RAMDEO SINGH Vs. EMPEROR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Ramdeo Singh appellant in Criminal Appeal No. 249 and Mangal Singh, Shakur Mian and Zamir Mian appellants in Criminal Appeal No. 259 have each been convicted of dacoity by the Additional Sessions Judge of Saran in conformity with the unanimous verdict of a jury and each of tbem has been sentenced under Section 395, Indian Penal Code, to suffer rigorous imprisonment for seven years. It is not necessary to state the facts in great detail. Briefly, on the night of 4/5 August 1940, a dacoity was committed in village Deoria in the house of Babu Daya Maheshwar Dayal. A number of the inmates of the house were injured by lathis and some damage to property was done; a number of boxes were taken away and found in a damaged condition and empty at some distance from the house. The accused persons Ramdeo and Mangal are Rajputs residents of village Mithwalia about two miles from Deoria. The other two accused Shakur and Zamir are residents of Jalalpur described in evidence as 1 1/2 kos from Deoria. The police station is about five miles from the place of occurrence and the first information was laid there at 7 A.M. on the morning of 5 August by chaukidar Ram Kishun P.W. 2. This witness was going his round when hearing an alarm he came towards that place and observed that a fight was proceeding between the dacoits and the villagers, that some villagers were injured and some dacoits were also said to have been struck. He came to the house and no one of the inmates was able to name any accused person, no one described to him any dacoit and the information does not state that anything was said to him about the dacoits having or not having torches or other means of illumination. He was told that the defenders had dealt blows on some of the dacoits.

(2.) The Sub-Inspector arrested Mangal Singh and Zamir Mian on 6 August and Ramdeo was arrested and sent to the Magistrate on or about 12 August and Shakur who was said to have been absconding surrendered in Court on 29th September 1940. Test identifications were held of Mangal and Zamir on 12th August 1940, of Ramdeo on 19 August and of Shakur on 3 October 1940. The houses of the suspects were searched, but nothing incriminating was recovered.

(3.) At the trial, the prosecution relied on the evidence of witnesses who identified the several accused "by face" as persons previously unknown to them. Ramdeo was identified by 4 witnesses, Shakur by 2, Zamir by 4 and Mangal by 3. The witnesses have said in their evidence that they were able to identify them by means of torches which members of the, party of the dacoits were flashing. The accused all pleaded not guilty, and filed written statements. Shakur, Zamir and Ramdeo said they were known to the witnesses from before and the test identification parade had therefore no value. They had been falsely implicated. Mangal Singh said that he was known to the witnesses from before and they had implicated him merely on suspicion. There was a suggestion of some dispute between the uncle of this accused and Daya Babu; and of a dispute between Daya Babu and one Jadunandan Singh a friend of the uncle of this accused. It was said that this accused had incurred the displeasure of the police: that material witnesses had been withheld; and that the witnesses examined had deposed falsely at the instance of Tarkeshwar Dayal P.W. 9.