KAMLESH Vs. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal against the judgment order dated 15/07/1976 by M.Wahaj Uddin, the then Sessions Judge, Agra in S.T.No. 567 of 1979, State v. Smt. Kamlesh, whereby he convicted the accused-appellant of the offence under Section 304-A, I.P.C.sentenced her to suffer simple imprisonment for a period of six months. The deceased in this case Smt. Saroj Devi was the wife of Sri Sukhdeo Sharma who was A.I.O., Agriculture, posted at Shamshabad. Smt. Kamlesh, the accused-appellant is the wife of Satish Chand Gautam son of Shri Sukhdeo Sharma and the deceased. They all lived together in one house in the Block campus along with Sanjeev Kumar, younger brother of Satish Chand Gautam. The occurrence took place in the night between 23rd and 24/12/1978 at about 1.15 a.m. Shri Sukhdeo Sharma, father-in-law of the accused-appellant was away on training at Kanpur in the days of occurrence. The deceased Smt. Sarojdevi received fire-arm injury on her person. The size of the Gun-shot wound of entry was 1" x 3" x chest cavity deep through and through on the right side of chest 3" below clavicle. Its exit wound was 2" x 1" x 1/2" on the right back. Ribs, 2nd to 9th were fractured. Pleura was ruptured on both sides. Diaphragm was lacerated. Heart was ruptured. The deceased died instantaneously at the time of occurrence.

(2.) Sound of many fires were heard by the head Moharrir at the Police Station coming from the side of block campus who consequently wake-up the Station Officer Sri Srinivas Agarwal. The A.O.thereupon reached the block and found the dead body of the deceased lying in the Varandah of the house near the wall. The accused-appellant gave him a written First Information Report Exhibit K5 containing the version that at 1.45 a.m. the deceased awakened her Dewar (her husband's younger brother) Sanjeev, for getting herself urinated and brought them out from the room, that the deceased was going ahead of them, that a lantern was burning on the Varandah and they saw a person on the wall of the house that as soon as the deceased crossed the Verandah and reached the Angan, that person fired at the deceased, that she and her Dewar retreated and went back into the room and the deceased cried and ran in to the Verandah, that at that time one more shot was fired and then the deceased fell down that she along with the accused-appellant closed the door of the room and she fired from the window by her gun, hearing the sound of which that person jumped back and ran away, that she tired several shots with her licensed gun, that on hearing of the shot and the sound of fires, the residents of the Block colony assembled and then she came out in the Verandah and saw the deceased lying in a pool of blood. It was also stated in her FIR that they had seen the person who had fired from the wall and they could identify the person.

(3.) On the basis of the written F.I.R.check report Exhibit Ka-2 was prepared at the Police Station and a case was registered under Section 302, I.P.C.against the unknown assailant. The usual investigation followed. The dead body of the deceased was sent for post-mortem. The I.C.interrogated the witnesses on 24-12-1978 and 25-12-1978. After recording the statement of two witnesses on 25-12-1978, he developed suspicion against the accused-appellant and so he turned the investigation towards that line. On 28-12-1978, the accused-appellant made a confession to Sardar Singh, in the presence of others that a mistake has been committed by her, that the gun was lying loaded and it went off over the old lady. The I.O.interrogated Shri Sukhdeo Sharma, A.L.O., Satish Chand Gautam, Sanjeev Kumar, Sardar Singh and Smt. Kamlesh and took her (the accused-appellant) into custody. The gun of Sukhdeo Sharma, the empty cartridges and the live cartridges were taken into custody by the I.O.In due course, he submitted charge-sheet against the accused-appellant for offence under Section 302, I.P.C.