HAZARI PARIDA Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) HAZARI Parida - earned Additional Sessions Judge convicted the appellant only under Section 302, Indian Penal Code and acquitted the other accused persons of all the charges framed against them. There being no appeal by the State, the order of acquittal has become final.

(2.) THE incident took place on 31.8.1969 at about 10 p.m. at a lonely place on a cart track running through the paddy fields at village Ujala Gopinathpur under Tangi P.S. in the District of Puri. The distance between the place of occurrence and the village busti is about half a mile.

(3.) THE deceased had taken up a contract work to construct a bundh at a distance of about 4 miles from the village and he used to go there to supervise the work. On the night of occurrence, while the deceased and P.Ws. 2 to 7 and 10 were returning to the village, the five accused persons, who were lying in wait for their arrival, focused a torchlight on them and all of a sudden the appellant fired a gun shot which hit the deceased. Some more shots fired by the accused party hit P.Ws. 2 to 7. The deceased died at the spot. P.Ws. 2 to 7 sustained injuries. P.W. 1 Laxmidhar Panda who had gone for attending the call of nature heard gun -shot sounds and saw the accused persons running away.