RAMESH YADAV Vs. STATE OF U.P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) We have heard Sri H.N. Singh, Advocate assisted by Sri Arvind Kumar Tiwari, learned counsel for the appellant as well as learned A.G.A. for the State in extenso and have been taken through the entire material on record.

(2.) The afore-captioned both appeals arise out of the judgment and order dtd. 17/12/2003, passed by the then Additional Sessions Judge/Fast Track Court No. 2, District Mau, in Sessions Trial No. 59 of 2002 (State Vs. Narendra Singh and others) convicting the accused/ appellants Narendra Singh, u/s 302 I.P.C. and accused Dharmendra Singh and Ramesh Yadav, under Sec. 302 read with Sec. 34 IPC and sentenced accused Narendra Singh for R.I. for life and a fine of Rs.10,000.00 with default clause and accused Dharmendra Singh and Ramesh Yadav, for life imprisonment, under Sec. 302 read with 34 with fine of Rs.5,000.00, with default clause. Both these appeals are pending since year 2004 since then about 20 years have lapsed. Therefore, for the sake of precision, brevity and convenience, both the appeals have been clubbed and heard together and are being decided by a common judgment and order.

(3.) Bereft of unnecessary details, prosecution case, as culled out from the first information report, is that on 7/12/2001 at about 21.15 hrs. the complainant-Ram Pukar Singh s/o Raj Kumar Singh r/o Village Mirzapur, police station ranipur District Mau, gave a tehrir (Ext Ka-1) at P.S. Ranipur, District Mau divulging therein that the house of Kapil Singh S/o Gorakh Singh is situate on the southern side of his house. A programme (Path) of Ramayan recital, was staged, on 7/12/2001 from 10 a.m. He and his younger brother-Vijay Bahadur Singh alias Aangnu had gone to listen Ramayan. In the evening at about 6.00 pm., his younger brother Vijay Bahadur Singh went to wash his hands and face at the hand-pipe (nal), installed at the door of Kapil Dev Singh. Seeing Vijay Bahadur alias Angnu alone at the hand pipe (nal), Narendra Singh s/o Shri Ram Singhasan Singh, Dharmendra Singh s/o Mangla Singh and Ramesh Yadav s/o Ramchandar Yadav, came from their houses and exhorted to kill him. Meanwhile, Narendra Singh fired at his younger brother by a country made pistol, the bullet hit him on the back of his head. Vijay Bahadur fell down on the hand-pipe (nal) and died at the spot. Vijay Bahadur had old enmity with these people and in past, had threatened to kill them. On hearing the sound of fire, he alongwith Panchanand Singh s/o of Rama Shanker Singh, and Shiv Murat Singh son of Chandra Bhusan, ran towards the hand-pipe (nal) and saw the accused persons running away from the spot, after killing Vijay Bahadur. They chased the miscreants, but they managed to run away.