RAMAKANTA SAHOO @ RAMA @ DILLIP Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BOTH the appeals are directed against the judgment and order of the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Talcher in ST. Case No. 17 of 2004 convicting the Appellants in both the appeals for commission of offence under Section 302/34 of the Indian Penal Code (in short 'I.P.C.') and sentencing each one of them to imprisonment for life.

(2.) THE case of the prosecution is that the deceased Arjuna Behera was working as a Contractor. He had undertaken the job of repairing of the pedestal work of second Ash pond of N.T.P.C., Kaniha in the year 2003. He had engaged one Chitaranjan Samal of village Narad as a Supervisor to look after the repair work. On 2.5.2003 at about noon when the repairing work was going on, near the Ash pond, the Appellant Anuja Kumar Sahu came and threatened the Supervisor Chitaranjan Samal holding an iron rod and asked him not to come to the place of work. He also threatened to cut the deceased into pieces if he comes to look after the work. The deceased lodged a report before the O.I.C., Kaniha Police Station through his Supervisor on the basis of which a case was registered against the Appellant Anuja and he was forwarded to custody. After being released on bail, the Appellant Anuja threatened the deceased to kill him by running over his Marshal Jeep. On 14.7.2003 at about 1.30 P.M. the deceased was proceeding toward the over bridge from permanent township sitting on the back of a motor cycle driven by P.W.5 Sibaram Das. It is alleged that the Appellant who was driving his Marshal Jeep bearing Registration No. OR -06 -E 8481 intentionally dashed at the back of the motorcycle near the Telephone Exchange of N.T.P.C. as a result the deceased was thrown out of the motorcycle and fell on the pitch side of the road whereas P.W.5 Sibaram fell on the left side of the road. It is further alleged that the Appellant Anuja proceeded forward and again came back by reversing the wheel of the jeep and ran over the deceased. Thereafter he left the place with the vehicle. The brothers of the deceased who were nearby the place also witnessed the incident and carried the deceased and injured P.W.5 to N.T.P.C. Hospital where the deceased was declared dead. On 14.7.2003 at about 3.15 P.M., Kandarpa Behera, P.W.8 who is one of the brothers of the deceased lodged the F.I.R. before the O.I.C., N.T.P.C. Police Station and investigation was taken up. On completion of investigation, charge -sheet was submitted against both the Appellants for commission of offence under Section 302/34 of the I.P.C. and charge -sheet was also submitted against another accused (since acquitted) Hemanta Kumar Sahu under Section 302/312 of the I.P.C. The prosecution in order to prove the charge, examined as many as 11 witnesses but none was examined on behalf of the Appellants.

(3.) MISS Rath, the learned Counsel appearing for the Appellant -Anuja assails the impugned judgment on the ground that out of the so called eyewitnesses to the occurrence, two are brothers of the deceased and they claimed to have witnessed the occurrence. According to Miss Rath, the presence of the brothers at different places near about the place of incident cannot be a coincidence and therefore, their version should not be accepted. It was also contended by the learned Counsel that so far as P.W.5 is concerned, though he is injured eye -witness to the occurrence, his version is full of contradiction and no reliance can be placed on him. Shri Routray, the learned Counsel appearing for the Appellant Ramakanta Sahu submitted that this Appellant is the driver of the vehicle and was sitting by the side of the Appellant Anuja on the date of occurrence. The allegations are against Appellant Anuja and he was only sitting in the vehicle. There is nothing on record to show that the Appellant Ramakanta had intention to cause death of the deceased or shared any such intention with Appellant Anuja. In absence of any material to support the charge under Section 34 of the I.P.C., the Appellant Ramakanta should not have been convicted.