SARJUG MAHTO Vs. THE STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In Sessions Trial No. 56 of 1965, the 2nd Additional Sessions Judge of Monghyr, had tried 8 persons for offence under Sec. 302 read with Sec. 34 of the Penal Code; out of whom 5 persons were also tried for the offence under Sec. 201 of the Penal Code. Seven persons were acquitted and only one person was convicted under Sec. 302/34 and sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for life. The convicted person, namely, Sarjug Mahto has preferred this appeal. He has been acquitted of the charge under Sec. 201 of the Penal Code. The facts of the prosecution case, briefly stated, are as follows. One Chunni Misser lived in village Jagatpura within the jurisdiction of Police Station Begusarai. On 15 -6 -64 he had gone to village Meghaul, from where he returned in the evening after participating in a feast that took place at the house of one Raghunath Singh. During the absence of Chunni Misser, accused Sona Mahto and Sarjug Mahto went to his house and enquired about him, and they were told by the son of Chunni Misser, named Suresh Misser (P.W. 2) that his father had gone to take part in a feast. Upon this information being given to them, Sona and Sarjug went away. The next day at about 4 p.m. one person named Bishundeo Mahto went to the house of Chunni Misser and talked over payment of a loan which he had taken from Chunni Misser about 4 years previously. Both Bishundeo and Chunni, who had been friends, remained at the place talking till late in the night upto about 10 p.m. In the meantime, Moti Mahto, son of Bishundeo Mahto, came to call his father and Chunni Misser on the ground that Ramchandra Paswan, Jahuri Mahton and Sarpanch had gathered together and were sitting for a Panchayati. Thereafter Bishundeo, Moti and Chunni went away together along with Suresh to take part in the feast at the house of Raghunath Singh. At about 11 p.m. Suresh returned home and soon after heard the hulla of 'jan marlak jan marlak' coming from the side of the house of Sarjug. Suresh, however, did not go that side and, instead, went to sleep. Chunni did not return home that night and early in the morning Suresh went to Bishundeo to enquire about his father and the reason why he had not come back home the previous night. He was told by Bishundeo that his father had returned to the house in the night but did not stay with him, Suresh noticed at that time a number of persons proceeding towards the bundh and he too went there. On the way he met one Udai Singh of village Bishunpur and informed him that someone had killed his father and had thrown his dead body in Usrahi Bahiyar. There -upon Suresh went to Usrahi Bahiyar which is also situated in Chakballi Tola and there he found the dead body of his father thrown, the upper portion of the body being enveloped by putting a sack round the neck, Suresh removed the sack and found that the face of his father upto the neck had been tied with a piece of dhoti and he removed the piece of dhoti and found a number of injuries on his father's body. The prosecution case further is that while Suresh was in Usrahi Bahiyar one Mahendra Paswan told him that Paraki Mahto, Teknarain Mahto, Jagdhar Mahton and Siboo Mahton had killed his father. Thereafter Suresh left the body in Usrahi Bahiyar and returned home. It appears that meanwhile one telephone operator of Barauni Thermal Power Station, named Mohammad Sarfuddin (P.W. 8) informed the Officer -in -charge, Begusarai Police Station, Shri Jagdeo Ram (P.W. 10) that a dead body covered by a sack was lying in Jagatpur village and he suspected it to be a case of murder. P.W. 10 got the information recorded in the station diary by an Assistant Sub -Inspector Naulakh Singh. He left the place and arrived in village Jagatpur at about 12 -30 p.m. He contacted Suresh Misser and on his statement drew up the fardbeyan (Ext. 3) and proceeded to the place where the dead body was found thrown. P.W. 10 examined Suresh in Usrahi Bahiyar at about 3 p.m. and inspected the dead body of Chunni Misser, which he found thrown at a distance of about 36 feet east of the bundh and was at a distance of about 130 yards south of the electric pole. The dead body was lying flat with its head in the north and legs on the south, eyes were found closed and the mouth was partly open. He found blood clots near about the elbow and blood stained injuries near the right thumb. He also found some scratch like injury on the left side of the neck. The right cheek and ear as also the right temple were found injured with blood stains thereon. The dead body was identified by Suresh Misser to be that of his father. P.W. 10 held inquest over the dead body and arranged to send the corpse to Begusarai Hospital for postmortem examination. The fardbeyan was also sent to Begusarai Police Station where the formal first information report was drawn up on its basis.

(2.) The place of occurrence was inspected by P.W. 10 who found sufficient blood fallen on the ground where the dead body was lying. He seized blood -stained earth in presence of witnesses and prepared a seizure list (Ext. 2). He also found one blood -stained portion of a dhoti and a bloodstained sack lying there. He seized the blood -stained dhoti and the sack. He examined some witnesses. He noticed a continuous trail of blood drops fallen from near the place where the dead body was thrown up to the place about 20 yards south -west of the house of Sarjug Mahto in a field. He also found sufficient blood -stained earth in that field near the house of Sarjug Mahto. He seized the blood -stained earth under another seizure list (Ext. 2/2). He then inspected the house of Sarjug and inside the angan he found blood like stains on the plaster of the southern wall at 18 places. He found the eastern verandah of the house plastered with mud and on that plastered portion he found blood like stains. He removed the blood stains from the wall as well as from the verandah and prepared another seizure list (Ext. 2/3). He then went inside the southern room of the house of Sarjug and in that room he found a portion of dhoti 2 ¼ yards in length having identical look like the portion of dhoti which was found stained with blood and was found lying near the dead body. He seized the portion of the dhoti and the seizure list is Ext. 2/4. During the course of investigation, he sent the blood stained articles to the Director Forensic Science Laboratory, Patna, for examination and report. Ultimately, after closing the investigation, he submitted charge -sheet against the 8 accused persons and one Bishundeo Mahto, who was declared to be an absconder, and hence these 8 persons were put upon their trial.

(3.) P.W. 12, Dr. Malti Gupta, who was the Lady Civil Assistant Surgeon at Begusarai, held post -mortem examination on the dead body of Chunni Misser on 18.6.64 at 8 a.m. and found the following 5 injuries: - -