STATE OF RAJASTHAN Vs. SHIV NARAYAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The instant appeal has been preferred by the State under Sec. 378(3) of Cr.P.C. against the judgment of acquittal dtd. 11/12/1989 passed by learned District and Sessions Judge, Bikaner, in Sessions Case No. 104/1988 whereby the accused-respondents were acquitted for the offences under Ss. 147, 148 and 302 read with Sec. 149 of I.P.C.

(2.) During the course of the appeal, three out of the seven appellants, namely appellant No. 3 Chhagan Lal S/o Baldeva Ram, appellant No. 4 Baldeva Ram S/o Panchi Ram and appellant No. 7 Jeeta Ram S/o Chhagan Lal, have passed away and thus, the appeal has been abated to their extent by this Court vide order dtd. 12/9/2022. As per the police report dtd. 21/8/2022, appellant No.l-Shiv Narayan S/o Baldeva Ram, appellant No.2-Shyam Sunder S/o Shri Bhanwar Lal, appellant No.5-Prem Kumar S/o Chhagan Lal and appellant No.6-Ashok Kumar S/o Rameshwarlal survive and are residing in Arjunsar, Police Station Mahajan, District Bikaner presently. Thus, the appeal is now being heard to the extent of appellant No.1-Shiv Narayan S/o Baldeva Ram, appellant No.2-Shyam Sunder S/o Shri Bhanwar Lal, appellant No.5-Prem Kumar S/o Chhagan Lal and appellant No.6-Ashok Kumar S/o Rameshwarlal.

(3.) Briefly stated, the facts of the case are that the first informant Brij Lal lodged a report at the Police Station, Mahajan on 23/10/1988 expressing that he was going to Sahjarasar from Ganganagar in a jeep with his brother Chanan Ram and they had stopped to pour water near Arjunsar Bus Stand as their jeep was overheating. He started putting water in the vehicle while his brother Chanan Ram went to his relative Satyanarayan's place where a wall was being raised. When he heard the clamour of people, he went towards the bada (plot) of Satyanarayan where Liladhar and Radhakisan were also present. It is stated in the report that his brother Chanan Ram was encircled by the seven accused persons and his (Chanan Ram) gun was taken away by accused Shiv Narayan. They took him inside the bada and Shiv Narayan hit him with the butt of the gun he was holding. Accused Baldeva Ram said that Chanan Ram is the root cause of the fight and spurred the others to finish him off and at that moment, accused Shyam Sunder brought a spade, accused Shiv Narayan brought a shovel, accused Chhagan Lal brought a black tyre rope and accused Ashok brought a lathi. Thereafter, Chanan Ram was restrained and tied up by all the accused except Baldeva Ram. It is further stated in the report that while accused Chhagan Lal, Prem Kumar and Jeeta Ram were holding Chanan Ram, accused Shyam Sunder, Shiv Narayan and Ashok were assaulting him and accused Baldeva Ram was encouraging them from outside by saying that he should not be left alive and his life should be ended. This brouhaha led to more people assembling there to see what had happened. It is also stated in the report that the accused persons left the place of incident with their weapons and left the gun belonging to Chanan Ram in the bada and that when Liladhar and Radhakishan went into the saal (lounge) and saw Chanan Ram, his throat was cut, he was drenched in blood and had succumbed to his injuries.