NIRMAL SINGH Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) APART form the appellant in the aforesaid two appeals two more had faced trial in Sessions Trial no. 136 of 1998 who, by the impugned judgment, have been acquitted whereas appellant Nirmal Singh was convicted under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (&aposthe Code&apos, in short) and under section 27 of the Arms Act, sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life, and rigorous imprisonment for five years, respectively. Appellant Ranjay Singh has been convicted under section 302 read with section 34 of the Penal Code and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life.

(2.) THE case of the prosecution, taken briefly from the first information report (Ex - hibit -1/3) which was recorded by the Police on 15.3.1997 at 1.30 A.M. at village Kudar Bagha on the statement of Ram Kumar Singh, was that on the same night at about 8.00 P.M. at his Darwaza while he was talking with Dev Kumar Singh (P.W.1), Nag Narain Singh (P.W.11) and nephew Vinay Kumar Singh (P.W.3), his nephew Nawal Kishore Singh came to stand at Darwaza when the informant saw the four accused including the appellants with lathi and country made pistols whereafter appellant Ranjay Singh ordered for killing at which appellant Nirmal Singh fired from his country made pistol hitting Nawal in the abdomen and then they fled away, firing. The reason for the incident was that about three days back when Nawal was coming with a bundle of crop from his field, that had touched the Tatti of Nirmal Singh&aposs house resulting in exchange of abuses between the two whereupon the deceased was threatened with killing.

(3.) BESIDES the aforesaid three witnesses P.W.4, Suraj Kanta Devi, aunt of deceased, P.W.5, Asha Devi, wife of the informant and the informant himself, P.W.8, have come forward as eye -witnesses. In the circumstances as will be discussed, the dead body was first put under autopsy by Dr. Arbind Kumar Gupta, P.W.13, but on a petition against him filed in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Saran and under his orders a Medical Board also performed post mortem upon the dead body for which Dr. Ganesh Mahto, PW.12, the Civil Surgeon, had deposed and, lastly, the third post Satyendra Kumar Sharma Versus State Of Bihar mortem was conducted by Dr. Arun Kumar Singh, P.W.9, Tutor in the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology at Patna Medical College Hospital, Patna, having been referred to by the Medical Board. The post mortem reports of these three doctors are Exhibits -3/2, 3/1 and 3, respectively. These three reports and the evidences of these three witnesses have come under scathing attack by Sri Tara Kant Jha, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the appellants, which we will advert to later, after discussing the evidence of eye -witnesses. Apart from them, PW.10, Gopal Mishra. is the Investigating Officer. P.W.2. Ram Nath Singh, is an eye -witness, who lent a supporting hand to the prosecution case but he did not name any one. Another co -villager, Gautam Singh, P.W.7 did not support the prosecution case and was declared hostile.