JODHAN YADAV Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Since both the appeals are directed against the judgment dated 14.6.2001 and order dated 18.6.2001 passed by 1st Additional Sessions Judge, Madhepura in Sessions Case No. 53 of 1990 convicting and sentencing Shyam Yadav @ Shyam Prasad Yadav, appellant of Criminal Appeal No. 272 of 2001 to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 25,000.00 and in default to undergo additional rigorous imprisonment for two years under Sec. 302 of Indian Penal Code (in short "IPC"} and convicting and sentencing Jodhan Yadav, one of the six appellants of Criminal Appeal No. 258 of 2001 to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 10,000.00 and in default to undergo additional rigorous imprisonment for one year under Sec. 302 read with Secs. 149 and 109 of IPC and convicting and sentencing Baikhuntha Yadav, Bhupendra Yadav, Mukund Yadav, Mahendra Yadav and Pramod Yadav, remaining appellants of Criminal Appeal No. 258 of 2001 to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to a fine of Rs. 5,000.00 each and in default to undergo rigorous imprisonment for six months under Secs. 302/149 of IPC and further convicting and sentencing appellant Pramod Yadav to undergo/rigorous imprisonment for one year under Sec. 323 of IPC, have been heard together and are being dispose of by this common judgment. Out of the realised amount of fine, 75% thereof has been ordered to be paid to the father and/ or wife of deceased Jay Kumar Yadav.

(2.) Case of prosecution; in short, is that on 31.12.1989 at about 2.30 p.m. deceased Jay Kumar Yadav, son of informant Rajendra Yadav (PW 6) was lifting his sick buffalo at his darwaza when hulla was heard from a place about five hundred yards east to the house of informant and hearing hulla, Jay Kumar Yadav started running to that place and informant also followed him and when they both reached the road of District Board, they saw appellants Shyam Prasad Yadav, Jodhan Yadav, Bikhuntha Yadav, Bhupendra Yadav, Mukund Yadav and Pramod Yadav armed with lathis and appellant Mahendra Yadav armed with arrows and bow. The appellants, after surrounding the buffaloes of villagers of informant and driving those buffaloes, had brought them in the field of one Tunai Rishideo and from there were driving the buffaloes towards their village. Jay Kumar Yadav and Ganesh Kumar Yadav (PW 4) asked the appellants to release the buffaloes on which Jodhan Yadav ordered his companions to kill Jay Kumar Yadav and after it, appellant Shyam Yadav gave a lathi blow on the head of Jay Kumar Yadav who, after receiving injury, fell down in the field. Appellant Pramod Yadav hurled lathi blow on Ganesh Yadav. When informant went to rescue his son, he found that his son Jay Kumar Yadav had received a bleeding injury on left side of his temple and had become unconscious. Informant raised hulla and appellants started fleeing away towards their houses. The occurrence was seen by Ganesh Kumar Yadav (PW 4), Bijendra Yadav (PW 3), Shivnandan Yadav (PW 5), Yogendra Yadav (not examined) and others. The informant, with the help of his villagers, brought his unconscious son Jay Kumar Yadav to Madhepura Sadar Hospital where the doctor, after examining Jay Kumar Yadav, declared him dead. The fardbeyan of informant was recorded at Madhepura Hospital on 31.12.1989 at 5 p.m. by Sub-Inspector G.P. Singh (not examined). About the motive, the informant, in fardbeyan, has stated that appellants Jodhan Yadav and Shyam Yadav had taken a land about twenty five yards south to the place of occurrence on oral lease from Kailu Mushar and buffaloes were grazing in a land adjacent to the land taken by the aforesaid appellants on lease and for this reason appellants, after dragging the buffaloes, were taking them to their house which was objected to by shepherds of the village of informant also. On the basis of fardbeyan, a case under Secs. 147, 148, 149, 307 and 302 of IPC was registered against the appellants and after investigation, charge-sheet was submitted against all the appellants, cognizance was taken and case was committed to the Court of Sessions and after trial, appellants were found guilty and were convicted and sentenced, as indicated above.

(3.) Altogether nine witnesses on behalf of prosecution have been examined in this case. Jawahar Yadav (PW 1) is a formal witness who has proved the formal first information report (Exhibit-1), Mithilesh Kumar (PW 2), Bijendra Yadav (PW 3), Ganesh Kumar Yadav (PW 4), Shivnandan Yadav (PW 5) and Satya Narain Yadav (PW 7) are eye-witnesses to the occurrence. Rajendra Yadav (PW 6) is the Informant. Dr. R.P. Yadav (PW 8) is the doctor who had conducted autopsy on the dead body of deceased. Sikandar Yadav (PW 9) is also a formal witness who has proved the fardbeyan (Exhibit-5) in the writing of G.P. Singh.