BASDEO Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal from an order dated 29th March, 1963, passed by the learned Sessions Judge, Pilibhit, convicting Basdeo appellant under Sec. 302, I. P. C. and sentencing him to death. There is also the usual reference made by the learned Sessions Judge for confirmation of the sentence of death passed by him on Basdeo.

(2.) The prosecution case, briefly stated, is that Hardwari Singh deceased was the Sabhapati of village Abhaipur-Rudpur. He was a resident of village Jatpura, but he had a residential house in village Abhaipur-Rudpur also, the distance between the two villages being one mile only. On 24th July, 1962, at about 1-30 p.m. while Hardwari Singh and his son Pratap Singh, P.W. 2, along with two other residents of the village, namely, Hira Lal Lohar, P. W. 3, and Bechan Singh Thakur, P. W. 7, were sitting on cots inside the Chhappar of Hardwari Singh, Basdeo accused came there and remained sitting there for some time. He told Hardwari Singh that the latter was the Sabhapati of the village, that he had been doing pairvi for Asharfi, Ram Kishun and others in a murder case in which Basdeo also figured as an accused and that till that time he had not done any pairvi for Basdeo. He, therefore asked Hardwari Singh to appear as a witness in his defence. Hardwri Singh did not agree to give evidence in defence and went inside the house to bring some milk for the dogs. While he was bringing milk from inside the house and had reached at a distance of about one yard from Basdeo, the latter stood up from the cot all of a sudden, saying "I am bound to be convicted, but I would not leave you alive." He took out a pistol from the folds of his dhoti and fired at Hardwari Singh as a result of which he fell down on the ground. Basdeo ran away from there with the pistol in his hand. He was chased by Pratap Singh and others who happened to be there, but he could not be captured. When Pratap Singh returned to the place of occurrence he found that his father was lying dead.

(3.) The first information report of the occurrence was made by Pratap Singh at 4-10 p.m. the same day. The distance from the place of occurrence to police station Puranpur, where the report was made, was about six miles. The names of Hira Lal Lohar, P.W. 3, and Bechan Singh Thakur, P. W. 7, were mentioned as eye-witnesses of the occurrence.