DAMBER BAHADUR CHETTRI Vs. STATE OF SIKKIM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) All these three appeals are directed against the judgment dated 20-8-2001 by the Court of the Special Judge (Human Rights) at Namchi in Criminal (Human Rights) Case No. 11 of 1996 whereby all the three appellants who were police constables were convicted under Section 342 and Section 304, Part II read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code and the order dated 23-8-2001 whereby each of them was sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for four years under Section 304, Part II read with Section 34 of the Code and to undergo simple imprisonment for six months under Section 342 read with Section 34 of the Code. Both the sentences were directed to run concurrently.

(2.) All the three appellants were attached to the Gyalzing Police Station in Dec. 1993. Prosecution case is that they wrongly confined Bimal Tamang alias Dhanraj Tamang of Darap Busty, West Sikkim in the Police Station during the night falling between 7th and 8th Dec. 1993 and caused injuries to him resulting in his death in the night falling between 8th and 9th Dec. 1993 at 00.30 hrs. FIR was registered on 11-12-1993 at 1730 hrs on the report of the District Magistrate, West Sikkim to the effect that an information has been received from the Superintendent of Police, West vide Memo No. 720/SD (W) dated 8-12-1993 regarding the death of the deceased in Gyalzing Hospital in the night of 8th Dec. 1993 under suspicious circumstances and inquest was accordingly conducted under Section 179, Cr.P.C. by the Additional District Magistrate, West and the preliminary report of the inquest revealed that there was a prima facie case of wrongful confinement and culpable homicide not amounting to murder against the appellants. The complainant, as District Magistrate of West, taking cognizance of the case under Section 324/304, IPC directed the office-in-charge, Gyalizing Police Station Gyalzing to register a case against the appellants and to take up further investigation.

(3.) The deceased Bimal Tamang was a resident of Gyalzing where he resided with his mother Doma Tamang P.W. 7 and younger brother Bal Bahadur Tamang P.W. 8 . Some times, he used to go to Darap and when he did so, he used to live in the house of his uncle, Passang Tesering. His father Chaturay Tamang P.W. 3 along with his step mother Menuka Tamang P.W. 2 also resided at Darap. Prosecution case is that on 7-12-1993, the deceased was at Darap and he came to Gyalzing by Tata Truck bearing No. SK-03/0111 in the night on or after 9 pm. Thereafter, the appellants wrongly confined him at the Gyalzing Police Station and caused injuries to him during the night. They released him in the morning on the next day i.e. 8-12-1993 at about 6 a.m. Thereafter , he went to his house at Gyalzing. He was admitted to the Gyalzing Hospital in the afternoon near about 4 p.m. He died during the night of 8th and 9th. Dec. 1993 at about 0030 hrs at the Hospital. Autopsy on his body was conducted on 10-12-1993 by Dr. S.D. Sharma P.W. 10 who was the Medico Legal Consultant at the S.T.N.M. Hospital, Gangtok on being called to the District Hospital, Gyalzing, vide his report Exhibit P1. Autopsy started at 1300 hrs and concluded at 1425 hrs. He found the following external injuries on the body of the deceased :