RAM DEYAL KAHAR Vs. EMPEROR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a reference made under Section 374, Criminal P.C., by learned Sessions Judge of Gaya for confirmation of the sentence of death J passed by him on one Ram Deyal Kahar. Ram Deyal Kahar has appealed against his conviction and sentence, and the appeal has been heard along with the reference.

(2.) In the morning of 29 March 1941, a young Chamar boy, who was grazing his cattle in the vicinity, noticed a dead-body lying in a pyne, two miles or so away from Jamhore village. The body would seem to have been lying there for some thirtysix hours or more, as much of it had been devoured by jackals and vultures. When the Sub-Inspector arrived, it was not recognisable but on or near to it were found an andi chadar, a pair of shoes and a dhoti. The Sub-Inspector did not arrive until sometime after dark, and a more close inspection next morning revealed a janao or sacred thread and some pieces of striped shirting. One Bulaki Missir, a young man of Jamhore, had disappeared on the night of 27 March 1941, and a servant of his had already begun to search for him. This servant and also the mother and widow of Bulaki Missir had no difficulty in recognizing the various articles of clothing. It can, I think, safely be assumed that the remains were the remains of Bulaki Missir, and that he was attacked and done to death on the night of 27 March 1941, at the pyne in which his dead-body was found some thirty-six hours later. The post mortem on the dead-body showed that he had undoubtedly been attacked with some heavy and sharp cutting weapon and possibly, also, with some such weapon as a lathi. The learned Sessions Judge assumed that two weapons must have been used in the attack made on him, but this is not, I think entirely clear from the medical evidence.

(3.) On 30 March 1941, the Sub-Inspector took the appellant, Ram Deyal Kahar, into custody. Next day he arrested another man, Banwari Singh. On 2nd April 1941 a Dusadh youth, Ramjanam, made a statement to the Sub-Inspector, and, later, to a Deputy Magistrate, in which he admitted having been concerned in the murder of Bulaki Missir. A pardon was ultimately tendered to this man, and he gave evidence at the trial of Ram Deyal Kahar and Banwari Singh. According to him, the three of them had decided that night to commit a burglary at Jogia. The pyne, in which the remains of Bulaki Missir were found, was situated more or less midway between Jambore, to which they all belonged, and Jogia. Another man, a casteman of the appellant, was also to take part in the burglary, and, when they got to the pyne, they sat down to wait for him. They had brought with them a good deal of liquor, and, after consuming this liquor, they went to sleep. Ramjanam said that he had woken up at about midnight and discovered the appellant, Ram Deyal, striking Bulaki Missir with a weapon, which he described variously as a balwa, a phalsa or a garasa. The other man, Banwari Singh, was then holding an electric torch in one hand and a bhojali, which belonged to Bulaki Missir, in the other. After Ram Deyal had killed Bulaki Missir, he and Banwari Singh attempted to cut off his head. Before however Ram Deyal could do so, he was overcome by a fainting fit and Banwari Singh and himself had to carry him to a well and draw water to revive him. The trial was with the aid of four assessors, all of whom except one expressed the opinion that the appellant, Ram Deyal Kahar, was guilty and that Banwari Singh was not. It is clear that the reason why the learned Sessions Judge convicted the one man and acquitted the other was that, as against the one, the evidence of Ramjanam Dusadh was corroborated, whereas, as against the other, it was not.