RAMBIRA MISSIR Vs. EMPEROR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal by three men who have been convicted by the learned Assistant Sessions Judge of Shahabad. Two of them, Rambira Missir and Harbans Missir, have been convicted under Section 304, Indian Penal Code, and have been sentencod to undergo rigorous imprisonment for five years each. Rambira Missir is said to have caused the death of one Khublal Missir by driving a bhala or spear into hia stomach. Harbans Missir is said to have caused the death of Ramparbesh Missir by striking him a blow on the head with the shaft of a bhala. The remaining appellant, Ramparbesh Missir, has been convicted under Section 324, Indian Penal Code, and has been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for six months. Ramparbesh Missir is said to have struck Khublal Missir three times on the head with a garasa. This, it is said, he did after Khublal Missir had collapsed on the ground when speared by Rambira. Five other men were tried along with the appellants, one of whom, Suraj Pandey, was convicted under Section 323, Penal Code, and was sentenced th pay a fine of Rupees 100, or in default, to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one month. All eight men were also charged with rioting, but on this charge they were acquitted. The Bench of this Court, to which the memorandum of appeal was presented, was disposed to think that the sentences which had been imposed by the learned Assistant Sessions Judge were inadequate, and therefore directed that a rule should issue on the appellants, and also on Suraj Pandey, to show cause why they should not be enhanced.

(2.) The occurrence, in which the accused are said to have been Concerned, took place on 1 January 1942, in Paharpur, a village some 12 or 13 miles from Arrah. Six months or so earlier, Ram Tapaseya Missir and his brothers Khublal Missir and Ramparbesh Missir took a conveyance of a small parcel of land from one Sitaram Lal. This land is immediately to the south of an ahar. According to the prosecution, Ram Tapaseya Missir and his two brothers were repairing or reconstructing the ar which separates this land from the bed of the ahar. Some time after they had begun their work, at about 9 A.M., the appellants and the other men who were prosecuted along with them came up in a body and called on them to desist and when they declined to do so proceeded to demolish the ar. An altercation ensued, and eventually, when Khublal Missir ordered them to get off his land, the appellant Rambira Missir drove a bhala into his stomach. When Khublal Missir collapsed on the ground the appellant Ramparbesh bent down over him and struck him three times on the top of the head with a garasa. In the meantime, the appellant Harbans Missir had attacked Ramparbesh Missir, striking him a heavy blow on the head with the shaft of a bhala. Ramparbesh also was rendered unconscious and collapsed on the ground.

(3.) The other brother, Ram Tapaseya Missir, was struck on the head with a lathi by Suraj Pandey, but although this led to the effusion of blood, no very serious injury was caused. Ram Tapaseya arranged for his two brothers to be carried on a palki to the basti, which was not very far away, and thence another two miles to the railway station at Garhani on the Arrah-Sasaram railway where they caught a train to Arrah. At Arrah Ram Tapaseya took them at once to the sadr hospital, where the assistant surgeon, on discovering that their condition was precarious, communicated with the local police. A Sub-Inspector at once came to the hospital, and at 4-45 P.M., recorded the statement of Khublal Missir, who was then conscious. At his instance a Sub-Deputy Magistrate was sent for, and he examined Khublal Missir at 5-15 P.M. In the meantime, apparently, Ramparbesh had temporarily recovered consciousness, and the Sub-Deputy Magistrate recorded his statement also. Next day, Ram Tapaseya made a complaint in the Court of the Sub-divisional Magistrate. Another complaint was also then made by appellant Rambira, Both the complaints were investigated by the police. Khublal Missir succumbed to his wounds on 13 January 1942. Ramparbesh, who had apparently never recovered consciousness for more than a very brief period, survived him for Borne 48 hours. Death, in the opinion of the assistant surgeon who conducted the post mortems, was, in the case of Ramparbesh, due to an extensive fracture of the skull, and in the case of Khublal Missir to peritonitis.