AVINASH TOPNO Vs. THE STATE OF JHARKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Invoking the inherent power of this Court under Sec. 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (in short 'the Code') the petitioner has questioned the legality of the continuation of entire criminal proceeding arising out of Rania P.S. Case No. 03 of 2004 (S.T. No. 772 of 2012) instituted under Ss. 302/201/324/307/120B read with Sec. 34 of the Indian Penal Code and also prayed for quashing of the above proceeding on the ground that for the same set of facts and offences the petitioner has already been convicted by learned Additional Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court, Rourkela in Sessions Trial Case No. 86/06/118 of 2005 -09.

(2.) The factual aspect of the case which is based on the First Information Report of the informant -Anand Tiriya, in short, is that one Mangal Lakra is the owner of commander jeep bearing registration No. OR -09D -2937 and this informant alongwith one Pintu Munda were working as a Khalasi (cleaner) with the said Mangal Lakra and his uncle Dara Singh was working as a driver and one Navin Purty was also working as a cleaner in the said vehicle. On 09.01.2004, while his uncle Dara Singh parked the said vehicle in the courtyard in the evening at about 7.30 p.m., four persons came and wanted to reserve the vehicle as they had to go to TISCO Hospital at Joda. After finalization of the total fare, the informant alongwith Navin Purty and Pintu Munda @ Ganesh Bandra boarded the said vehicle with four persons and Navin Purty sat on the driving seat. When the vehicle reached near Kakarpani, the aforesaid four young men pointed out their knife on their necks and asked to stop the vehicle. Being frightened, Navin stopped the vehicle and dropped the key but he was assaulted by those young persons and after leaving Navin in injured condition, one person out of four started driving the vehicle. The four accused persons tied the hands of the informant and Pintu after taking liquor parked the vehicle at an unknown place. In the morning they again left the place. and after driving almost three hours, they entered into forest area and stopped the vehicle. The informant and Pintu Munda were directed to come down from the vehicle and on the edge of knife they were taken inside the dense forest and they assaulted them with knife and thereafter they fled away with the vehicle. The said Pintu succumbed to his injuries though he was taken to hospital with the help of local persons. On the basis of the said fardbeyan of the informant, Rania P.S. Case No. 03 of 2004 was instituted on 10.01.2004.

(3.) It appears from the record that for the same set of occurrence Koira P.S. Case No. 02 dated 10.01.2004 was instituted in the State of Odisha. In the said case, after investigation the police submitted the charge sheet and the case was committed to the court of Sessions giving rise to S.T. Case No. 86/06/118 of 2005 -09. In the charge sheet submitted in the court of Rourkela, petitioner was made accused alongwith three other persons namely Mangal Munda, Benjamin Michel, Captain Sundhi and after trial by judgment dated 21st December, 2010 this petitioner and three others were found guilty under Ss. 364/307/394/302/201/34 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to life imprisonment with fine.