MANOJ Vs. STATE OF U P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present appeal, by three appellants, is directed against judgment of conviction and order of sentence, passed by learned Additional Sessions Judge, Meerut in Sessions Trial No. 634/2004, on 12.02.2008. By the impugned judgment, appellant Manoj was held guilty of having committed offences under Sections 302/307 & 452 IPC and was directed to suffer rigorous imprisonment for life, 7 years and 3 years respectively on the above three counts. In addition to the substantive sentence of imprisonment, the learned Trial Judge directed appellant Manoj also to pay a fine of Rs.10,000/- under Section 302 IPC and of Rs.5000/- each on the remaining two counts under Sections 307/452 IPC. In case of having defaulted in making the payment, appellant Manoj was to suffer rigorous imprisonment for further periods of 1 year, 6 months and 6 months respectively on the three respective counts. As regards appellant Sanjay and Lekhraj, they had been held guilty of having committed offence under Sections 302/34, 307/34 & 452 IPC. Similar sentences were inflicted upon each of them also both in the form of substantive imprisonment and sentence of fine as was directed to be suffered and paid by appellant Manoj. The three appellants question the correctness of the findings of the learned Trial Judge and appropriateness of the sentence, passed against each of them through the impugned judgment.

(2.) The prosecution case emanates from the written report Ex. Ka.1 of Vijay Singh (PW-1), who was the nephew of the deceased Brahm Singh, on the basis of which FIR of the case Ex. ka.6 was drawn up. It was stated that while the informant and other family members of the deceased were sleeping in his house, it was at around 2.15 A.M., when the cries of deceased Brahm Singh was heard by the informant and others and the informant rushed to the room, where deceased Brahm Singh was sleeping. PW-1 found that appellants Saroj and Lekhraj were standing at the entrance of the room and appellant Manoj was giving repeated blows with a Daav to the deceased. Appellants Lekhraj and Sanjay during that course, were urging Manoj to finish the job and retreat faster from there on which, the two Lekhraj and Sanjay, ran out of the place of occurrence.

(3.) Seeing the deceased being assaulted, PW-2 Mahesh Kumar and PW-3 Mamta, who were the son and daughter of the deceased Brahm Singh, rushed to catch appellant Manoj upon which he gave blows with the same weapon on the two witnesses, as a result of which Mahesh was struck on his head while Mamta was injured in her hand. The three appellants ran away from there and it was found that Brahm Singh was bearing serious injuries on his head and hands and he was lying unconscious. The informant with the help of others brought the deceased by a vehicle bearing registration no. DL 6CA 2421, which was of the guests who had assembled there, to the Lokpriya hospital, where PWs 2 & 3 were admitted for treatment and seeing the serious condition of Brahm Singh, the doctor of Lokpriya Hospital asked the informant and others to take him to the general hospital, where the deceased was declared dead.