(1.) SIX accused persons were charged together under Sections 147, 148, 302 and 307 I.P.C. by the learned III Addl. Sessions Judge, Fatehpur in S.T. No. 90 of 1982 and vide judgment dated 18.5.1983, they were held guilty of committing offences under Sections 148, 307/149 and 302/34 I.P.C. The appellants were heard under Section 235 I.P.C. and each of them was directed to suffer R.I. for 3 years, for 10 years as also for life for their individual conviction under each of the respective sections of offences of I.P.C. The present appeal arises out of that particular judgment of conviction and order of sentence. It may be pertinent to point out that police had initially sent seven accused persons up for trail but accused Pratap Narayan died during the pendency of trial and the proceedings against him was dropped. So far as this appeal is concerned, three appellants, namely, appellant no. 2, Sangam Lal, appellant no. 4, Madho Prasad and appellant no. 6, Swami Deen, also died and we have passed an order today itself abating their appeals. Thus, the appeal survives only for and on behalf of appellant no. 1 Om Prakash, appellant no. 3 Satya Narain and appellant no. 5 Shyam Sunder.
(2.) THE prosecution case is contained in the written report of Ravi Karan (since dead) which was marked Ext. Ka. 1 during the course of trial. It was stated by the informant that he, alongwith the deceased Shashi Shekhar, Narottam (PW -1), Krishna Kumar (PW -2) and Awadhesh (PW -3) was going to attend the proceedings pending in some courts under Sections 107/117 Cr.P.C. as also another proceedings relating to mutation under Section 229 -B of U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act which was also pending before some competent authority. The informant stated that he alongwith others set out from their village and when they had reached near the flour mill situate at village Asahat at about 8.00 A.M. and especially when the deceased was in front of the house of that flour mill, the appellant Om Prakash, deceased appellant Sangal Lal alongwith appellant Satya Narain emerged from that house. Appellant Om Prakash caught hold of the deceased Shashi Shekhar by his waist and pushed him down on the ground. The appellant Om Prakash, simultaneously, dealt a Lathi blow upon the deceased Shashi Shekhar as a result of which he could not get up. The appellant Satya Narain, thereafter, fired a shot from his country made gun on the deceased.
(3.) THE motive, as alleged, for commission of the offence was that there were pending litigations between the parties and on account of that annoyance Shashi Shekhar had been killed.