BASANT PANDEY @ RITURANJAN PANDEY Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Both these appeals by the appellants, herein, challenging their conviction ordered on 3rd July, 1991 in Sessions Trial No. 419 of 1989 by the Sessions Court, East Champaran, Motihari, sentencing them to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life having found them guilty of offence under Section 302 read with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code.

(2.) It is the case of the prosecution that on 13.06.1989 at about 8 A.M. the informant, namely, Chandradeep Mishra (deceased) left his home in village Bhadha and was proceeding to go to Motihari for attending a case, i.e. T.S.No. 283 of 1980. It is said that when he reached a place near Darshania Kuan on Kharanja Road he saw the accused i.e the appellants herein, namely, Chuman Mishra, Krishna Mishra, Kedar Mishra, Basant Pandey and others coming towards him armed with lathi. It is said that Krishna Mishra ordered the members of the group to assault the informant. They assaulted him, he fell down from his cycle and raised an alarm on which co-villagers PW 2 Jhoti Rai, PW 3 Gudar Rai and PW 4 Dhuri Rai and many other persons came. The accused ran away after taking his jhola which contained 675 rupees. The informant was taken to hospital for treatment, namely, Referral Hospital, Araraj, where Dr. Surajdeo Prasad Singh, PW 6 examined him, referred him to Patna Medical College Hospital for better treatment and while he was being taken to the Medical College, Patna, in an ambulance, he died on the way about 5-6 P.M. Dr. Kapildeo Singh PW 9 conducted the post mortem examination. The case was investigated by PW 7 Awadh Bihari Sharan, Sub Inspector of Areraj Police Station, who recorded Fardbeyan Ext. 2 and in Areraj Hospital an FIR was also recorded on the statement made by the deceased himself at 11.15 A.M. Ext. 2 is the Fardbeyan/FIR which was recorded in the presence of two witnesses Bhart Prasad Giri, Uday Nandan Pandey and Dalpati.

(3.) The prosecution examined various witnesses. The defence denied the allegation and came out with a case of false implication due to ongoing land disputes between the parties pending in various courts. In the trial, the prosecution examined about 11 witnesses, namely, PW 1 Kamla Pandey, PW 2 Joti Rai, PW 3 Gudar Rai, PW 4 Dhuri Rai, PW 5Ajahar Hussain, PW 6 Dr. Suraj Prasad Singh, PW 7 Awadh Bihari Sharan, Sub Inspector, PW 8 Trilok Nath Prabhakar, Inspector of Police, PW 9 Dr. Kapildeo Singh, PW 10 Prem Nath Pandey and PW 11 Upendra Nath Mishra.