/1980, -State v. Lekhraj and anther. Vth Additional Session's Judge, Aligarh charged both the appellants under section 396 IPC on 3.6.1980. Chandra Pal was separately charged on the same day for offence under section 412, IPC.