BINOY KUMAR SINHA Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BOTH appeals have been preferred against the JUDGMENT : and ORDER :passed by 1st Addl. Sessions Judge, Vaishali at Hajipur in Sessions Trial No. 102 of 1986. By the impugned JUDGMENT : dated 14th of September, 1987 the learned Addl. Sessions Judge convicted the three accused persons, namely, Binoy Kumar Sinha, Ram Kishun Dass and Muna Dass of offence punishable under section 395 of the Indian Penal Code and he also convicted them under section 412 of the Indian Penal Code and by the subsequent ORDER :of the same day, the learned Sessions Judge sentenced the three convicts to undergo R.I. for seven years under section 395 I.P.C., but, however, he did not pass any separate sentence under section 412 I.P.C.

(2.) OUT of three convicts, Binoy Kumar Sinha filed a memo of Appeal which was forwarded through the Jail Superintendent, Central Jail, Muzaffarpur and it was registered as Cr. Appeal No. 433 of 1987. It appears that subsequently a similar memo of Appeal was forwarded by the Jail Superintendent, Central Jail, Muzaffarpur on behalf of the other two convicts, namely, Ram Kishun Dass and Muna Dass and the same was registered as Cr. Appeal No. 32 of 1988. Since both the appeals arise out of the same JUDGMENT : and ORDER :, they have been tagged together and have also been heard together.

(3.) THE facts of the case, in brief, are like this. On 25.8.1984 in the early hours a Police Officer Jagat Narain Singh heard hulla when he was present at Kartaha within the P.S. Lalganj and he proceeded towards the village Gurmaichak where he learnt that there was a dacoity in the house of one Md. Nuruddin and the dacoits after committing dacoity were running away towards the east. So he followed the path of retreat of the dacoits and with the help of villagers he succeeded in capturing the three of the dacoits from whose possession various articles were also recovered apart from the fire arms and ammunitions. The dacoits themselves disclosed their names and also disclosed that they had committed dacoity in another village Yasupur within the same P.S. Lalganj, in the district of Vaishali. The articles found in the possession of the three persons, who were caught, were seized in presence of the witnesses and seizure lists were prepared and three persons were taken into custody and thereafter the Police Officer recorded the Fardbeyan of Md. Nuruddin (PW.2). Subsequently this Fardbeyan was forwarded to the Police Station where a formal F.I.R. (Ext. 4) was drawn up and a case was registered and the investigation was entrusted by the officer -in -charge to the S.I. Jagat Narain Singh of Kartaha, who inspected the P.O., held Test Identification Parade of the accused and the articles recovered. He also recorded the statements of the witnesses regarding the commission of dacoity in village Yusufpur and on completing investigation submitted charge sheet in the case. Accordingly, cognizance was taken and three appellants were put on trial. In their defence the accused persons denied the charge against them and they pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried. However, no defence evidence has been adduced nor any specific evidence has been led on their behalf. Being satisfied with the materials on record, the trial court came to the conclusion that the charge under section 395 I.P.C. stood proved and substantiated against the three appellants and accordingly, he convicted them of the same. The learned Addl. Sessions Judge was convinced of the materials in support of the charge under section 412 I.P.C. and convicted the appellants of the same. However, he did not pass any separate sentence so far as section 412 I.P.C. is concerned.