PALLAB MUKHERJEE Vs. STATE OF WEST BENGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The learned Sessions Judge, 3rd Bench of the City Sessions Court, Kolkata in a lengthy trial after examining 77 witnesses for the prosecution and after bringing several documents and materials on record as exhibits, ultimately convicted all the five appellants on 14-12-1991 under Sections 365/120B, 302/34 and 201/34 of the IPC and appellant Debasish Banerjee was also convicted sepa- rately under Section 384 of the IPC in connection with Sessions Trial No. 2 of June, 1989 corresponding to Sessions Case No. 14 of 1988 which arose out of G.R. Case No. 3241 of 1988 relating to Park Street P.S. Case No. 631 dated 17th October, 1988.

(2.) All the five appellants were sentenced to suffer imprisonment for life and also other substantive sentences for different offences for which they were all convicted. Appellants Pallab Mukherjee, Gopal Sarkar and Ashok Rai @ Bhoda preferred Criminal Appeal No. 23 of 1992 on 31st January, 1992 while Debashish Banerjee and Bijan Barua preferred Criminal Appeal No. 35 of 1992 on 12th February, 1992 challenging their -conviction and sentence and we have taken both the appeals together for disposal by this judgment.

(3.) The prosecution case as aptly observed by the learned Trial Judge reminds us of a story taken from a thriller.