DHANESH GUJRATI Vs. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present appeal has been filed by the appellant before this Court under Sec. 374 (2) of the Criminal Procedure Code, against the judgment dtd. 26/7/2010 passed by learned Special Judge (Atrocities), District Rewa(MP) in Special Case No.38/2009, whereby, the appellant has been convicted under Sec. 302 of IPC and sentenced to undergo RI for life imprisonment and fine of Rs.1,000.00 with default stipulation.

(2.) Brief facts necessary for adjudication of the present case are that on 11/6/2009 at about 6:30 PM upon receiving telephonic information from an unknown person regarding a beating incident at Kabadi Mohalla, Inspector U.C. Tiwari reached the spot and found an unidentified male lying injured in front of a liquor shop. He immediately shifted the injured to S.G.M. Hospital, Rewa for medical treatment, where, upon examination the doctor declared him dead. The said information was recorded in the Rojnamcha. On the same day at about 8:30 PM, Vrindawan, uncle of the deceased Bhagwandas, lodged Marg Intimation No. 52/09 alleging that the deceased was his nephew who used to reside with his son Santosh, his parents having expired and his wife having deserted him. It is further alleged that at about 7:00 PM he received information regarding the death of the deceased at Kabadi Mohalla. On reaching there, he came to know that the deceased had been assaulted by Dhanesh Gujrati, Raj Bahadur Loniya and Lalli Loniya, as a result of which he succumbed to the injuries. Consequently, FIR bearing Crime No. 364/2009 was registered under Ss. 302 and 34 of IPC against the present appellant and the co-accused namely Raj Bahadur Loniya and Lalli Loniya, and the investigation commenced. During the course of investigation, the police prepared the spot map, conducted Lash Panchnama, recorded statements of witnesses, seized the clothes of the deceased and other articles, arrested the accused persons and got the post-mortem examination conducted. As per the post-mortem report, the cause of death was due to ante-mortem injuries to the liver and spleen. Upon completion of investigation, the police filed a charge-sheet against all the accused persons under Ss. 302 and 34 of IPC and Sec. 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act before the JMFC, District Rewa (M.P.), alleging that the accused persons, with the knowledge that the deceased belonged to the SC/ST community, assaulted him with common intention to cause his death.

(3.) Learned JMFC District Rewa (MP) after committal forwarded the matter to the learned Special Judge (Atrocities) District Rewa (MP) for commencement of trial, because trial has to be concluded by the learned Special Judge Atrocities which was registered as Special Session Trial No.39/2009 (State of M.P. Vs. Dhanesh Gujrati & Ors).