RANGNATH RAOJI Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE three appellants, Sayed Dadan, Daulat-khan and Rangnath, who were the original accused, 1, 2 and 3, were charged under Sections 392 and 397 of the Indian Penal Code. At the end of the trial, the learned Sessions Judge, Auran-gabad, by his order dated 24-12-1956, convicted accused Nos. 1 and 2 under Ss. 392 and 397 and sentenced each of them to seven years' rigorous imprisonment. He also found accused No. 3 guilty under Section 392, convicted him thereunder and sentenced him to four years rigorous imprisonment. It is against this order of conviction and sentence that the present appellants have preferred these appeals.

(2.) THE prosecution case was that, in the evening of 11-2-1956, the three accused, armed with guns and a stick, came to the house of witness Ganpatrao at the village Nipani Pokhari in Jalna taluka, District Aurangabad. Thai was at about 6 p. m. Accused Nos 1 and 2 (Sayed Dadan and Daulat) were in Khaki dress, each armed with a gun, and the 3rd accused was dressed in ordinary dress but carried with him a stick. Witnesses Saraswati and Godavari, the two daughters-in-law of Ganpatrao, were, at that time, sitting on a Chabutara outside the house of Ganpatrao. The 2nd accused Daulat asked wit. Saraswatibai us to who was the owner of the house and, on being told that it was Ganpatrao's house, the 2nd accused asked her where Dasopant, the elder brother of Ganpatrao, was. Saraswatibai told him that Dasopant had gone to Jalna and that Ganpatrao was in the fields. The 3rd accused asked Saraswati to fetch Ganpatrao and when Saraswati asked him as to why they wanted Ganpatrao, the 2nd accused told her that the 1st accused was the Police Moharir and that he had some work with Ganpatrao. A boy of about 12 years of age, one Dinkar, the maternal-cousin of Saraswati's husband, was playing near about there and, therefore, Saraswati asked Dinkar to fetch Ganpatrao from the fields. On his way towards the fields, Dinkar found Ganpatrao and his cousin Bhimrao in a Kirana shop and brought them to the house. When they reached the house, accused Nos. 2 and 3, all of a sudden, caught Ganpatrao and Bhimrao, dragged them inside the house and assaulted them. Accused No. 2, Daulat, struck Ganpatrao and Bhimrao with the butt end of his gun and accused No. 3 also assaulted them with his stick. Just before dragging Ganpatrao and Bhimrao into the house, accused No. 1 had fired his gun. 2a. After beating these two men, accused Nos. 2 and 3 demanded of them to hand over moneys. Daulat, accused No. 2, then assaulted Saraswati and Godavari with the butt end of his gun and the 3rd accused also beat Saraswati with his stick. Accused Nos. 3 and 2 thereafter snatched away 'mangalsutras' from the persons of Godawari and Saraswati respectively. The two accused then went to a room in the southern part of the house adjacent to the Osri where they broke open three boxes and carried away therefrom two 'ekdanis', two gold rings and one 'nath'. While they were still inside the house, the 2nd accused had kept on firing his gun at the feet of these people.

(3.) THE 1st accused, all this time, was standing on guard outside the house and kept on firing his gun. The two accused Daulat and Rangnath, were inside the house for about hall an hour to 3/4th of an hour and then all the three of them went away carrying the booty.