SACHCHIDANAND THAKUR & ORS. Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE seven petitioners through this application have prayed for quashing of order dated 25.7.2007 passed by the Presiding Judge, Fast Track Court No. IV, East Champaran at Motihari in Sessions Trial No. 517 of 2004 (arising out of Ramgarhwa P.S. Case No. 58 of 2002) whereby he has rejected the petition dated 30.12.2004 filed on behalf of the petitioners for their discharge from the case. The informant Abhimanyu Thakur, impleaded herein as Opp. Party No. 2, gave his fardbeyan at about 3.15 P.M. on 1.7.2002 at Duncun Hospital, Raxaul, stating, inter alia, that on 29.6.2002 there was a public meeting in the village where the Sub -Divisional Officer, Block Development Officer, Mukhiya, Circle Officer and others arrived and villagers filed application for removing encroachment on the road. In this connection, the local Mukhiya and A.S.I, of Ramgarhwa Police Station inquired into the matter and when they returned back, there was groupism between the villagers and as a result thereof brick -batting and stone -pelting followed. One stone hit the head of the informant who sustained bleeding injuries and fled, in course whereof he fell down and his arm was fractured. It was also stated that Awadhesh Kumar Thakur also sustained injury on the head from the pelting of brickbats and was admitted in the same hospital. It is also alleged that when his son, Rakesh Kumar started fleeing, he accidentally fell down upon a Kudal kept at his Darwaja, as a result of which he received injury in the abdominal region and was being treated in the hospital. The informant also claimed that since a big crowd had assembled, neither he nor other injured could see the persons who had pelted the stones/brickbats from which injuries had been caused.

(2.) ON the basis of the said fardbeyan, the aforesaid Ramgarhwa P.S. Case was registered under Sections 341, 323, 325, 337 I.P.C., to which Sections 307 and 302 I.P.C. was added subsequently on the death of Rakesh Thakur.

(3.) IT has been submitted on behalf of the petitioners that from a bare perusal of the First Information Report, it would be evident that no case under Section 302 I.P.C. is made out against the petitioners in the present case and so far the petitioners are concerned, they are not even named in the F.I.R. It was also submitted that even injured, Awadhesh Thakur and Rakesh Thakur in their statements under Section. 161 Cr.P.C. have supported the statements of the fardbeyan and they, too, have not named any of the petitioners as members of the mob. It was further sought to be submitted that even deceased Rakesh Thakur did not name anyone and stated before the police that he had sustained injury due to fall. In this connection, it was sought to be submitted that it was at a belated stage of investigation when the villagers had been divided into two distinct groups at the behest of the Dy. Supdt. of Police that a new case was propounded and, thereafter, a protest petition was filed in the court by Abhimanyu Thakur in which he allegedly stated that Santosh Thakur assaulted Rakesh Thakur with Bhala and Pramod Thakur assaulted Abhimanyu Thakur with Farsa and in the first paragraph of the protest petition the informant though stating about lodging of the First Information Report subsequently stated that the aforesaid statements had not been given in the fardbeyan.