JUGAL MAHTO Vs. STATE OF BIHAR (NOW JHARKHAND)

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE two appeals are directed against the common judgment dated 19.6.2000 passed by Additional Sessions Judge -II, Dhanbad in Session Trial No.438/98. All the appellants have been found guilty for the offence under Section 396 read with Section 412 of the Indian Penal Code. Consequently the above named appellants were convicted. However, the trial Court held that since the deceased Satiraman Mehta was assaulted during commission of dacoity in his house by appellant Jugal Mahto (in Cr. Appeal No.317/2000) which caused his death, accordingly he was sentenced to undergo life imprisonment under Section 396 read with Section 412 I.P.C. However, the appellants of Cr. Appeal No.299/2000 have been sentenced to undergo R.I. for 10 years under Section 396 read with Section 412 I.P.C. The periods of custody, so far these appellants are concerned, have been set off from the period of sentence of imprisonment.

(2.) THE prosecution case, in brief, is that in the night of 30 -31st January, 1998, while the family members of the informant were sleeping after taking meal at about 1 -2 A.M., the informant Sheela Kumari Mehta was awaken by one appellant and behind him, other accused persons were standing. It was alleged by the informant that she was assaulted by one accused on the direction of other accused and one accused took away her ear -ring and mangal -sutra and when her Dewar raised halla "Chor -Chor , the accused persons entered in his room and assaulted him by lathi and sharp cutting weapon and injured him. Further case of the prosecution is that the Dewar of the informant, namely Chandra Shekhar Mehta, Satiraman Mehta, Rajesh Kumar and Sudhangshu were assaulted by the accused persons and they received serious injuries. The accused persons also assaulted Nanad of the informant and her ear ring, silver payel, were taken away by one of them. The accused persons alleged to have asked the informant as to where she has kept Rs.1,50,000/ -and in search of that money, the accused persons scattered the articles of the house and took Rs.700/ -from the box and one golden chain, one silver chain, two pairs of silver payals and Rs.1700/ -and other ornaments. Further case of the prosecution is that the accused persons tied the hands of Chandra Shekhar and hands and legs of informants Nanad and thereafter they went away and then the informant made the hands and legs of her Dewars and Nanad free and on halla, many persons reached there from nearby who took the informants Dewar to hospital where one of her Dewars, namely Sati Raman, succumbed to injuries.

(3.) OUT of 19 witnesses examined by the prosecution, PWs 1 and 2, namely, Laxmi Nath Ghosh and Pradip Kumar Bhagat reached at the place of occurrence on Hulla and found that four brothers were injured including the informant. PW 1 deposed that police recovered four full pants, three shirts, one Kurta , one pair shoe and one plastic chappal from a tank and prepared a seizure list. He became the witness of seizure list. PW 2 also reached the place of occurrence on hulla and found the informant and other persons injured. Similarly PW3, Rupak Chandra Das and PW 4, Hira Lal Bose alleged to have reached the place of occurrence on hulla and found the informant and her Devar in injured condition. They have also deposed about the dacoity committed in the house of the informant. PW 5, Surya Bhusan Prasad and PW 6, Brajesh Kumar have also reached the place of occurrence on hulla and deposed about the commission of dacoity in the house of the informant. PW.5 is the witness of the seizure list prepared by the police. Hence, PWs 1, 2, 4 and 5 are not the eye witnesses to the occurrence but they reached the place of occurrence and found the informant and her Devar in injured condition. PW 6 in his deposition has stated that on the date of occurrence he was sleeping and woke up on hulla of the informant Sheela Devi. The accused persons entered into the room and assaulted all the family members who were sleeping there. The accused also assaulted him on his head and due to injury he became unconscious. However, he has identified some of the clothes recovered by the police and deposed that the accused persons were bearing those clothes while they were working as labourers in his house. PW 7 is Chandra Sekhar Mehta, PW 8 is Anju Bhaskar and PW 9 is Sudhansu Kumar Mehta. All these witnesses alleged to have been sleeping in the room. According to their evidence they woke up on hulla and found the accused persons entered into the room and assaulted them. They further deposed that the accused persons were asking them as to whereabout of Rs.150000/ -. They also deposed about the accused persons committed dacoity in their house and after looting money and other articles, injured them. PWs 8 and 9 deposed that they identified two accused persons in one Test Identical Parade (T.I.P.) including one accused, who alleged to have assaulted the deceased. PW 11 is Dr. Shailendra Kumar, who conducted post mortem of the deceased Sati Raman Mehta, who succumbed to the injury alleged to have caused by the dacoits. PW 12 is Dr. Captain Iswari Narain who has examined one of the victims Chandra Shekhar Mehta. PW 15 and 16 and 17 are the Judicial Magistrates who held T.I.P. of the accused in the District Jail and proved T.I.P. Chart.