STATE OF MAHARASHTRA Vs. BHAIRU SATTU BERAD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These are eight appeals by eight accused, who nave been convicted of the offence of rioting and other offences committed in the course of the riot.

(2.) All the accused are residents of Bairawadi and are related to each other. Accused Nos. 1, 2, 6 and 7 are brothers. One of their sisters is married to accused 4 and another to accused 5. Accused 3 is the brother of accused 5 and accused 8 is their father. These accused reside in the same lane in which witnesses Dattu, Maryappa and Main reside. Dattu suspected that his wife was on illicit intimacy with accused 2. On account of this there were frequent Quarrels between Dattu and his Wife. On Friday the 14th January 1955 Dattu drove his wife out of his house. She then went to reside with her parents. Later on the same day when Dattu and his brother Maryappa were passing by the house of accused 2, accused 2 told Dattu that he should take back his wife and that if he did not do so, he would beat him. The prosecution case is that on the evening of the following day at about sunset time, the eight appellants went near the house of Dattu. At that time Dattu and his brother Maryappa were taking their meals. Accused Nos. 2, 3 and 4 were carrying axes while the others were armed with sticks. They abused Dattu and asked him why he had discarded his wife. He told them that it was not their business to inquire about his domestic affairs. On hearing the row witnesses Kalu Laxman, his brother Balu Laxman, Babu Rama, his wife Dundawwa and Sidu came out of their houses. Maryappa was then given a blow on his head by accused 4 with an axe. He was also given another blow on his right arm. He then fell down. On seeing Maryappa being beaten, his sister Sharawa came running from her house. She asked the accused why they were beating Maryappa. Thereupon accused 2 gave her a blow on her head with an axe, as a result of which she fell down. Kalu then tried to intervene, but he was given three blows on his head with an axe by accused 3. Witnesses Babu, Dattu and Balu were also beaten. Thereafter the accused ran away. Balu then went to the Chavdi to give information to the Police Patil. The Police Patil recorded Balu's statement, Exh. 54, in which he implicated accused Nos. 1 to 6 and some other persons. He did not mention the names of accused Nos. 7 and 3. The Police Patil then went to the scene of offence and sent the three seriously injured persons, Sharawa, Kalu and Maryappa to the dispensary at Gandhinglaj. Sharawa died on the way. The Police Patil then sent this report, along with the statement of Balu Laxman, to the police station at Ajre. The investigation of the case then started. The postmortem examination of the body of Sharwa was held. This showed that she had one incised wound 4-1/2" x 1-1/2" on the head and that her left parietal and temporal boner were fractured. Accused 1 was arrested on the following morning. He filed a counter complaint Exh. 27c. In that, he stated that when he was sitting near the door of his house, Dattu, Maryappa, Kalu Laxman, Balu Laxman, Babu Rama and Sidu began to throw stones at his house. He questioned, them why they were doing so. They told him that they would continue to throw stones and that he had no business to question them about it. They then rushed at him and assaulted him with sticks and axes in their hands. After beating him, they had run away. He also stated that the cause of the quarrel was that his brother, accused 2, was on illicit terms with Dattu's wife. After investigation, the police came to the conclusion that there was no truth in the allegations contained in accused 1's complaint. Accused 1 was also sent for examination to the medical officer, Gadhinglaj. He found that he had the following injuries on his person:

(3.) The eight accused persons were then sent up for trial. They were charged with being members of an unlawful assembly, the common object of which was to beat Dattu. Maryappa Sharawa, Kalu, Babu and Balu with committing the murder of Sharawa, and causing grievous hurt to Maryappa and Babu Rama and Simple hurt to Dattu, Kallappa and Balu and thereby committing offences punishable under Sections 147, 148, 302, 326, 325, 324 and 323 read with Section 149, Indian Penal Code.