BASUDEO Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard Sri A.N. Shah, learned counsel for the appellant and learned A.G.A. For the State.

(2.) This appeal has been preferred against the Judgment dated 11.11.1982 passed by the IX Additional Sessions Judge, Agra in S.T. No. 338 of 1980 under Section 436 of the I.P.C., P.S. New Agra, District Agra by virtue of which the accused Basudeo has been found guilty under Section 436 read with Section 34 I.P.C. and was sentenced to undergo three years rigorous imprisonment.

(3.) Brief facts, as per the prosecution story, are that there was a shop under the name and style M/S Chawla General Store on the tri-section of the Municipal Market, Balkeshwar. This shop was owned by Longu Ram, the father of the accused, in which the accused and his father repaired kerosene oil stoves. On the east of Chawla General store, there was a shop belonging to Sriram Arora under the name and style M/s Arora General Store. It is alleged that the accused wanted to forcibly occupy the shop of Sriram Arora. Manmohan Chawla and informant had blocked the efforts of the accused to forcibly occupy the shop. Some litigation on this account was going on between the father of the accused and Sriram Arora. Due to this enmity, on 2nd February 1980 at about 10.45 p.m., after the informant Manmohan Chawla had closed his shop and had returned home, the accused accompanied by two unknown persons went to the closed shop and set fire to it. Ashok Kumar Bhatia, Kul Bhushan Sharma and Shyam Sunder Maheshwari, who were passing that way, saw the accused and two companions standing near the shop. When they went near the shop, the accused and his two companions fled away. They were chased by the witnesses. The companions fled away but the accused Basudeo was apprehended at some distance. From his possession a bottle containing some inflammable liquor, a partly burnt plastic container, nine leaves of paper and a bag was recovered. A cycle was also recovered from near the shop which the accused and his companions had left. The accused confessed the crime. Two constables reached the spot. The informant also reached the spot. The fire was extinguished. Thereafter, the informant lodged the written report at the police station along which which the accused was also handed over at the police station.