RAM SINGH Vs. STATE OF M.P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE accused -appellants have been held guilty of the offences punishable under Section 302/149 and Section 148 I.P.C. and sentenced to life imprisonment and rigorous imprisonment for two years each respectively; both the sentences having been made to run concurrently. The culprits in the incident were six in all. Apart from the accused -appellants there was one Harprasad, who died during the course of the trial. Yet another was one Shriram who was and is still absconding. The accused appellants were charged with forming of unlawful assembly on 27 -4 -1986 at about 7.00 p. m., at village Durgapur, with the common object of intentionally causing the death of Suresh. They were all also charged with having been armed with deadly weapons while being the members of such unlawful assembly. Death of Suresh was caused in furtherance of the common object of such assembly.

(2.) THE background of animosity between the parties of the accused persons and the complainants is not disputed At one time the accused persons had indecently insulted the mother of the deceased. The deceased Suresh had caused grievous hurt to one Pragi son of Ramsingh, the accused -appellant. Both these incidents are subject matter of two independent prosecutions sub judice. The prosecution case is that on 27 -4 -1986 at about 7.00 p. m. the four accused -appellants and two others, namely, Harprasad and Shriram, in all six, armed with deadly weapons committed an assault on the deceased Suresh at his residence. Ramsingh was armed with a sword, Mulayamsingh with an axe, Karansingh with a pharsa, Shriram (absconding) with a Sang (a sharp edged weapon) and Harprasad (dead) and Vijayram with lathis. All the six dealt several blows on the body of deceased Suresh with the weapons with which they were armed, resulting into instantaneous death of the deceased. Hukumsingh (PW 1), cousin brother of the deceased, saw the incident and raised a hue and cry, attracting Bansingh (PW 4), Siromansingh (PW 5), Sukhnandan Singh (PW 7) and Chatursingh (PW 8) to the place of occurrence. Having fatally injured the deceased, the accused persons dragged the deceased for a few paces, threw him away on a heap of debris and took to their heels. Hukumsingh rushed to Police -station Civil Lines, Datia, to lodge F.I.R., Ex. P -1, of the incident, at 9.30 p. m., the same day i.e. within about two and a half hours of the incident. The dead body of the deceased Suresh was referred for postmortem and the offence having been registered, the usual investigation ensued. Postmortem on the dead body of Suresh was conducted by Dr. R.N. Gupta (PW 2), Assistant Surgeon, District Hospital, Datia at 12 20 p. m., the following day. Following injuries were found on the body of the deceased. - -

(3.) KARANSINGH accused -appellant was apprehended on 28 -4 -1986. Others were apprehended on 9 -5 -1986 Out of the several recoveries and seizures the only one worth mentioning is recovery of an axe made at the instance of accused Mulayam Singh on an information given to Suresh Sharma (PW 11) in the presence of punch witnesses This axe has been found to be stained with blood, by the Chemical Examiner, Forensic Science Laboratory, Sagar. The trial Court has placed reliance on the ocular evidence of the four eye -witnesses, finding corroboration from the medical evidence and the promptly recorded F.I.R. The learned counsel for the appellants has vehemently attacked the correctness of the findings so recorded. Such of the contentions raised by the learned counsel for the appellants shall be examined seriatim hereinafter. It is submitted that the four eye -witnesses namely, Bansingh (PW 4), Siromansingh (PW 5), Sukhnandansingh (PW 7) and Chatursingh (PW 8) were all closely related to the deceased and in view of the background of the enmity prevailing between the two fractions, the testimony of the eye -witnesses should have been held partisan and interested and hence liable to be discarded It is true that all the eye -witnesses are related to the deceased. Hukumsingh (PW 1) has admitted vide paras 1 and 7 of his statement that he himself was a cousin brother of the deceased. Bansingh (PW 4) is his uncle. Chatursingh (PW 8) is his grand -uncle. Sukhnandan (PW 7) and Chatursingh (PW 8) are his cousins .