STATE OF M P Vs. SUNDER LAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The State has preferred this appeal against acquittal of the respondents for the offences under sections 148 and 302/149 I.P.C. for having committed murder of Raj Kumar by being members of an unlawful assembly armed with deadly weapons with the common object of committing the murder.

(2.) It is not disputed that the respondents and the deceased Rajkumar were residents of village Rondha, P.S. Betul and they had their agricultural lands adjacent to each other. Respondents 1 and 2 Sunderlal and Biharilal are brothers while rest of the respondents i.e. Annu alias Anil Kumar, Ashok Kumar and Kabra alias Promod Kumar are sons of Biharilal. Jaiwantibhai (P.W. 9) is the mother and Jagan alias Jagannath (P.W. 10) is father of deceased. Sampat Rao (P.W. 11) is a cousin of lagan while Gendlal (P.W. 12) was his servant.

(3.) The prosecution case is that on 15.3.1980 at about 6 p.m. the deceased and his mother Jaiwantibai got loaded their bullockcart with Chana crop which was being taken by their servant Keshari to the Kaliyan and the deceased and his mother were following the cart on foot. When they crossed the field of Kishan and just entered the field of Dadu which was being cultivated by the respondent Sunderlal, the respondents stopped him and asked him as to why he has allowed the bullock-cart to be taken through his field. When he was told that there was no standing crop and they were taking the bullock-cart by the side of the field, all the five respondents, armed with lathis, started assaulting the deceased on his head. As a result he fell down and he was given further blows by these respondents. Jaiwantibai raised an alarm and Sampat Rao who was just behind her with his servant Gendlal and Keshari and Dadu servants of the deceased, rushed there and the respondents ran away from the spot. The deceased was carried in a bullock-cart to the district hospital, Betul by Jaiwantlbai and Sampat Rao but they were told to make a report first in the police station. So Jaiwantibai lodged a report (Ex. P. 18) at 9.30 p.m. in the Police Station Betul six Kms. away from the spot. By the time they returned to the hospital the deceased was declared dead. The post mortem was done by Dr. A.K. Verma (P.W. 1) who found three lacerated wounds on the head and one contusion over the shoulder with fractures of right temporal bone just below the right externalear extending downwards covering almost all areas of right parietal bone and extending upto occipital bone; fissured fractures of left parietal bone and fissured fracture of the occipital bone. In the sketch of the post mortem report (Ex. p. 1) the fractures have been explained. The injuries were sufficient in the ordinary course to cause death and may be caused by a hard and blunt object. Fiyaz Akhtar (P.W. 13), Station Officer, took up investigation and seized blood-stained earth from the spot and the clothes of the deceased. The respondents w(re taken into custody and from their respective possession blood-stained lathis (Articles A to E) were seized. The blood-stained articles were sent to the Chemical Examiner and Serologist. The Chemical Examiner vide his report (Ex. p. 23) found blood-stains on these articles, while the Serologist vide his report (Ex. p. 24) found human blood in the lath is recovered from respondent Annu alias Anil Kumar. On completing the investigation, the respondents were charge-sheeted for the murder. The respondents 2 to 5 took the plea of alibi and examined one defence witness Shiv Ratan (D.W. 1). According to responent No. 1 Sunderlal, he has been falsely implicated.