JANAK YADAV AND OTHERS Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These two appeals are preferred against the judgment and order dated 14th February, 1994 passed in Sessions Trial No. 39 of 1993State V/s. Janak Yadav and twenty-four others passed by Sri Ghanshyam Prasad, Additional Sessions Judge II, Jahanabad.

(2.) Learned Additional Sessions Judge held all these twenty-one accused-appellants of these two appeals guilty for the offence punishable under Section 396, IPC and awarded the sentence of life imprisonment. The trial Judge acquitted the accused Ram Jiwan Thakur, Chandra Deo Chaudhary, Krishna Chand Kewat and Yogendra Kewat from the charge giving the benefit of doubt on the ground that their presence has not been satisfactorily proved to be there at the scene of occurrence.

(3.) Briefly the prosecution version is that on 23rd August, 1988 at about 7 p.m. Raj Keshwar Singly, Mukhia (deceased), his wife Sumitra Devi (deceased), his brothers Gaya, Prasad (PW 1) and Rajdeo Prasad (PW 2), his elder son Birja Prasad (PW 4) and his other son Nagendra Prasad (PW 12) (informant) were sitting on the roof of the house and were hearing: the evening State News on radio and a table lamp was giving light ; the young sons, daughter and brother-in-law, namely, Rajendra Prasad (PW 3), Binay Prasad (PW 5), Yogendra Prasad (PW 6), Pappu Prasad (PW 7), Usha Devi (PW 10) and Samar Kumar were reading in the room on the, roof. At about 7.30 p.m. miscreants about twenty in number armed with; rifles and gun climbed the stair-case of the house and came on the roof of the accused-appellant Janak Yadav ; Raj Keshwar Singh inquired why Janak Yadav had come up-stair armed along with his men ; Janak Yadav told his fellowmen that this Mukhia Raj Keshwar Singh was the root cause of the evils and resisted their efforts at progress of organisation I. P. F. and Raj Keshwar Singh Mukhia should be killed and thus on the saying of Janak Yadav his son Bijendra fired four or five rounds from his rifle killing Raj Keshwar Singh ; the wife Sumitra Devi cried and made efforts to save her husband Raj Keshwar Singh and the other son of Janak Yadav, namely, the accused Subeder Ram fired a couple of shots from his rifle and killed Sumitra Devi ; the other person sitting on the roof jumped on the thatched and Khaprail roof of the adjacent house to save their lives ; these accused persons broke open the door of the room which was bolted frorn inside by the boys who were studying in the room and they inquired from the boys where the gun of Raj Keshwar Singh was kept in the room and one of the accused ascertained about the gun searching gun-cover hanging on the wall to ascertain if the gun was there and as the gun was not there the accused persons could not take it away ; these accused persons committed the loot in the house and they looted and took away Rupees ten thousand cash, ornaments of gold, valuable clothes, the wrist watch, a radio, all worth Rupees fifty thousand or about.