ASHOK SINGH AND OTHERS Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is directed against the judgment and order dated 12th May, 1992 passed by 1st Additional Sessions Judge, Saharsa in Sessions Trial No. 222 of 1990, where under eight appellants have been convicted for the offences under sections 302/149, 148 and 201 of the Penal Code and directed to suffer R.I. for life, one year, three years as also to pay a fine of Rs. 2,000.00 under section 302/149 of the Penal Code and Rs. 1000.00 under section 201 of the Penal Code and in default of payment of fine to undergo further sentence of four months.

(2.) The prosecution case as set out in the fardbeyan of the Informant Ram Deo Yadav (P.W.6) dated 16.11.1989 recorded by Sashank Bhushan Saran, the Officer Incharge, Salkhua Police Station (P.W.14) is that on 16.11.1989 in the evening around 4 P.M. the Informant along with his brother Ram Chandra Yadav was returning to his residence in Salkhua village from Salkhua market and both were walking by the side of the railway track followed by accused no. 1 Surendra Singh, accused no. 4 Kusumlal Singh as also two absconders Narain Singh and Dhanpat Singh. The brother of the Informant Ram Chandra Yadav was moving ahead of the Informant. When they reached near the railway quarter Bijal Singh absconder appeared on the scene along with accused no.1 Ashok Singh, accused no.7 Wakil Singh, accused no. 8 Ragunandan Singh and asked his companions to kill Ram Chandra Yadav. Meanwhile, accused no.6 Barelal Singh along with Chandra Narain Verma, Bindeshwari Mehta and Arjun Mehta also appeared on the scene and did not allow Ram Chandra Yadav to run away. Ram Chandra Yadav in order to save his life jumped in the canal nearby, meanwhile, accused Bijal Singh and his companions i.e. accused no.7 and 8, namely, Umesh Singh and Ashok Singh resorted to firing. Accused nos. 2 and 5 along with Sanjay Singh, Shibji Verma also came to restrain P.Ws. 9, 10 and 12, namely, Jugal Kishore Yadav, Dayanand Yadav and Suresh Yadav from saving the life of the deceased. The dead body of Ram Chandra Yadav could not be traced in the evening as the same had flown in the swift current.

(3.) From the inquest report of the deceased Ram Chandra Yadav it appears that his dead body was recovered from east-north end of Khagna railway bridge on 19.11.1989 at 9.30 A.M. where after Salkhua P.S. Case No. 97 of 1989 dated 16.11.1989 was registered on the basis of aforesaid fardbeyan on 19.11.1989 at 9.30 AM and dispatched to Saharsa Court. The original fardbeyan is not available on the record but from the order sheet of the learned Magistrate it appears that the F.I.R. of the said case was received on 20.11.1989. The dead body of Ram Chandra Yadav was forwarded to Saharsa Sadar Hospital for postmortem on 19.11.1989 at 2.30 P.M, the postmortem was conducted on the same day by P.W.4 Dr. Singhashwar Prasad who found the following antemortem injuries on the body of the deceased:-