BASU DEO Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS criminal appeal is directed against the judgment and order dated 3 -12 -1980 by which learned III Additional Sessions Judge, Gonda convicted and sentenced all the five appellants to life imprisonment under Section 302 read with Section 149 I. P. C. , one years R. I. under Section 147 I. P. C. and to six months R. I. under Section 426 I. P. C.

(2.) APPELLANTS Basu Deo, Ram Bhawan and Ram Kumar have died during the pendency of this appeal and since none of their legal representatives has come forward to continue the appeal, so the appeal filed by them stands abated.

(3.) IN brief, the prosecution case was that on 19 -7 -1977 at about 10 in the morning the accused Basu Deo was digging pit to plant bamboo clumps, allegedly in Khalihan land of the deceased Surya Pal. Seeing this Surya Pal reached there to raise objection and during the course of altercation and on the exhortation of appellant Basu Deo, the rest of the appellants also reached there armed with Lathis. It is said that all the five assaulted Surya Pal as a result of which he sustained fatal injuries to which he succumbed subsequently in the hospital on 22 -7 -1977. It was claimed that the incident was witnessed by Mani Ram (P. W. 1), Sub Rati (P. W. 2) and Ayodhya Prasad (P. W. 3) and others.