STATE OF MAHARASHTRA Vs. HARISHCHANDRA TUKARAM AWATADE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) SINCE both these matters arise out of a common incident and the same impugned judgment, they are being disposed off together.

(2.) A perverse judgment of acquittal dated 3rd December 1982 passed by the Assistant Sessions Judge, Solapur, in Sessions Case No. 109 of 1982 acquitting the respondents for offences punishable under Sections 307, 326, 324 and 427, all read with Section 34, I. P. C. , has prompted the State of Maharashtra to prefer this appeal, under Section 378 (1), Cr. P. C. , in this Court. The same consideration has prompted the original complainant Dinkar Krishnaji Patil to prefer Criminal Revision Application No. 63 of 1983.

(3.) BRIEFLY stated the prosecution case runs as follows : the informant Dinkar Krishnaji Pati1 P. W. 3 was residing at the time of the incident, along with his wife Shashikala P. W. 6 and children, in House No. 741 in South Kasba area, of Solapur. There was enmity between him on the one hand and respondents Harishchandra Tukaram Awatade and Prabhakar Tukaram Awatade, both real brothers, on the other. The other two respondents viz. Shivaji alias Kaka Namdeo Awatade and Ashok Namdeo Awatade both real brothers were nephews of Harishchandra Tukaram Awatade and Prabhakar Tukaram Awatade, in as much as their father Namdeo was the cousin of Harishchandra Tukaram Awatade and Prabhakar Tukaram Awatade. According to the complainant the land of Harishchandra Tukaram Awatade and Prabhakar Tukaram Awatade was adjoining his land. The former had encroached upon his land resulting in his filing a suit against them in the Civil Court, in Mohol. That suit was decreed in favour of the complainant and it created a rift between the complainant and the respondents. On 7-10-1981 at about 7. 30 p. m. the complainant returned home on a motor cycle from the house of his friend Rajaram Benjarpe. He had parked the motor cycle in front of his house. He told his wife Shashikala that he wanted to go out for taking meals. Thereafter he came out from the house. At that time his 9 year old son Harshad was also inside the house. Harshad followed him when he came out of the house. While he was about to start his motor cycle two persons assaulted him on his head with iron bars, from back. He turned around and saw the respondents armed with iron bars behind him. All of them then began assaulting him with iron bars as a consequence whereof he lost control of his motor cycle and fell down on the ground. Even thereafter the respondents went on assaulting him. He tried to get up but could not since the respondents were dragging and beating him. According to the prosecution, the attack on the informant was seen by his son Harshad, his wife Shashikala and Nagnath Sopan Babar. Finally the complainant succeeded in his endeavour of getting up. He entered inside the house of Nagnath which was at a distance of about 10 to 15 ft. from the place of the incident. There Nagnath tied a towel around his head. Thereafter he along with his wife Shashikala and Shirish Pandurang went in a rickshaw, to the house of Kishore Kale P. W. 8 in Sidheshwar Peth and informed him about the manner of assault and the names of the assailants. From there he went to the Civil Hospital.