RAJARAM Vs. STATE OF M.P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) TOLA Ram son of Sidhu (since deceased) was the resident of village Lorwas. Ramesh (PW 3), Prabhu, Rattan, Daya Ram (PW 4), Bondu and Bheru are the sons of Tola Ram. A month prior to the date of incident i.e. October 24, 1984, Ramesh (PW 3), his brother Prabhu and their two friends were sitting under a mango tree at about 10.00 a.m. Kodar Mal (A -6) was passing by the said mango tree when Ramesh (PW 3) and his companions teased him (A -6) by saying 'topiwale Darbar Ek Bidi De Do'. A -6 felt offended and alleged to have given fist and kick blows to Ramesh. On intervention of Jaggu, the matter ended there but A -6 threatened them that he will deal with Ramesh in a short while. October 24, 1984, happened to be the Diwali Day and at about 8.00 p.m., Ramesh (PW 3) was going to the house of Badri Lal Kulmi to colour the cattle. Bheru and Bondu, other two brothers were also going with him to colour the bullocks of Jagdish. When they came near the chowk, Prem Singh (A -1) and Kodar Mal (A -6) surrounded Ramesh and told him that now they would tell him how the 'Topiwala Darbar' was? A -1 and A -6 assaulted Ramesh (PW 3) with lathis as a result of which he fell down and then he was dragged by these two accused persons, catching hold of his legs. Bondu then called his brother Daya Ram who tried to rescue Ramesh when he was given lathi blows on his head by these two accused persons. In the meantime, Tola Ram reached that place whereupon Raja Ram (A -2) gave a lalkara that Tola Ram should be finished. Narain Singh (A -3), Bheru Singh (A -4), Dhan Singh (A -5) and Kodar Mal (A -6) caught hold of Tola Ram whereupon Prem Singh (A -1) and Narain Singh (A -3) assaulted him with lathi andfarsi. Tola Ram sustained bleeding injuries and fell down whereupon Ramesh (PW 3) and his other companions ran away out of fear. After a short while, Kanchan Bai and her husband Ganpat along with Ramesh (PW 3) came to the place of occurrence, lifted Tola Ram and brought him to his house. Since it was night time, they could not secure a bullock cart to take Tola Ram to the police station at Shahjahpur. First Information Report was lodged by Ramesh (PW 3) on 25th October, 1984 at about 11.30 a.m. at Shahjahpur police station. After recording the FIR (Ex. P5), Mohkam Singh, SHO (PW 8) proceeded to the place of occurrence. After holding the inquest on the dead body of Tola Ram, it was sent to the District hospital, Shahjapur for post mortem examination. Ramesh (PW 3) and Daya Ram were also sent to the hospital for medical treatment. After completing the investigation, a charge sheet came to be submitted against the six accused persons for committing the offences punishable under sections 148, 302/149, 302, 324/149 of the Indian Penal Code.

(2.) IT needs to be mentioned that Kodar Mal (A -6) who had also sustained the injuries on his head, lodged a complaint in the very same police station about an assault on him by Tola Ram and others (complainant party). A -6 was also sent to the hospital and was treated for injuries on his head. It is the common premise that the complaint lodged by A -6 remained unattended and no steps whatsoever were taken in that behalf by the SHO of Shahjahpur police station.

(3.) THE prosecution in support of its case relied upon the evidence of Ramesh (PW 3) and Daya Ram (PW 4) who claimed to be the eye witnesses to the incident in question. In addition to this evidence, prosecution also examined formal witnesses and relied upon the post mortem examination report and the injury certificates in respect of Ramesh and Daya Ram. The defence examined three witnesses in support of their defence.