ROHTASH Vs. STATE OF U P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Instant appeal has been preferred by the appellants Rohtash, Raghubir (now dead), Gulab Singh and Mula, challenging the impugned judgment and order dated 21.8.2012, passed by 1st Additional District and Sessions Judge, Bijnor whereby the appellants have been convicted under Sections 302 /34 and 201, I.P.C. and sentenced to life imprisonment and four years rigorous imprisonment respectively, in Sessions Trial No. 327 of 1981, State v. Rohtash and others. Both the sentences awarded to the accused appellants were directed to run concurrently. The genesis of the prosecution case, narrated in a nut shell, is that the informant Shanker Lal lodged a first information report on 13.9.1981 at about 8.45 a.m. with respect to an incident occurred in the night between 12/13.9.1981 at about 3:00 a.m. vide Crime No. 172 of 1981, under Section 302, I.P.C. against all the appellants, alleging that Shankar Lal (informant), Buddhu (deceased), his sarahu (husband of the wife's sister), who had taken field of Shahabuddin s/o Ilahi Bux on Batai. Buddhu's nephew Kishori (P.W. 2), and Dilawar s/o Chandan had gone from their houses for irrigating their fields from canal water flowing near the jungle of Kalapur. Buddhu (deceased) started irrigating his paddy field by opening a channel in canal and thereafter he sat on the demarcation boundary (mend) alongwith his nephews Kishori and Dilawar. At about 4.00 a.m., all the appellants Rohtash s/o Bharat, Raghubir s/o not known (since dead), Gulab Singh s/o not known and Mula s/o Harne came at the spot, Rohtash (appellant No. 1) and Mula (appellant No. 4) were equipped with spears, whereas Raghubir (appellant No. 2, now dead) and Gulab (appellant No. 3) were armed with lathi. They asked Buddhu why he had stopped irrigation of their fields by opening the channel in the canal. On their interrogation, Buddhu replied that his paddy crops were drying up that is why he was irrigating his field from the canal. This infuriated the appellants, who all started assaulting Buddhu with their respective weapons. Kishori and Dilawar looking to the ghastly act of the appellants stealthily shied away from the incident place in order to save their lives and watched dehumanized and savage act from some distance. The miscreants after badly and brutally assaulting Buddhu dragged him towards north. Witnesses Kishori and Dilawar ran towards their village wailing and bemoaning and narrated the entire incident to Shanker Lal (informant) Jagdish Prasad (village Pradhan), Ram Swarup and others. All the aforesaid persons accompanied with other localities came to the place of the assault but victim could not be found there and only sprinkled blood could be spotted. They, therefore, proceeded to trace the victim following the dragging marks and broken paddy crops, which led them to the nearby field of Idwa, where they found the corpse of Buddhu under a Sheesham tree.

(2.) Leaving deceased corpse of Buddhu under the care of village folk informant went to the police station Nagina, where he lodged a written report scribed by Kalyan Singh, the son-in-law of the deceased. On the basis of said report police swung into action and Jagdish Prasad. Head Constable registered the crime same day at 8.45 a.m. by preparing chik F.I.R. (Ex. Ka-3). Relevant G.D. entry was also prepared by the said Head Constable.

(3.) Investigation of the crime was entrusted to S.I. Lalman Singh, who after recording informant's statement came to the incident place and took the corpus of the deceased Buddhu in possession and thereafter conducted inquest on the dead body and prepared the inquest report and other relevant documents. Thereafter the corpus of deceased Buddhu was sent to mortuary for autopsy under the vigil of constables Ram Das and Mahendra Singh. The Investigating Officer thereafter recorded statements of witnesses Kishori and Dilawar and subsequent thereto prepared the site plan (Ex. Ka-6). He also collected plain and blood stained earth (Ex. Ka-7) and kept the same in a sealed container.