ANNU DEVI Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The criminal writ application and criminal miscellaneous case being connected with each other between the same parties were tagged by this Court vide order dtd. 8/1/2024 passed in Cr.WJC No. 71 of 2023 and have been heard. By this common judgment both the applications are being disposed of.

(2.) The petitioner no.1 in the present writ application is the wife of the deceased Munna Singh who was engaged as bodyguard of petitioner no.2 (in short P-2). Late Munna Singh was allegedly shot dead for which a case being Masrakh P.S. Case No. 224 of 2011 dtd. 17/12/2011 under Ss. 302/34, 307/34, 324/34, 341/34, 120B, 147, 148, 379/34, 353/34 of the Indian Penal Code and Sec. 27 of the Arms Act was registered. Respondent nos. 9 to 11 are the accused of the said case.

(3.) It is the case of the petitioners in the writ application that during investigation three persons, namely, Upendra Singh (PW 2), Sanjay Kumar (PW 5) and Maheshwar Singh (PW 1) recorded their statement under Sec. 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (hereinafter referred to as the CrPC). A copy of the statements have been enclosed as Annexure '2'. The accused persons were chargesheeted vide Charge-sheet No. 196 of 2012 dtd. 26/8/2012 and order taking cognizance was passed on 3/2/2013 by the learned Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Chapra. Thereafter, it took three years in committing the case to the court of learned Sessions Judge, Saran. From 19/2/2015 till 7/12/2021 i.e. after a period of more than six and half years, the charges were framed against respondent nos. 9 to 11. On 7/12/2021, the learned Additional Sessions Judge-II-cum-MP/MLA Special Judge, Saran at Chapra framed charges against the accused persons for the offences punishable under Ss. 302/34 of the Indian Penal Code. The case is pending trial.