DINESH PANDEY Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Appellant No.3 Dhrambir Pandey is the father of appellant Nos. 1 & 2 Dinesh Pandey and Puja Pandey alias Pujeshwar Pandey. They were put on trial before the 1st Additional Sessions Judge, Gaya for the offence under Section 302, IPC on the accusation of having committed murder of one Saheb Ram Pandey and two of them, namely, Dinesh Pandey and Puja Pandey have been convicted under Section 302, IPC and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and appellant No. 3 Dhrambir Pandey has been convicted under Section 302 read with Section 109, IPC and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life.

(2.) The prosecution party is the resident of village Sultanpur within the Police Station of Makhdumpur and the appellants are the residents of village Naudiha within the Police Station of Khizersari both within the district of Gaya. Village Naudiha is east to village Sultanpur and both the villages are separated by Falgu river.

(3.) The prosecution narration is that on 28-7-1984 in the morning Ramchandra Pandey father of Informant Shaligram Pandey and the deceased Saheb Ram Pandey were getting the shradh of one of the family members of Baiju Sah performed at Khizersarai. The aforesaid three appellants came and objected to it on the ground that Baiju Sah was their jajman which resulted into an altercation and the accused-appellants assaulted Ram Chandra Pandey, who went to his house and narrated about the aforesaid incident to his sons and co-villagers. At about 12 noon aforesaid Ramchandra Pandey along with his two sons Saheb Ram Pandey (deceased), Shaligram Pandey (PW-6) and two co-villagers Nanhkoo Pandey (PW-7) and Ramjee Pandey (PW-8) went to the house of the appellants at village Naudiha for the purpose of settlement of the dispute. The appellants were sitting on a wooden chowki in the verandah of their house facing west of their village lane. The prosecution party enquired as to why they assaulted Ramchandra Pandey which resulted into an altercation. Thereafter, appellants Dinesh Pandey and Puja Pandey alias Pujeshwar Pandey went inside their house and they came out armed with sword & farsarespectively. Appellant Dhrambir Pandey also emerged with dagger from the house and he ordered to kill. Thereafter, Saheb Ram Pandey fled towards south in the lane and the other members of the prosecution party fled towards north. The appellants overtook Saheb Ram Pandey and thereafter appellants Dinesh Pandey and Puja Pandey started assaulting him with their respective weapons at short distance from their house as a result of which Saheb Ram Pandey died. The Informant and others raised hulla on which many villagers assembled there. In the meantime, all the three appellants dragged the dead body of the deceased inside their house.