TULSI GANGOTA Vs. EMPEROR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is the appeal of one Tulsi Gangota from his conviction and sentence to transportation for life for the murder of his brother Bisu Gangota. The matter first came before this Court as a jail appeal and having regard to the reasons given in his judgment by the Additional Sessions Judge of Bhagalpur for passing the lesser sentence of transportation for life instead of death, notice was issued to the accused to show cause why the sentence should not be enhanced to death. Save for the reasons given by the learned Additional Sessions Judge for not passing the sentence of death to which I shall refer in a moment, the judgment is beyond criticism. The learned Additional Sessions Judge reviews the evidence and I entirely agree with his conclusion that the murder has been proved against the accused beyond any possibility of doubt.

(2.) The circumstances of the murder may be shortly related. The deceased man was a person of a low order of mentality. It was contended by the accused that he suffered from epileptic fits but this assertion has been denied by the other witnesses in the case But certainly the deceased appears to have been a person of extremely unpleasing appearance. He had a young and good-looking wife and the accused is shown to have carried on an intrigue with her. The accused lived at Fulkia village. The deceased and his wife lived about eight miles away at a place called Fulkia Diara where the two brothers had a khamar and some land under cultivation and Tulsi Gangota, the accused, who normally resided with his wife at Fulkia village was in the habit from time to time of paying visits to his brother at the khamar at Fulkia Diara for the purpose of assisting him in cultivating their joint land and there carried on an intrigue with his brother's wife. Quarrels had arisen on this account between the wife of Tulsi and the wife of Bisu and the matter had been made the subject of a panchayati inquiry with the result that sometime before this event Tulsi and Bisu and Bisu's wife were ex-communicated by their caste-men.

(3.) On Sunday, the 10 April, Tulsi went over to the khamar at Fulkia Diara for one of his customary visits to Bisu and his wife and shortly after that Bisu was not seen again until his dead body was found. A. witness named Sheodutt Singh a few days later saw a dead body lying in a "kund" of water which "kund" does not communicate with the neighbouring river. Seeing this dead body Sheodutt Singh left the place and met Tulsi who was driving a bullock cart in the opposite direction and told him that there was a dead body in the "kund" and asked him whose dead body it was but Tulsi paid no attention. A little while afterwards Tulsi went to the khamar of two witnesses named Nemo Mandal and Kala Mandal who were castemen of his and asked them to come and identify the dead body.