LAWS(ORI)-1987-12-20

NIRANJAN SETHI Vs. STATE

Decided On December 24, 1987
Niranjan Sethi Appellant
V/S
STATE Respondents

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE three appeals are directed against the conviction and sentence passed against the Appellants in Sessions Trial Nos. 7/60 and 9174 of 1981. There are four Appellants of whom Appellant Niranjan Sethi has preferred Criminal Appeal No. 184/82. The three other Appellants, namely, Pratap alias Kanduri Sahu, Sk. Altab Khan and Nalu Rana had preferred one appeal from the jail which is numbered as Jail Criminal Appeal No. 45/82. Niranjan had also preferred an appeal from the jail which is numbered as Jail Criminal Appeal No. 44/82 and that is how the three appeals have been registered. These four Appellants along with one Bidyadhar Sahu were charge under Section 395 I.P.C. and stood their trial in the court of the Assistant Sessions Judge. Balasore. Accused Bidyadhar has been acquitted of the charges levelled against him, but the present four Appellants were convicted under Section 395 I.P.C. and were sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for ten years and hence the appeals.

(2.) THE prosecution case briefly stated is that in the night of 13/14 -9 -80 in village Malyani in the house of Bhagaban Barik, a dacoity took place and the owner of the house was not present. His eldest son Rabindra was also absent, but his wife Subarna (P.W. 7) and daughter Puspalata (P.W. 1), daughter -in -law Urbasi (P.W. 8) and field servant (P.W. 16) were present in "the house and were sleeping. In the room where Puspalata was sleeping a lantern was burning. At about mid -night, the dacoits forced their entry inside the house by scaling over the thatch and then entered into the rooms where Puspalata and Urbasi were sleeping, threatened the inmates of the house and took out the ornaments from their respective persons, Puspalata and her mother were beaten up end the house was ransacked. The field servant, Sania was also beaten up. Hearing the hue and cry raised by the inmates of the house when villagers came they were also scared by fire crackers and ultimately the dacoits decamped with the booty collected by them P.W. 1 after covering a distance of 12 kilo -metres reached Nilgiri Police Station and lodged the report which was treated as F.I.R. (Ext. 1) at 6 A.M. The F.I.R. was taken down by the Officer -in -Charge, (P.W. 19) and then the Police took up investigation. At 6.45 A.M. the Officer, in -Charge found two persons running by the side of Nilgiri -Mitrapur road and on suspicion he began questioning them. While so questioning one of them ran away while the other was detained and some articles were recovered from his bag suspected to be the booty of the dacoity. The person so arrested was Appellant Pratap and the articles recovered from the possession of Pratap are M.Os. XI to XXXI under seizure List, Ext. 4. By interrogating Pratap, the Investigating Officer could know that the person who ran away was one Goura Rout. The Police had sent intimation regarding the dacoity to different places as a result of which people had become alert all around. The Circle Inspector, Nilagiri P.S. arrested accused Sk. Altab and also seized from him several articles under seizure list, Ext. 5, The Investigating Officer visited the spat at 2.30 P.M. and sent requisition for medical examination of the inmates who had been injured in course of the dacoity. He had requisitioned the service of the Scientific Officer who arrived at the spot and took down several thumb prints found on steel glass and on some other articles. The Scientific Officer found certain finger prints on some of the article, and took photograph of those prints. The Investigating Officer after, returning back to the Police Station, took charge of Nalu Rana who had been arrested by the Officer -in -Charge of Balasore town P.S., ( P.W. 11 ) as well as the seized articles from Nalu. The accused persons were then forwarded to the court and a prayer was made for holding Test Identification Parade of he suspected accused persons. On 15.9.80, the Sub. Divisional Judicial Magistrate was absent and, therefore, Test Identification Parade was conducted by one Jaya krisnna Mangaraj Mohapatra (P.W. 10). While in police custody accused Sk. Altab took the Police and gave recovery of certain seized articles on 16. 9.80 at 7 A.M. which were seized under seizure list, Ext. 17. On 20.10.80, the Investigating Officer received a message that accused Niranjan had been detained at Baripada Police Station. So the A.S.I. was deputed from Nilgiri to bring accused Niranjan and though after receiving Niranjan and arresting him on 24.10.80, he was forwarded to Court on 25.10.80, he then made a prayer to that Sub -Divisional Judicial Magistrate for holding Test Identification Parade of suspects those who were arrested subsequently as well as to hold Test Identification Parade of suspected articles seized. So another Test Identification Parade was held on 13.11.80 by the Magistrate (P.W. 4). A Test Identification Parade of the articles seized was also conducted in which the inmates of the house identified the articles. On completion of investigation, charge -sheet was filed. Admittedly, the dacoits were not known to the inmates of the house. The conviction of these four Appellants is based upon their identification in the Test Identification Parade as well as in the Court and also recovery of certain articles from their possession which were also identified by the inmates of the house to be their articles, in the Test Identification Parade as well as in the Court.

(3.) IN support of the prosecution case, 19 witnesses were examined and none for the defence. Out of the 19 witnesses, P.Ws. 1, 5, 7, 8 and 16 are the persons who had seen the dacoits in the night of occurrence and who identified them later in the Test Identification Parade as well as in the Court; P.Ws. 4 and 10 are the two Magistrates who had conducted the Test Identification Parade of the suspects; P.W. 2 is Finger Print Expert; P.W. 3 is a seizure witness; P.W. 6 is the owner of the house who was away at Kharagpur on the date of occurrence; P.W. 9 is a seizure witness in respect of the seizure made from the possession of accused Nalu Rana under seizure list, Ext. 11; P.W. 11 was the Officer -in -Charge of Balasore Town P.S. on the relevant date; P.W. 12 is the S.D.M. 0., Nilgiri who had examined the inmates who were injured on the night of the occurrence; P.W. 13 is a post occurrence witness and also is a seizure witness in respect of the articles seized under seizure list, Ext. 8; P.W. 14 is a seizure witness in respect of the article seized from the house of accused Nalu Rana under seizure list, Ext. 17; P.W. 15 was the Circle Inspector and is a post occurrence witness; P.W. 18 is the Scientific Officer of the District Forensic laboratory and P.W. 19 is the Investigating Officer.