DNYANESHWAR MUKINDA LAD Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Mukinda Bhaurao Lad, his wife Vasantabai, son dyneshwar (accused No. 1) , daughter Ratnamala (accused No. 3) , nephews jiwan Sitaram Lad (accused No. 5) and Dagadu Sitaram Lad (accused No. 6) , were accused of committing murder of Ekanath Raghunath Lad and causing hurt to his brother Suresh, father Raghunath, mother Savitrabai, in prosecution of the common object of unlawful assembly. Mukinda expired during pendency of the trial, Vasantabai is absconding. Remaining accused faced trial in Sessions Case no. 99 of 2001 for the offences punishable under sections 147, 148, 302, 324, 323 and 504 read with 149 of the Penal Code. By his order dated 8th April 2004, ist Ad-hoc Sessions Judge, Ambajogai; convicted accused No. 1 for the offence punishable under section 302 of the Penal Code. He is sentenced to suffer imprisonment for life and to pay fine of Rupees 2000/ -. Accused No. 5 is convicted of the offence punishable under section 324 of the Penal Code. He is sentenced to suffer R. I. for three years and to pay fine of Rupees 2000/ -. Both sentences carry default stipulation for non-payment of fine. Accused Nos. 3 and 6 are acquitted of all the offences with which they were charged. As three appeals are filed against the same order of conviction and sentence, the appellants are referred to in their original capacity of accused to avoid confusion.

(2.) Before entering in to the merits, we may notice relevant facts. Raghunath (P. W. 7) , his wife Savitrabai (P. W. 8) and sons Suresh (P. W. I) , navnath (P. W. 2) , Eknath (deceased) were jointly cultivating their ancestral land at village Lade-Wadgao. Mukinda (since deceased) was his real brother. Vasantabai (absconding) is wife of Mukinda. Dyaneshwar (accused No. 1) is their son and Ratnamala (accused No. 3) is their daughter. Fulabai is sister of savitrabai. Ratan (P. W. 3) is her husband. Jiwan (accused No. 5) and Dagdu (accused No. 6) are sons of the maternal uncle of Ratan. Civil Suits filed by raghunath against his brother Mukinda in respect of ownership of agricultural land and right of pre-emption were pending in the Civil Court. On 17th June, 2001 Raghunath his wife and sons were sowing jowar in their field survey number 168 known as "banshet". At about 10. 30 in the morning, all the accused came there. Mukinda sought explanation from Raghunath as to why he carried out sowing in the disputed land on the earlier day. While exchange of words between them was in progress, accused Nos. 5 and 6 got angry and asked others to attack their opponents. As a result of the incitement all the accused mounted assault on Raghunath, his wife and sons. Mukinda dealt stick blow on the head and left palm of complainant Suresh, Jiwan hit him and Ekanath with bicycle chain. Dyaneshwar stabbed twice on the chest of Ekanath (deceased) with knife. He then dealt two knife blows on the back and another blow on the upper extremity of the nose of the complainant. Dagdu inflicted stick blows on the head and hand of Raghunath. Vasantabai and Ratnamala kicked and fisted Savitrabai. On hearing the cries for help, Ratan and Fulabai started coming towards them from the adjoining field. They saw the accused assaulting Raghunath and others. Before they could reach the spot, the assailants ran away. The injureds were then taken to S. R. T. R. hospital at Ambejogai. A. S. I. Shantling Lamture (P. W. 11) who was on duty at the hospital chowky recorded complaint of Suresh (Ex. 94) officer abdul Razzak (P. W. I2) initially registered offence at Crime No. O/ 2001 and directed A. S. I. Lamture to complete the formalities. Eknath succumbed to the injuries at about 1. 45 p. m. A. S. I. Lamture thus held inquest (Ex. 100) on the dead body and sent the dead body for post-mortem. Dr. Kalidas Chavan performed post-mortem. On the basis of the report of Suresh investigating officer A. P. I. Abdul Razzak registered offence against the accused at about 11. 10 p. m. under sections 147, 148, 302, 324, 323, 504 read with 149 of the Penal Code and took over the investigation.

(3.) On the next day, the investigating officer attached four wooden sticks, sample of blood stained soil and control soil under Panchanama of the scene of occurrence (Ex. 106) and arrested accused Nos. 1 to 4. On 19th accused No. 1 made a confessional statement (Ex. 105) and produced knife concealed under a tree by the side of the river near the scene of the occurrence. The knife was attached under seizure memo (Ex. 106). Clothes of deceased produced by savitrabai were attached under seizure memo (Ex. 101) All the articles attached during the course of the investigation were sent to the Forensic Laboratory. Report of the Chemical Analyser (Ex. 103) disclosed that the knife was stained with the blood of the deceased. On the basis of the evidence collected during the investigation the accused came to be charge-sheeted.