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1992 DIGILAW 235 (RAJ)

Subhash Pathak v. State of Rajasthan

1992-03-04

MOHINI KAPUR, SURENDRA NATH BHARGAVA

body1992
JUDGMENT 1. The appellant Subhash Pathak has been convicted by the Additional Sessions Judge, Dausa by his judgment dated 31st May, 1988 for the offence under Sections 302 and 452 IPC and sentenced to life imprisonment and fine of Rs. 1,000/- and rigorous imprisonment for three years and tine of Rs. 50/- respectively and further a provision has been made to undergo rigorous imprisonment for six months and three months in case the fine is not paid. Against this judgment of conviction and sentence the present appeal has been preferred. 2. Jagdish Prasad Sharma was employed as an Assistant in the Rajasthan State Warehousing Corporation, Bandikui and he had a daughter named Saroj. On the fateful day i.e. on 3rd April, 1987 he was proceeding to his house from the office along with one K.N. Gupta at about 1.30 p.m. and when he was near his house he saw the appellant running out of his house with blood on his clothes and a blood stained Hansiya in his right hand. He was followed by Rajendra Prasad Sharma who was shouting that he (accused) had murdered Saroj. The mother and grandmother of Saroj were very much disturbed and they informed Jagdish Prasad that the accused had pierced a Hansiya again and again on Saroj and inspite of the efforts of Rajendra the accused ran away. The First Information Report of this incident was lodged by Jagdish Prasad at 1.45 p.m. at the Police Station Bandikui. Saroj was taken to the hospital but she was found dead. The accused is also an young boy living in the neighbourhood and according to Jagdish Prasad, his daughter Saroj had complained to him that the accused used to tease her and 3-4 days prior to the incident he (Jagdish Prasad) had told the accused not to tease Saroj. 3. After registering a case, the police prepared a site plan, Panchayatnama of the body of Saroj, sealed the blood soaked clothes of the deceased, collected blood from the room in which Saroj was attacked and on the same evening the accused was arrested and it was found that the pant and shirt which he was wearing were stained with blood. Besides this, there was blood on the nails of the accused and they were also seized. Besides this, there was blood on the nails of the accused and they were also seized. Later on all the articles were sent to the F.S.L. and on examining the clothes of the deceased and clothes of the accused and also the nails of the accused and the Hansiya, recovered at the instance of the accused, all were found stained with 'AB' group blood. 4. The main witnesses in the case maybe looked into before coming to the contentions of the learned Counsel for the accused appellant. P.W.1 Dr. B.S. Thakuriya who conducted the post-mortem on the body of Saroj found the following injuries:- 1. Incised wound with extensive hemorrhage 7" X 1" X 11/2" on the right nape of neck and front of the neck. The wound extended from right sterno-mastoid part to the front of the neck-round the neck. Margines were sharp cut deep in the centre of the wound, ends of the wound were narrowed lying transversely. Huge hemorrhage as clotted blood came from the wound. Right jugler veins and carotied vassels are cut sharply. Huge hemorrhage came front these vessels. Right steno-mastoid muscles were sharp cut. Wind pipe oesophagus were normal. Part of cricoid bones were cut. Carota was normal. 2. Incised wound 2"X 1/2"X ⅙"on the left lower lip and chin part. The wound is lunar in shape. Margins were sharp cut. 3. Incised wound 2" X 1/4" X 1/4" on the left cheek transversely. Margins were sharp cut. 4. Incised wound 21/2" X 1/4" X 1/4" on the right occiptal region of the scalp lying transversely. Margins were sharp cut. 5. Incised wound 4" X 1/4 X 1/4" on left nape of the neck lies vertically. Margins were sharp cut. Extending from the neck to the mastoid region. 5. All the injuries were ante-mortem and injury No. I was dangerous to life. They were caused by sharp-edged weapon. Right juglar and carotied vessels had been cut which resulted in extensive hemorrhage, which was the cause of death. In the opinion of the Doctor, the injuries were sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death. The Doctor also opined that the injuries could be caused by a Hansiya or Dantli. 6. P.W. 7 Rajendra Prasad is a cousin of Saroj and he was studying at the house of Jagdish Prasad, his uncle for purposes of examination. In the opinion of the Doctor, the injuries were sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death. The Doctor also opined that the injuries could be caused by a Hansiya or Dantli. 6. P.W. 7 Rajendra Prasad is a cousin of Saroj and he was studying at the house of Jagdish Prasad, his uncle for purposes of examination. At the relevant time Saroj was studying in her room and Rajendra Prasad was studying in his room when all of a sudden Saroj shouted and he saw that the accused was standing in the room holding hair of Saroj and with a big Dantli gave 3-4 blows on the neck of Saroj and then pointing the Dantli towards the witness the accused ran away. At that time Mr. Gupta and his uncle Jagdish Prasad came there. This witness has not been shaken in the cross-examination in any manner. P.W. 9 Krishan Kant Sharma is the younger brother of Saroj and has stated that the accused suddenly came in the house, entered the room of Saroj and gave Dantli blows on her neck due to which Saroj died. He was watching from outside the room. He has denied that he and Saroj used to go to the house of the accused. 7. The other witness who was in the house at the relevant time and has been examined is P.W.10 Bhagwati Devi, mother of the deceased. She has stated that her son told (MAMMI SUBHASH) she ran and by that time the accused entered the room of Saroj caught hold of her hair and quickly gave blows by a Dantli. Rajendra and she tried to catch Subhash but he waived the Dantli and ran away at that time her husband and Guptaji came there. Saroj was taken to the hospital in a jeep but she died. She has stated that Saroj had complained that Subhash used to tease her and her husband had talked to Subhash accused and after that this incident happened. She has denied that accused and Saroj used to love each other or right letters to each other. She saw the incident from the chowk where she came from the kitchen. P.W. 6 Jagdish Prasad is the father of the deceased while P.W. 5. K.N. Gupta is the person who was coming for lunch along with Jagdish Prasad. She has denied that accused and Saroj used to love each other or right letters to each other. She saw the incident from the chowk where she came from the kitchen. P.W. 6 Jagdish Prasad is the father of the deceased while P.W. 5. K.N. Gupta is the person who was coming for lunch along with Jagdish Prasad. Both of then[ saw the accused running away from the house with a blood stained Hansiya followed by Raju then every body told that as to how the incident occurred. 8. P.W.4 Babu Lal has stated that in his presence Jagdish Prasad had told the accused not to tease his daughter. 9. The accused was arrested from near a Bagichi at Badiyal Road and the clothes which he was wearing at that time were stained with blood. P. W.10 Bhagwati Devi has corroborated the version oft he Investigating Officer P.W. 13 Suresh Tiwari. The nails of the accused were also cut and sealed in his presence. The recovery of Dantli at the instance of the accused was witnessed by P.W. 11 Ram Karan Meena. This Dantli was recovered from a room in the house of the accused. 10. The learned Counsel for the appellant has contended that the story given out by the prosecution does not appear to be probable and according to him the evidence of blood stained clothes and nails is a made up evidence. The accused gave a statement on oath and stated that Saroj and he loved each other and had written several letters out of which sonic of them were produced. He stated that there were other boys who liked Saroj but Saroj did not like them and one of them had murdered her and he has been falsely implicated. He also stated that he was arrested from his shop and at that time there was no blood on his clothes. In cross-examination, he stated that Saroj used to hand over the letters to him personally in the market while going to school. He could not give the names of the other boys who liked Saroj. He admitted that he had made no proposal to marry Saroj. 11. In cross-examination, he stated that Saroj used to hand over the letters to him personally in the market while going to school. He could not give the names of the other boys who liked Saroj. He admitted that he had made no proposal to marry Saroj. 11. Learned Counsel for the appellant has contended that the accused is a literate person who was studying for M.A. examination and he would not be wearing the blood stained clothes for six hours after the incident and he would not remain sitting unwashed hands after all this time. The blood on his clothes and nails is said to he planted. It is contended that why would accused kill Saroj whom he loved and with whom he had correspondence. In absence of some motive, it is contended that he has been falsely implicated without any reason. It is argued that the story about Saroj's making complaint against him is false and no one was told about it as no such thing happened. 12. As for the recovery of the Dantli, it is contended that if the accused had gone to his house to conceal his Dantli, he could have been arrested from his house and why the arrest has been shown from a Bagichi. It is argued that the arrest memo and recovery of Dantli memo do not contain any time and this is because all this has been fabricated. Another contention is that the injuries of the deceased could not have been caused by Dantli because they are of different dimension and it is nobody's case that two weapons were used. According to him the true genesis had been concealed and the appellant has been falsely implicated. 13. The learned Public Prosecutor has supported the decision of the learned Sessions Judge and contended that there are three eye-witnesses of the incident and two more witnesses who saw the accused running away front the house. Besides this, it is contended that the Doctor had stated that injuries could have been caused by a 6" blades of a Hansiya. The evidence about the blood group on the clothes and nails is said to be the clinching piece of evidence which makes the case against the accused full proof. 14. We have considered the contentions raised on behalf of both the sides and examined the record of the case. The evidence about the blood group on the clothes and nails is said to be the clinching piece of evidence which makes the case against the accused full proof. 14. We have considered the contentions raised on behalf of both the sides and examined the record of the case. No doubt some letters have been produced which go to show that Saroj had been writing to the appellant and it shows the secrete correspondence between the accused and deceased and it becomes difficult to find out the motive for killing Saroj but then there is evidence of eye-witnesses who have themselves seen the appellant inflicting Dantli blows on Saroj and there is no reason to disbelieve them. They have not been shaken in their cross-examination. There can be no reason for fably implicating the accused appellant and letting the real accused go scot free. The appellant was in a frantic mood and when he had a Dantli in his hand he could not be apprehended and this is not something improbable. He had killed the person whom he loved and in such circumstances, being distressed could be found with blood stained clothes and hands at the time of arrest which is not something unusual. He alone can say as to why he killed Saroj. Was it on account of jealousy or to take revenge. Then after doing the act he became dump and acted like a person who could not understand his own movements. 15. Several arguments about improbability can be advanced but when there are eye-witnesses to the incident then the motive becomes irrelevant. In the present case, there is enough evidence by way of oral evidence and the report of the F.S.L. about matching of the blood group on the clothes of the deceased and the clothes of the accused and the weapon used then, there remains no room for any doubt. 16. The appellant has inflicted blows one after the other and the intention of causing death can be easily inferred. Hence, the offence committed by him is to be under Section 302 IPC and not any lesser offence. We do not find force in this appeal and the same is dismissed.Appeal dismissed. *******