HARI RAM Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) All the three appellants inthis appeal have been found guilty of the offence under S. 302 read with S. 34 of the Indian Penal Code, and have been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life by 2nd Additional Sessions Judge, Nalanda, in Sessions Trial No. 12 of 1985 by his judgment and order dated 11th July, 1986.

(2.) The occurrence giving rise to this appeal is said to have taken place at about 5 p.m. on 27-5-1984 in which Kishori Paswan, brother of the informant Bishundeo Das (P.W. 7) was killed by the appellants. The occurrence is said to have been witnessed by several witnesses who have been examined at the trial as P.Ws. 1 to 7. P.W. 8 is the investigating Officer, while P.W. 9 conducted the post mortem examination on the dead body of the deceased. It also appears from the record that the fardbeyan was lodged by Bishundeo Das (P.W. 7), the informant, at the police station Biharsharif at 7-15 on the date of occurrence itself. The deceased was initially taken for medical treatment to the local doctor but since he expressed his inability to do anything in the matter, and while being moved to the Biharshariff hospital he breathed his last, the informant went to the police station and lodged the fardbeyan.

(3.) In his fardbeyan it has been stated by the informant that on the date of occurrence he along with his brother Kishori Paswan (deceased) was returning to his village Upraora from the Bazar at about 5 p.m. When they reached near the barrier they met co-villager Jagdish Paswan (P.W. 4) and Chotan Paswan (not examined). He started talking to them while his brother Kishori Paswan (deceased) proceeded about 200 yards ahead. While his brother was near the Gul factory, the informant also proceeded ahead after talking to his co-villagers. He then saw that near the toddy shop of Hadu Choudhary four persons came and started scuffling with his brother. Seeing this the informant proceeded at a faster pace raising an alarm as to why they were misbehaving with his brother. In the meantime, one of them entered the house of Hadu Choudhary and brought a Samath (wooden pole with iron rings at the bottom used for pounding rice etc.), also known as Mushal. They caught hold of his brother and he was assaulted on his head with Samath. By that time the informant had come near to them and saw that, of the assailants, two belonged to village Muraoradih, namely, appellant Lallan Ram and appellant Bijendra Ram who ran towards the south. Several other villagers ran after them, and on the alarm raised by the informant his co-villagers also, who were near the barrier, namely, Jagdish Paswan (P.W. 4) and Chotan Paswan, chased the assailants. The assailants, however, succeeded in running away. With the help of villagers he took his brother in a rickshaw and proceeded towards Biharsharif. However, by the time they reached the Gumti his brother died and, therefore, he came straight to the police station.In the fardbeyan there is no clear statement as to the motive for the occurrence, but the informant suspected that the accused, perhaps, wanted to snatch away money from his brother which he resisted, and thereafter he was assaulted by the accused.