JAGDEO YADAV Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS appeal is by six convicted appellant against the verdict/and sentence given by 1st Additional Sessions Judge, Gaya in Sessions Trial No. 102 of 1977/25 of 1985 who vide his judgment dated 4th January, 1986 convicted appellant no. 1 under sections 302 I.P.C. and 27 of the Arms Act and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and five years respectively. All other appellants were convicted under section 302 read with section 149 of the Indian Penal Code and were also sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life. Appellant Jagdeo Yadav, Nathun Yadav and Brahmdeo Yadav were convicted under section 148 I.PC. and were sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years whereas other appellants were convicted under section 147 I.P.C. and were sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for two years. All the sentences however are ordered to run concurrently.

(2.) THE case of the prosecution has been narrated with precision in para 2 of the judgment under appeal, as extracted hereunder : ''After sun set on 7.12.74 two villagers of Wajidpur Goshi police station of this district were returning from Tehta Bazar. They were Rajaram Singh (RW.6) and Sitaram Barhai (P.W.7). As they were moving acorss the field they reached in the paddy field of one Ramsaran Yadav (deceased) of the same village. The said Ramsaran Yadav had left paddy crop in his field for drying after harvesting the same. Ramsaran Yadav who was at his field, suspected them to be thieves and therefore raised alaram. That led to some altercation and scuffle between Ramsaran Yadav and his brother Ganga Bisun Yadav on the one hand and Rajaram Singh and Sitaram Barhai on the other, while Rajaram Singh and Sitaram Barhai were asserting that they were simply passing across the field, Ramsaran Yadav and his brother were alleging that they were committing theft of paddy crops from the field. In the scuffle Rajaram Singh had been slapped. The villagers separated two groups and pacified them. Early in the morning on the next, Ganga Bisun Yadav had gone to his master Sarwand Singh. There two persons of Bhumihar community, namely, Ramadhar Singh and Bijal Singh slapped and assaulted Ganga Bisun Yadav alleging that he was brandishing garasa at the paddy field in the preceding evening. It may be noted that Rajaram Singh belongs to Bhumihar community of the village, whereas deceased Ramsaran Yadav and Ganga Bisun Yadav belong to Yadav community of the same village. The villagers intervened and pacified the matter there as well. Later on, Ganga Bisun Yadav went home and narrated the incident to the other members of his community including Jagdeo Yadav. That caused annoyance to the Yadavs, particularly Jagdeo Yadav who went on the roof of his dalan and started hurling abuses on the Bhumihars of the village. At that time, he was carrying his gun as well. One Rajbailabh Singh another deceased had gone to a neighbour village Gambharpur to participate in a family panchayat between Harikishan Thakur (RW.3) and his brother Arjun Thakur. When he returned to the village and found Jagdeo Yadav indiscriminately abusing the Bhumihars of the village from the top of his dalan, he went there to protest and dissuade him from doing so. That led to heated altercation threats and counter threats between them. Deceased Ramsaran Yadav also went there to intervene and request Rajbailabh Singh to leave that place because tempers were running high among the Yadavas. It is said that Ramsaran Yadav was the bataidar of Rajbailabh Singh. In course of exchange of words between Rajballabh Singh and Jagdeo Yadav, the latter aimed his gun at the former and opened fire. However, the shot missed Rajbailabh Singh and hit Ramsaran who was intervening. The said Ramsaran Yadav fell down on ground. Rajbailabh Singh tried to lift Ramsaran Yadav, but in the meantime the other accused persons who were present in the dalan of Jagdeo Yadav, rushed in and caught hold of Rajbailabh Singh and threw him on ground. Jagdeo Yadav ordered to finish Rajbailabh Singh. Thereupon the other accused persons started inflicting lathi and garasa below on Rajbailabh Singh who became senseless. Thereafter the accused persons dragged the bodies of both Ramsaran Yadav and Rajbailabh Singh inside the dalan of Jagdeo Yadav and kept in two separate rooms. Later on, in the evening it transpired that both the injured were dead.

(3.) RAGHO Singh of village Kora had conveyed an information at the Ghosi police station at 1.45 RM. on 8.12.1974 that Rajballabh Singh was caught hold of by Jagdeo Yadav, who is absconder in many criminal cases, as a result of which serious tension was prevailing in between the two communities i.e. Bhumihar and Yadav of that village. S.l. Chand Gobind Singh also sent an information at the police station through the Chaukidar that a case u/s 396 of the Indian Penal Code has been instituted for the commission of dacoity in the house of Jagdeo Yadav and that the dacoits have killed one villager and the villagers have also killed one dacoit and the tension was prevailing in the village on that account. This fact was also recorded as station diary entry no. 135 dated 8.12.74. S.l. Chand Gobind Singh when reached village Bajitpur he passed through the Bhumihar Tola of village Bajitpur along with Ram Naresh Singh, Mukhiya, and there in the village he recorded the fardbeyan of Jagdeo Yadav at 4.15 P.M. on 8A2.74. Jagdeo Yadav stated in his fardbeyan that Raj Ballahh Singh along with other associates went to his Baithka with a view to commit dacoity in between the night of 7/8.12.74. On hearing hulla villagers came and in course of scuffle Ram Saran Yadav, a neighbour who rushed to the place, was killed by gun shot fired by one of the dacoits, who was trying to ecape with the boxes. The main dacoit Rajballabh Singh, who was also done to death by the villagers while he was engaged in the commission of dacoity. Some of the stolen articles, concerning the dacoity, remained at the place of occurrence itself and in the morning when it was revealed that Rajballabh Singh, a dacoit has been killed there developed a serious tension which was created by the gang men of Rajballabh Singh. As there was serious tension in the village it was suspected that the dacoits may attempt to take away the dead body of Rajballabh Singh he remained in the village to keep a guard on the same.