MURALIDHAR BISWAL Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellants in these three criminal appeals, heard analogously, were convicted by the learned Sessions Judge, Balasore under section 395 of the Indian Penal Code (I.P.C. for short) and were each sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for eight years.

(2.) The prosecution case may be stated in brief. Kartikeswar (P.W. 3) and Gobinda, father of P.W. 6 are residents of village Rajnagar within Nilgiri Police Station. The members of both families went to bed in their respective houses in the night of 19.6.1982. Around midnight dacoits struck the house of Kartikeswar (P.W. 3) and forcibly broke open the front door despite resistance of the inmates of the house. When they entered inside, the inmates out of fear entered into the room of P.W. 4 Narahari and remained concealed. A lantern was burning inside. The dacoits, seven in number, broke open the door of that room and entered inside. All of them were armed with lath is and knives. They terrorised the inmates and injured (P.W. 1) Maheswar and P.W. 3 Kartikeswar and looted movables such as gold ornaments, radio and watch. One of the appellants named Sudhakar was previously known to the inmates of the house and so he was easily recognised. In the light of the lantern the other dacoits were also identified by the inmates of the house. After looting the house of Kartikeswar (P.W. 3), the dacoits invaded the house of Gobinda nearby. They struck on the front door and entered inside. They were similarly armed. A lantern was burning on the verandah of the house. In the light of the lantern the dacoits were identified by the inmates of the house. They terrorised the inmates and looted a large quantity of silver ornaments. After looting both the houses, the dacoits decamped. While dacoity was being committed, Gajendra (P.W. 10) went to Nilgiri Police Station and reported the incident. Station diary entry (Ext. 6) was made. A Police Officer rushed to the spot and commenced investigation. There was no trace of the dacoits. On 21.6.1982 the appellants were chased and arrested while they were proceeding on the salt road on Bicycles with bags and bundles. Huge quantity of looted property was found inside the bags and bundles and were seized by seizure lists (Exts. 5 N 5/4, 5/10 and 5/il). A.T.I. Parade was held in respect of persons and properties on 1.6.7.1982. In the T.I. Parade some of the prosecution witnesses identified the appellants as the dacoits who committed dacoity in their respective houses. They also identified some items of property including gold and silver ornaments belonging to them which were looted in course of dacoity. After investigation was over, charge-sheet was submitted against the appellants for an offence under section 395 I.P.C.

(3.) The plea of the appellants before the trial court was a complete denial of their involvement in the dacoity. Appellant Sudhakar particularly pleaded that he was falsely implicated in the case because of previous enmity relating to a dispute in connection with a Jatra party. With regard to identification, they all stated that prior to the T.I. Parade they were shown to the witnesses and accordingly the witnesses had no difficulty to identify them.