JALAM Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Karan, Thalua, Har Bhajan, Gorey Lal, Lakshman, Jalam, Phund, Hira Lal, Tulsi and Halka have preferred the aforesaid criminal appeals against the judgment and order dated 30-6-1980 by Sri S.N. Singh, the then Addl. Session Judge, Lalitpur in Sessions Trial No. 78 of 1979 whereby all the appellants have been convicted under Sections 302/149, I.P.C. and sentenced to imprisonment for life. They have also been convicted under Sections 307/149, I.P.C. and sentence to seven years R.I. They have further been convicted under Sections 323/149, I.P.C. and sentenced to one year R.I. each. Halka has also been convicted under Section 148, I.P.C. and sentenced to one and a half years R.I. while other appellants have been convicted under Section 147, I.P.C. and sentenced to one year R.I. each. As all the appeals of the appellants stated above are connected and arise out of one and the same incidence, they are being disposed of by this common judgment.

(2.) The informant Vinod Kumar P.W. 1 and injured witnesses, namely Dhirendra Kumar PW 2 and Ravindra Kumar PW 3, are residents of village Gudrapur P.S. Mahroni. district Lalitpur. Phoolchand deceased was father of PWs 1, 2 and 3. The prosecution case, as set up in the F.I.R. briefly stated is that Vinod Kumar gave his field (known as Labuda) to Karan accused in the previous year on batal system but Karan dishonestly did not give the crop of his share to him. Even then Karan was demanding the field of Vinod Kumar on batal for the current year but Phoolchand refused to do so; hence Karan and his companions enraged enmity against Phoolchand. On the day of occurrence 11-7-1979 Phoolchand sent Mukunda and Hallan for plouging that field. Thereafter Phoolchand and his sons informant Vinod Kumar, Ravindra Kumar and Devendra Kumar went to the field where Karan holding a lathis reached and told them that they would not be able to sow the field and bad consequence would follow. Phool Chand told that he had committed dishonesty; hence he would not give the field to him for cultivation. Karan thereupon became angry and returned to the village. After sometime in the afternoon Phoolchand and his sons were going to their house for taking lunch. When they reached Tagra field of Patwari, accused Karan, Thulua, Gorey Lal, Har Bhajan, Lakshman, Jalam Phundi holiding lathis, Halka holding axe, Hiralal and Tulsi armed with Parena surrounded them. Karan asked Phoolchand as to why he had not given his field to him and the complainant party could not plough and sow the field. Phoolchand asserted that the field was of his own, he will cultivate the same, and what concern they have with it. Thereupon Karan exhorted his companions to give him a lesson of not giving the field saying that 'Baniya Sala had become idiot and unsound mind.' Thereupon all of them started assaulting Phoolchand. When his sons tried to rescue their father, the accused persons started assaulting them also. The sons of Phoolchand also wielded their lathis and Parena in self-defence. When Halian, Mukunda, Shiam Lal reprimanded the accused persons, they ran away. The complainant, his father and brothers sustained a large number of serious injuries. Phoolchand died on the spot. The accused persons had inimincal terms with the complainant party due to money transaction and litigation regarding Marpit was also going on against Tulsi and Har Bhajan. Hiralal had committed theft of the complainant's crop in the month of Chait of the same year. He reported the matter to the police. Due to this enmity all the accused assaulted the complainant, and his brothers and committed the murder of his father.

(3.) Vinod Kumar PW 1 reported the matter to the police of P.S. Mahroni, district Lalitpur at 11.10 a.m. on 11-7-1979. The distance of the police station from the place of occurrence is eight miles. P.W. Kamta Singh was posted at that time as Station Officer at the police station. He started investigation. He went to village Gudrapur where he found the dead body of Phoolchand lying in his house. He held the inquest of the dead body, prepared the relevant documents and sent the dead body to the mortuary for post mortem examination through constable Mohd. Ishaq PW 8. He took blood stained bed sheet in custody and prepared a recovery memo. He also took Banian and underwear of the deceased in custody. He went in search of the accused persons at their houses but none of them could be made available. He recorded the statements of Hallan under Section 161, Cr.P.C. on 11-7-1979 and that of Mukunda on 12-7-1979. He arrested Hira Lal, Lakshman, Halka and Jalam on 12-7-1979. He interrogated Shyam Lal on 12-7-1979. He inspected the venue and prepared a site plan. The I.O. went to the District Hospital Lalitpur on 14-7-1979 where he reported the statements of Vinod Kumar Devendra Kumar injured persons. The I.O. also collected all the papers including pronotes in respect of the accused persons from Vinod Kumar on 28-7-1979. He also collected the copy of N.C.R. and copy of the complaint.