RATAN Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS criminal appeal under Section 374 IPC by the accused appellants, namely Ratan, Madan and Sawra Ram @ Sawarmal arises out of the judgment and order dated September 7, 1998 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Kishangarh (Ajmer), thereby holding the accused appellants guilty for the offence under Secs. 302 read with Sec. 34 and 323 read with Sec. 34 I. P. C. While convicting the appellants, the learned Additional Sessions Judge has sentenced each of them to undergo life imprisonment with a fine of Rs. 1000/-, in default of payment of fine, to further undergo six months rigorous imprisonment on the first count, and each to undergo 3 months imprisonment with a fine of Rs. 100/-, in default of payment of fine, to further undergo one months' rigorous imprisonment, on the second count.

(2.) THE prosecution story, in brief, unfolded during trial is that on 26. 10. 96 at 9. 05 PM, a Parcha Bayan (Ex. P-6) of injured Harji S/o Shri Ram Karan Gujar was recorded in the hospital at Kishangarh. In his parcha bayan, injured Harji has stated that in the evening he was at his field. His brother Badha (deceased) and Ratan S/o Shyokaran were also there. At about 4. 30 P. M. when they were irrigating their field, Ratan S/o Rameshwar, Madan @ Mada S/o Rameshwar and Sawara Jat residents of village Dholpuria came there duly armed with Lathis and fawdas and told them that they will irrigate the field after breaking the `odha'. When they prevented them from doing so, the accused persons started inflicting blows with their weapons. THEse accused persons gave them severe beatings with their weapons. On raising hue and cry by the members of complainant side, Bhanwar S/o Ratan, Gopi S/o Meva came to the spot but by that time the accused had murdered Badha end thereafter the accused ran away. On hearing noise, the villagers namely, Mangla, Chhitar, Madan, Panchu etc. came there. THEse persons, on seeing the precarious condition of the injured persons, took them to the hospital in a Jeep of one Naurat. THE dead body of Badha was lying in the field. Lastly, the injured in his parcha bayan has stated that on preventing the accused persons from breaking Odha, they attacked with an intention to kill them, killed Badha and badly injured him and Ratan. On this parcha bayan (Ex. P. 6), the police registered a case for offence under Secs. 302, 307 and 34 I. P. C. vide FIR No. 173/96 (Ex. P. 7) and proceeded to investigate the case.

(3.) IN assailing the conviction, the learned counsel for the accused appellant has argued that learned trial Court acquitted all the accused appellants of the offence under Section 447, and, therefore, the accused persons cannot be said to have reached the complainant party at the place where they were irrigating their fields, but on the contrary, it was the complainant party who went to the point of canal where the accused persons were diverting the water to their field. Thus the member of the complainant party were aggressors.