TILLU Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellants Tillumal and Assandas have been convicted by the Additional Sessions Judge No. 1, Jaipur City, for offence under sec. 302, I. P. C. , and each of them has been sentenced to imprisonment for life.

(2.) THE prosecution story, in brief, is that the accused Tillumal and the approver Sajan became partners in the business of illicit liquor. Saroopa (decea-sed) was a taxi-driver. Sajan and Tillumal gave him Rs. 50 per trip in addition to the fare of conveyance by which he brought illicit liquor from outside. THE accused Asandas of Ajmer was another taxi-driver. He also used to supply Tillumal and Sajan with illicit liquor through his taxi. On the advice of the accused Tillumal Sajan bought an Ambassador car (No. R. S. L. 6598) in the month of February, 1967, in partnership with Saroopa. THEy gave Rs. 8000 towards the part-payment of its price. THE residue was obtained from Prakash Financier. Saroopa, who was in the service of K. B. Singh (P. W. 11), left his job and started driving the Ambassador Car. THE vehicle met with an accident in the month of March, 1967, on Amber road. It was sent for repairs. After it was mended, Saroopa again took to driving it for a couple of days. No profit, however, accrued to its owners. By negotiation Sajan took the car under his exclusive possession on May 22, 1967, and gave assurance to Saroopa that he would soon pay him the money that was due towards the purchase of the car. Saroopa again joined the service of K. B. Singh. He demanded his dues many a time, from Sajan. On June 10, 1967, Saroopa went to Sajan at about 9. 30 a. m. , and asked him to settle his account with the financier. Sajan told him to come at 12 a. m. to Bansi's hotel, situate in front of the Shah Building, Chaura Rasta, Jaipur. Saroopa could not spare time upto 3 p. m. At Bansi's hotel Sajan and his associates Assandas and Tillumal had already arrived earlier. THEy all waited for Saroopa. THEn all the 3 persons went to Ram Prakash cinematographic theatre to see a movie. In the interval Tillumal told Sajan that Saroopa had got his illicit liquor seized and that he had also put Sajan to loss and, therefore, he should be taken to jungle and be compelled to divulge what he had done. Both Assandas and Sajan agreed to it. After having seen the picture, all the three returned to Bansi's hotel. In the meantime Saroopa also reached there. He told Sajan that he had contacted the financier and he had told him that he was to go outside for about 25 days. Saroopa suggested that both of them should go to the financier for the adjustment of the account. Sajan agreed to it and told him that he would take him there in his car at about 9 p. m. THE accused Tillumal, Assandas and Sajan sat in the car and left for their respective houses. At 8-30 p. m. Sajan went to Tillumall' house, where Assandas had already arrived. All the three then sat in the car and came to Bansi's hotel, where they took wine. Meanwhile Saroopa also reached there. After about 15 to 25 minutes they all sat in the car No. RSL 6598 and first went to the financier's house. Sajan and Saroopa got down from the car and contacted the financier Uttamchand, P. W. 18. He told them to come to his office next day. When Assandas and Saroopa were coming out of Uttamchand's residence-cum office, Saroopa demanded a sum of Rs. 500 from Sajan. Sajan said that he had no money with him. He asked Tillumal to give him Rs. 500. Tillumal said that he would arrange for the amount from his wine shop at Phagi. Saroopa agreed to it. THEreafter Tillumal, Sajan, Assandas and Saroopa left for Phagi in the car. When they reached the hospital square, they met K. B. Singh, who was coming from the opposite direction on his scooter. THE car was stopped there. K. B. Singh asked Saroopa as to where he was going, Saroopa replied that he was going to get his account settled. AH the four persons reached Phagi at about 11 in the night. Sajan woke his servant Ghasi P. W. 3, at his Phagi liquor shop and asked him about the whereabouts of Chuhadmal, the sales-man at the wine shop. Ghasi informed him that he had gone to Jaipur. He further told him that neither wine nor money was available in the shop. Tillumal then told Assandas that at Dudu he had a friend Thawardas, from whom he would get Rs. 500. THEreupon the car started towards Dudu. After covering a distance of about 4 to 5 miles from Phagi, Tillumal asked Assandas to stop the car. All the 4 persons then came out of the car. Tillumal gave 4 or 5 fiat blows on the abdomen of Saroopa and told him as to how he had got his 2000 bottles of Rajasthan wine and 80 or 90 bottles of U. P. liquor seized. Saroopa replied that he had not done so and requested Sajan to rescue him. He was, however, given further 4 to 5 blows with iron bars by Tillumal Saroopa fell down on the ground. Tillumal tied his legs together. Assandas and Sajan also fastened his hands with cord, which Tillu Mal had brought from his house while boarding the car at 8 30 p. m. All of them lifted Saroopa and put him in front of the car. Under the direction of Tillumal Assandas ran over the car over Saroopa's body. Saroopa died soon after. THEn the accused asked Assandas to get petrol from the car. It was sprinkled over Saroopa's body. Tillumal set fire to it. Before doing so Sajan had removed the watch which Saroopa was wearing on his wrist and gave it to Tillumal. Later on Assandas, Tillumal and Sajan went to Dudu. where from they proceeded towards Ajmer side and covered a distance of about 4 to 5 miles. THEn they returned towards Jaipur. THE shoes of Saroopa and the iron bars were thrown on their way. THEy stopped the car at the P. W. D. nursery, situate on the Jaipur-Ajmer Road. THEre they washed the tyres of the car. Tillumal threw the watch into the nursery well. THEreafter the 3 persons went towards Purana Ghat. On their way to Bassi they saw some police constables. THEy, therefore, returned to Purana Ghat, where police constable Amar Singh, P. W. 20, saw Tillumal, Sajan and Assandas. Amar Singh stopped the car by putting a barrier. Tillumal told Amar Singh that he had gone to Bassi to take food. THE car was then allowed to pass. Subsequently all the three went to their respective houses at Jaipur at 2 in the night. Next day they met each other in the Ram Niwas Garden, where Tillumal told Sajan that if any body asked the whereabouts of Saroopa, he should tell him that Saroopa had been given Rs. 500 and that he had gone somewhere. Mst. Phula Devi, P. W. 7, mother of the deceased submitted a report to the police station, Ashok Nagar. on June 14, 1967, stating that her son had left Bikaner house at 10 p. m. on June 10, 1967, in the company of Sajan, Tillumal and the driver of car No RSL 6598 under the assurance that he would be given Rs. 4000 and that his whereabouts were not known. It was further mentioned in the report that on her asking Sajan she had been informed of his total ignorance in the matter. She came to know about the taking away of her son from K. B. Singh, who had employed him as his taxi-driver. After the receipt of the report a search was made in the vain hope of finding out Saroopa. On July 4, 1967, Investigating Officer Manzoor Ahmed, P. W. 23, came to know that; a dead body had been discovered near Chakwara village by a police constable and that certain articles had been recovered from the spot by the police officer Phagi. He was also informed that the post-mortem examinations of the dead body had already been conducted by the Medical Jurist, S. M. S. Hospital, Jaipur on 13-6-1967. THEre upon he registered a case u/s. 302 I. P. C. , and took up investigation in his hands. THE accused Tillumal, Asandas & Sajan were arrested on 16-7-1967. In the course of investigation Tillumal furnished information to the police that he had thrown Saroopa's watch into P. W. D. Nursery and he was prepared to get it recovered. THE information was reduced to writing and is marked Ex. P 10. Pursuant to that information the police recovered the watch Art. 1 at the instance of the accused Tillumal, under memo Ex. P. 9, dated 22-7-1967. THE articles recovered on the spot as also the watch were identified by certain prosecution witnesses in the presence of Shri Shyam Sunder Munsiff Magistrate, Jaipur, P. W. 2 on August 1, 1967, under memo Ex. P. 3. Certain articles recovered on the spot were sent to the Chemical Examiner and the Serologist and it was found that the cuttings from the burnt clothes (underwear, Baniyan, and half pant) were stained with human blood. Sajan was made approver by the District Magistrate, Jaipur, on September 20, 1967. After the conclusion of the investigation the police put up a challan against the accused Tillumal and Assandas in the court of the Munsiff Magistrate, Jaipur City ( East ). THE said Magistrate conducted preliminary inquiry in accordance with the provisions of sec. 207 A Cr. P. C , and committed both the accused to the court of Sessions Judge Jaipur City, to face trial under secs. 201, 302 and 365, I. P. C. THE case was partly tried by the then learned Sessions Judge, Jaipur City. THEreafter it was transferred to the court of the Additional Sessions Judge No. 1, Jaipur City, for trial. THE accused were charged under the aforesaid sections of the Indian Penal Code, to which they pleaded not guilty. In support of its case the prosecution examined 23 witnesses, including the approver Sajan, P. W. 1. Both the accused in their statements, recorded under sec. 342, Cr. P. C, denied the indictment. Tillumal also denied the fact that Ghasi was his employee. He further said that he did not meet the police constable Amar Singh. He also disowned the information memo Ex. P. 10, regarding the recovery of the watch (Art. 1) and the recovery memo Ex. P. 9. He then stated that Sajan (approver), Bansi and K. B. Singh, dealt in illicit liquor and they falsely implicated him. Tillumal added that Amar Nath, Excise Inspector, launched a false case against him and that he had nothing to do with the seizure of 93 bottles alleged to have been recovered by Lokesh Kumar from the possession of Narumal. Similarly the accused Assandas made a total denial of the crime, for which he was charged. He further stated that he did not see K. B. Singh, Ghasi or Bansi. In the end, he said that he was living in Ajmer during the relevant time. THE accused did not produce any evidence in their defence. THE trial court relied upon the statement of the approver Sajan P. W. 1 and on the corroborative evidence produced by the prosecution and convicted and sentenced the accused, as stated above.