STATE OF MAHARASHTRA Vs. HARI LAKHU DHANAGAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BEING aggrieved by the Judgment and Order dated 21st April, 1984 acquitting the Respondents accused of the offence punishable under Section 302 r/w 34 I.P.C., passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Kolhapur, in Sessions Case No.63 of 1983, the State of Maharashtra has filed the present appeal.

(2.) BRIEFLY stated, the prosecution story runs as under: Complainant Keshav Dhanagar resides at Patane alongwith his wife and son. He is a primary teacher. There was Land dispute between him and the accused. The complainant had filed a Civil Suit bearing No.42 of 1983 in the Court of Civil Judge Junior Division, Malkapur for a permanent injunction against Accused Nos.1 to 4. He had filed an application for temporary injunction in the said Suit and interim injunction was granted in his favour. The Suit was pending. According to the prosecution, the complainant had vacation in the month of May 1983. On 27-5-1983 he had gone to Bapu Dnyanu Patil (P.W. 6) and requested him to give him his buffalo. Thereafter, he had gone to Bapu Ishwara Patil (P.W. 8) and requesting him to give him his bullock and plough. He had requested both Bapu Dnyanu Patil and Bapu Ishwara Patil to come to help him in sowing the crop after finishing their work. The complainant then went to his land alongwith the plough. At about 7.45 a.m. P.W. 8 - Bapu Ishwara Patil came to his land. At about 7 or 8 a.m. P.W. 6 - Bapu Dayanu Patil also came. One Balkrishna Vasudeo came there after 10 minutes. The complainant started horrowing the land with the help of plough and these three persons were collecting the stumps of wheat. Ramu Bhanu i.e. the deceased was working in his land in his no.1 of gnt no.507. Accused Nos.1 to 4 were sitting in the land of Accused No.4 bearing gat no. 705/5. They were chitchatting. The work of ploughing the Land was going on for about half an hour. Accused No.1 came in the land of the complainant and threatened Balkrishna Vasudeo, P.W. 8 - Bapu Ishwara Patil and P.W. 6 - Bapu Dayanu Patil not to work in the land of complainant and asked them to leave. All the accused were armed with sticks. Balkrishna Vasudeo, Bapu Ishwara Patil and Bapu Dayanu Patil stopped the work. They went near the bund of Hari and sat there. Accused nos.1 to 4 entered into the land of complainant, asked him to stop the work and threatened that otherwise they would finish him. On account of this threat, the complainant started returning with the plough. When he was on the cartroad, accused no.1 asked him to stop and he rushed towards him. Accused nos.2 and 4 also rushed towards the complainant. The complainant then left the plough there and ran away at a distance of about 70 feet. At that time, deceased Rama Bhau told accused nos.1 to 4 as to, why they were obstructing complainant Keshav as he had sown the crop in his land. Thereupon accused no.1 left the complainant and rushed towards the deceased. Accused no.1 gave stick blow on the left side of the deceased. Accused no.1 gave another stick blow at the same place. The deceased fell down. Accused nos.1 to 4 started beating him with the help of sticks on various parts of his body. Thereafter they ran away. Complainant felt that Ramu Bala was dead. Therefore, he came to his house, collected the certified copies of the interim order of injunction obtained by him against the accused and went to Shahuwadi Police Station, which is at a distance of about 10 miles from Patane. He reached Shahuwadi Police Station at about 8 p.m. and lodged his complaint in which, apart from the accused he implicated four other persons though they were not present at the time of the incident.

(3.) ACCUSED nos.1 to 3 were arrested on 6.6.1983. Accused no.4 was arrested on 14-6-1983. On 8.6.1983 in pursuance of statement made by accused no.1, the stick concealed in the cluster of bamboo was recovered under panchanama Ex.13. On the same day in pursuance of statement made by accused no.2 under panchanama Ex.23 another stick was recovered. Similarly, accused no.3 led the police to the land of Dhondi Patil and took out a stick from the dried leaves of sugar-cane. It was attached under panchanama Exh.25. Stick was also recovered at the instance of accused no.4, vide panchanama Exh.48.