SONIYA Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Instant criminal appeal under Sec. 374(2) Cr.P.C. has been filed by the accused-appellants against the judgment dtd. 30/11/1996 passed by learned District & Sessions Judge, Jalore, in Sessions Case No.40/1995 by which the learned Trial Court convicted and sentenced the appellants as under:

(2.) Brief facts necessary to be noted for deciding the controversy are that on 18/6/1995, deceased- Devaram accompanished by his wife Ratni and grandson- Ramesh was travelling to Jodhpur to attend a marriage ceremony. At about 07:00 AM, they arrived at Bakra road and stopped at a hotel to have a tea. While they were at the hotel, the accused persons including the appellants, allegedly arrived at the scene, armed with an axe, a knife and lathis and in furtherance of their common intention, launched an assault on deceased- Devaram. It is alleged that accused-appellant No.1 Soniya inflicted knife injuries in the abdomen, while accused- Vajiya struck him on the head with an axe. The remaining accused are said to have delivered blows with lathi to the deceased Devaram. As a consequence of the injuries sustained, Devaram collapsed to the ground. When Ramesh and Ratni tried to intervene and rescue Devaram, accused Bhanwarlal allegedly assaulted them with a lathi. Subsequently, villagers came and rescued them from the accused persons. DeceasedDevaram was thereafter taken to the hospital for medical treatment.

(3.) Upon receiving the information, Police reached at the Government Hospital, Jalore and recorded the statement of injured Devaram (Ex-P/21) and on the basis of his statement, Police registered the FIR No.69/1995 for offences under Ss. 147, 148, 307, 324, 323, 325, 149 IPC against the accusedpersons and started investigation. After four days of FIR i.e. on 22/6/1995, Devaram expired during treatment, and therefore, offence under Sec. 302 IPC was also added. On completion of investigation, police filed challan against the accused persons including the appellants.