STATE OF U P Vs. RANDHIR SRI CHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Randhir, Tarif, Ram Prasad, Jaipal, Ram Narain and Ajab Singh were tried before the Assistant Sessions Judge, Meerut, for offences under Sections 399 and 402, I. P. C. on the ground that on the 16th September 1956 at Lisari Gate, Meerut city, they had made preparations for and assembled for committing dacoity. Randhir, Tarjf, Ram Narain and Ajab Singh were further charged under Section 19(f) of the Arms Act with possession of unlicensed fire-arms. The learned Judge convicted these four under Section 19(f) and awarded a sentence of two years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 100/- each. But in respect of the major charges under Sections 399 and 402, I. P. C., he came to the conclusion that the evidence on the record was not sufficient to establish them, hence he acquitted all the accused of these charges. The State Government have preferred this appeal against the order of acquittal. We might state that the four men convicted under Section 19(f), Arms Act, appear to have submitted to their conviction and sentences for that offence.

(2.) It is worth bearing in mind that except for the fact that Randhir and Jaipal are brothers, there is no apparent connection between the respondents: Randhir and Jaipa] belong to village Allam, police circle Kandhla, district Muzaffarnagar; Tarif and Ram Prasad to village Barseni, police circle Kanchhla, district Muzaffarnagar; Ajab Singh to village Bhabasia, police circle Kandhla, district Muzaffarnagar; Ram Narain to village Sankrodh, police circle Khekra, district Meerut. Thus, they belong to places more than thirty miles distant from the place where their offences are said to have been committed, and indeed only one of them is of district Meerut, the remaining five hailing from district Muzaffarnagar.

(3.) In order that the case for the prosecution may be properly appreciated we might mention that on the pucca road connecting Meerut city with Garhmukteshwar, and ten miles from the former, is a village called Hasanpur. Three miles off the main road from Hasanpur lies the village of the Paswara. (We have obtained these facts from the Survey Map.) In Paswara there lives a wealthy family consisting of a military officer (who is away on service) and his brother Raghubir Singh (who resides in the village). On the southern outskirts of Meerut city lies Lisari Gate, which is a centre of road communications. A person travelling by road from the Baghpat railway-crossing just outside Meerut city and going to village Hasanpur must pass Lisari Gate.