INDRA PAL Vs. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellants-accused-Indra Pal, Mishri Lal and Mohan Lal have preferred this appeal against the judgment and order dated 1-10-1980 passed by Sri K. K. Srivastava, the then IVth Additional Sessions Judge, Fatehpur in Sessions Trial No. 329 of 1979. Each of them has been convicted under S. 302, I.P.C. read with S. 34, I.P.C. and sentenced to life imprisonment. The appellants-Indra Pal and Mishri Lal are real brothers and the murdered person was their own father Nanku.

(2.) The prosecution case may be set forth in its broad essentials. The incident took place between the night of 23rd and 24/06/1977 at the outskirts of village Hasanpur, Police Station Bindki, District Fatehpur. The report was made by P.W. 1 Baboo (brother of the deceased) on 24/06/1977 at 8.30 a.m. The distance of the Police Station from the place of occurrence was nine miles. The deceased-Nanku was aged about 60 years and, as stated above, he was the father of accused-appellants-Indra Pal and Mishri Lal. The third accused-appellant-Mohan Lal is said to be related to the accused-appellant-Mishri Lal in that the daughter of the brother of his wife is married to him (Mishri Lal). Indra Pal and Mishri Lal used to quarrel with their father Nanku and the issue was that he was not giving to them share in the land. Panchayats had also held for settling the dispute on several occasions but Nanku had refused to give shares to his sons Indra Pal and Mishri Lal. As a consequence, there was bad blood between Indra Pal and Mishri Lal on the one hand and their father Nanku on the other, so much so that Nanku had started residing with his brother P.W. 1 Baboo. Indra Pal and Mishri Lal harboured deep seated grudge against their father Nanku over the refusal of the latter in not giving any share to them in agricultural land. In between the fateful night, Nanku was sleeping on a cot outside the door of his tube-well and Chakki. P.W. 1 Babboo and his another brother P.W. 2 Lalloo were also sleeping nearby on separate cots. A lantern was blazing on the door. At about midnight, making a panicky sound Nanku fell on his brother P.W. 1 Babboo, awakening him as well as his another brother P.W. 2 Lalloo. Both of them saw that throat of Nanku had been cut and he had fallen down dead. They saw the accused-appellants-Indra Pal, Mishri Lal and Mohan Lal running away from the place of occurrence. It came down from their testimony before the Court that Indra Pal had a Gandasa and Mishri Lal and Mohan Lal had axes. A hue and cry was raised by both the witnesses namely, P.W. 1 Babboo and P.W. 2 Lalloo which attracted the witnesses Desh Raj and Babu Lal. Desh Raj is the own son of P.W. 1 Babboo. The accused-appellants managed their escape good from the scene of occurrence.

(3.) P.W. 1 Babboo got scribed the first information report by one Raghubar Dayal. The same was lodged by him at the Police Station on 24-6-1977 at 8.30 a.m. as mentioned earlier. A case was registered and the investigation followed. Ultimately, the three accused-appellants were booked for trial.