HANUMAN SINGH Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE are two connected criminal appeals arising out of the same sessions trial. The incident which led to the trial was the tragic sequel of two election meetings held in close proximity to each other by two rival parties to a contest for election to the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha from the Gondwa constituency of District Hardoi in connection with the general elections of 1962. The two contesting candidates for the election were Sri Mohan Lal Verma and Sri Rajendra Singh, the former being a candidate of the Congress party and the latter a candidate of the Jan Sangh party. The incident occurred on the 7th of February, 1962 in the Bazar of Lumamau, police station Sandiia, District Hardoi and it resulted in the death of three persons and in injuries to many others.

(2.) THREE reports were lodged about the incident at three different police stations. The first report was by Mohan Singh (P. W. 9) at police station Sandila, situate at a distance of about six miles from the place of incident, on the 7th of February 1962 at 7. 00 p. m. This was against thirteen persons of the Congress party and twelve persons of the Jan Sangh party. The second report was lodged by Sri Mohan Lal Verma appellant at police station Atrauli, situate at a distance of about 12 miles from the place of incident, on the 7th of February 1962 at 7. 15 p. m, and it was against 24 persons of the Jan Sangh party. The third report was lodged by Harnath Singh (P. W. 25) at police station Kotwali of Hardoi on the 8th of February 1962 at 4. 35 a. m. and it was against 42 persons cf the Congress party. After investigation, cross cases against a number of persons of both the parties were sent up by the police. The trial out of which these appeals have arisen related to 45 persons alleged to have belonged to the Congress party. Out of them 19 persons have been convicted and the remaining 26 have been acquitted. The appellants in appeal No. 1667 of 1964 are 13 in number. Among them Hanuman Singh has been convicted under Section 148 I. P. C. and sentenced to 21/ years' rigorous 2imprisonment and also under Section 323/ 149 I. P. C. and sentenced to nine months' rigorous imprisonment. The remaining appellants of that appeal have been convicted under Section 147 I. P. C. and sentenced to 11/ years' rigorous imprisonment and also under 2section 323/149 I. P. C. and sentenced to nine months' rigorous imprisonment. The appellants in appeal No. 1668 of 1964 have all been convicted under Section 148 I. P. C. and sentenced to 21/ 2 years' rigorous imprisonment, under Section 307/149 I. P. C. and sentenced to seven years' rigorous imprisonment, and also under Section 323/ 149 I. P. C. and sentenced to nine months' rigorous imprisonment. All the sentences passed against the appellants in both the appeals have been directed to run concurrently.

(3.) BRIEFLY stated, the prosecution story in regard to the incident is this. In the afternoon of the 7th of February, 1962, i. e. a few days before the start of the polling in respect of the general elections of 1962 for the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, Sri Rajendra Singh the Jan Sangh candidate was holding an election meeting in the Bazar of Lumamau. The meeting was attended by 200 to 250 persons and was being held on the eastern side of a Galiara which was to the east of the Bazar. At about 3 p. m. some persons started making arrangements for a meeting of the Congress party at the Chabutra of Chhotey Lal Bania which was at a distance of 30 or 40 steps from the place where the Jan Sangh meeting was being held. Mukhtar Ali S. I. of police station Sandila (p. w. 17) had been directed by the station officer of police station Sandila to be present in the Bazar as election meetings were likely to be held there and he was, accordingly, present there along with some constables and Chaukidars. Sri Rajendra Singh the Jan Sangh candidate pointed out to Mukhtar Ali that the Congress party was going to hold a meeting close to the meeting of his party and that might lead to some trouble. He also suggested to Mukhtar Ali that the meeting of the Congress party should be shifted to a more distant place. Thereupon Mukhtar Ali met the persons who were making arrangements for the Congress meeting and asked to hold their meeting at some more distant place, but those persons said that the matter could be decided only by Sri Mohan Lal Verma. Shortly afterwards, Sri Mohan Lal Verma arrived at that place followed by a crowd of 1000 to 1200 persons who were shouting slogans and he started holding his meeting at the Chabutra of Chhotey Lal Bania. Mukhtar Ali went up to Sri Mohan Lal Verma and requested him to shift his meeting to some other place but the latter expressed his unwillingness to do so and asked Mukhtar AH to tell Sri Rajendra Singh to shift his own meeting to some other place. Mukhtar Ali then tried to persuade Sri Rajendra Singh to change the place of his meeting but he too was unwilling to do so. Feeling helpless, Mukhtar Ali stationed himself in the Galiara which divided the two meetings, along with the police constables and Chaukidars who were with him and also some other persons whom he had called to his aid. Sri Trijugi Nath Gupta meanwhile stood up on the Jan Sangh platform and began delivering a speech which contained some aspersions against Sri Mohan Lal Verma. The Congress meeting was at that time being addressed by Sri Raj Bahadur Singh Chandel and he was characterising the Jan Sangh party as a communal party and making uncomplimentary remarks against the Jan Sangh candidate. Some objectionable slogans were also being shouted in both the meetings. As a result, the people participating in the two meetings became agitated and started moving nearer each other. Mukhtar Ali apprehended trouble and he, therefore, sent a note to police station Sandila requisitioning additional police force. At 4. 00 or 4. 30 p. m. a person present in the Congress meeting is said to have given a lathi blow to one of the participants of the Jan Sangh meeting. Thereupon some people in the Jan Sangh meeting began throwing brickbats on the Congress meeting and some people in the Congress meeting retaliated by throwing brickbats on the Jan Sangh meeting. Meanwhile a lathi fight also started between the two parties. While this was going on Ram Bilas appellant who belonged to the Congress party fired a pistol shot from the Congress meeting towards the Jan Sangh meeting. Thereafter, firing took place from both the sides as a result of which a number of persons were injured. Ten or twelve persons carrying firearms arrived at this stage on the side of the participants of the Congress meeting and there was a vigorous firing from that side on the Jan Sangh meeting. The result was that the Jan Sangh party took to its heels. The Congress party chased the Jan Sangh party upto some distance and then set fire to a number of articles which the Jan Sangh party had brought there in connection with the arrangements for its meeting and broke the loud speaker which had been installed there. Two persions, i. e. Mool Chand and Jagannath, who are said to have been members of the Jan Sangh party, died at the spot on account of the injuries received by them, and third person, Ram Jiawan, was seriously injured and died the next day in the hospital. Apart from these three persons, nineteen others including Mukhtar Ali S. I. and four constables were also injured in the course of the fight. Mukhtar Ali was not able to proceed to the police station himself because of his injuries and also because of the situation there. He, therefore, suggested that someone from amongst the persons present there should go to police station Sandila and make a report about the occurrence. Mohan Singh (P. W. 1) offered to do so, and he went to the police station and lodged a report there at 7. 00 p. m. Sri B. S. Negi (P. W. 22) S. I. of police station Sandila, took up investigation, informed the Superintendent of Police Hardoi about the occurrence on phone, and proceeded to the place of occurrence. He found the dead body of Jagannath near the platform of the Congress meeting and the dead body of Mool Chand close to the Chabutra of Mahadeo Ji which was within the area where the Jan Sangh meeting was held. After holding inquests he dispatched the dead bodies for post mortem examination. From the place of occurrence, Sri Negi recovered three empty cartridges; two of them were near the platform of the Congress meeting and one was at the place of the Jan Sangh meeting. He also recovered one big gunshot and four small gunshots from the Chaukhat of the eastern door of Chhotey Lal Bania's Baithak and he found gunshot marks on bamboo clumps to the north of the Chabutra of Mahadeo Ji. Some burnt and partly burnt articles and a broken horn of a loud speaker were also found by him at the place where the Jan Sangh meeting was being held. It may here be noted that on 8th February 1962 at 10. 00 a. m. Sri Negi handed over the investigation to V. N. Singari (P. W. 26) Circle Inspector as directed by the Superintendent of Police, but he was present at the time of the recoveries mentioned above and prepared recovery memos relating to them under the supervision of V. N. Singari.