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2022 DIGILAW 1382 (MP)

Chatrapal Singh v. State of Madhya Pradesh

2022-11-22

AMAR NATH (KESHARWANI), VIVEK RUSIA

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JUDGMENT 1. Regard being had to the similitude of the offence, with the joint request of the parties, these appeals are finally heard and being decided by this common judgment. These Criminal Appeals are filed under Section 374 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 against the common judgment of conviction and sentence dated 25.01.2002 passed by the VII Additional Sessions Judge (Fastrac), Ujjain in Sessions Trial No.221/2015. 2. Appellant - Chhatrapal Singh @ Rusia (Cr.A. No.209 of 2002) has been convicted for the offences punishable under Sections 148, 323/149 and 324/149 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to under to 02 years rigorous imprisonment along with fine of Rs.200/-, 06 months' rigorous imprisonment along with fine of Rs.200/- and 02 years rigorous imprisonment along with fine of Rs.300/- respectively with default stipulation. 3. Appellant - Pappu @ Shambhu Singh (Cr.A. No.2016 of 2002) has been convicted for the offences punishable under Sections 323/149 & 149 of the IPC and sentenced to undergo 06 months rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs.200/- and 02 years rigorous imprisonment along with fine of Rs.300/- with default stipulation. 4. Appellant - Ranjeet Singh @ Rana (Cr.A. No.252 of 2002) has been convicted for the offences punishable under Sections 148 & 302 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to undergo 02 years' rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs.200/- and Life Imprisonment along with fine of Rs.1,000/- with default stipulation. 5. As per the prosecution story, on 17.03.1995 at about 7:00 pm, the appellant - Chhatrapal Singh @ Rusia tried to molest Sunita (niece of Gopal). Shankarlal (brother of Gopal) cautioned Chhatrapal not to involve into these activities. The matter ended at 9:30 pm, but on the same day Chhatrapal came back with his brotherd Ranjeet Singh and Virendra Singh. Chhatrapal and Ranjeet were armed with swords and Virendra was having farsi in his hand. They started assaulting Shankarlal near the Gumti of Laxminarayan. Upon shouting Motilal, Mangilal and Laxminarayan came there and the appellants ran away from the spot . Driver - Vikram Singh, Mangilal, Laxminarayan, Motilal and Gopal took Shankar in the jeep to the Police Station for lodging the FIR. They started assaulting Shankarlal near the Gumti of Laxminarayan. Upon shouting Motilal, Mangilal and Laxminarayan came there and the appellants ran away from the spot . Driver - Vikram Singh, Mangilal, Laxminarayan, Motilal and Gopal took Shankar in the jeep to the Police Station for lodging the FIR. When they reached near nala, then Bheem Singh, Ranjeet Singh, Chhatrapal Singh, Rajendra Singh were wielding swords, Virendra Singh was carrying farsi and Arjun Singh, Gopal Singh, Pappu, Padam Singh, Omkar Singh, Bhanwar Singh and Babu Singh were armed with lathi came there and stopped the Jeep. They all, with an intention to kill, attacked the persons named above sitting in the jeep. Ranjeet Singh caused injuries to Mangilal, who started bleeding and became unconscious. Chhatrapal Singh caused injuries to Motilal and others have caused injuries by means of lathi and farsi. They damaged the jeep and pushed it into the nala and ran away from the spot. Shankarlal and Mangilal were taken to the hospital by Gopal and others, where Mangilal was declared dead. Accordingly, an F.I.R. was registered against as many as 12 accused persons in Crime No.5/1995. Statements of witnesses were recorded under Section 161 of the Cr.P.C. 6. I.O. Sohanpal Singh Choudhary (P.W-20) reached the spot on 18.03.1995 and prepared a spot map, collected blood stained soil and seized the jeep and also prepared a Nuksani Panchnama. The injured were sent to the hospital and MLC report was obtained. The dead body of Mangilal was sent for autopsy, from where the report (Ex-P/5) was received. Photographs were taken by Iqbal (photographer). On 20.03.1995, Nazri Naksa (Ex-P/30) was prepared. Omkar and Bheem Singh were also arrested and on their disclosure arms were recovered. Seized articles were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory vide letter (Ex-P/66) and the report was received vide Ex-P/67. Upon completion of the investigation, charge-sheet was filed and charges under Section 302, 148, 323, 324 r/w section 149 of the IPC were framed against Ranjeet Singh and other accused persons charges under Sections 148, 324, 149 and 302/149 were framed. The accused persons denied the charges, hence, to prove the charges the prosecution examined 20 witnesses and exhibited 69 documents. After evaluating the evidence came on record issue No.1 was decided that the death of Mangilal was homicidal and Mangilal and Shankarlal sustained injuries from sharp-edged weapons but all the injuries were grievous in nature. The accused persons denied the charges, hence, to prove the charges the prosecution examined 20 witnesses and exhibited 69 documents. After evaluating the evidence came on record issue No.1 was decided that the death of Mangilal was homicidal and Mangilal and Shankarlal sustained injuries from sharp-edged weapons but all the injuries were grievous in nature. The trial Court has also recorded the finding that the accused - Chhatrapal and Ranjeet also sustained injuries from hard and blunt objects. After evaluating the evidence on record, on the issue of culpability, learned trial Court has convicted Ranjeet Singh @ Rana under Section 302 of the IPC and sentenced them to undergo Life Imprisonment. Chhatrapal Singh @ Rusia and Pappu @ Shambhu Singh have been convicted under Section 323/149 and 324/149 of the IPC for which the maximum sentence is up to 2 - 2 years. The rest of the accused persons have been acquitted. Hence, these three appeals are before this Court. 7. The jail sentence of Chhatrapal Singh @ Rusia and Pappu @ Shambhu Singh was suspended by this Court, however, Ranjet Singh is in jail since the date of arrest. Against the acquittal of other accused persons, the State has not preferred any criminal appeal, therefore, their acquittal has attained finality. 8. We have heard learned counsel for the parties at length and perused the record. 9. The findings were recorded by the trial Court on the issue of the date of the incident, the cause of death of Mangilal being homicidal and injuries sustained by Motilal and Shankarlal need no reconsideration as the appellants are not challenging the same before this Court. Hence, we hereby confirm the same. In paragraph - 54 of the judgment, the trial Court held that the prosecution has proved the charges of Section 302 against Ranjeet Singh @ Rana as he inserted the sword into the left side of the chest of Mangilal, which became fatal. Hence, he alone has been convicted for the offence punishable under Section 302 of the IPC. Chhatrapal, and Pappu @ Shambhu Singh caused injuries by the hard object to the deceased and others but they have convicted under section 302 also with the aid of section 149 I.P.C. The presence of other accused persons has not been established, therefore, they have completely been acquitted. Chhatrapal, and Pappu @ Shambhu Singh caused injuries by the hard object to the deceased and others but they have convicted under section 302 also with the aid of section 149 I.P.C. The presence of other accused persons has not been established, therefore, they have completely been acquitted. Once the presence of these three appellants Chhatrapal, Ranjeet Singh and Pappu @ Shambhu Singh have been found established and others have been acquitted only on the ground that their presence has not been established, then conviction under Sections 148 and 149 of the IPC is unsustainable. At the most, these appellants are liable to be convicted with the aid of Section 34 of the I.P.C. but there is no charge of section 34 against them. If the accused persons are less than five, hence, it cannot be said that they formed an unlawful assembly, then they are not liable to be convicted under Sections 148 and 149 of the IPC. If offences under Sections 148 and 149 of the IPC are not made out, then their unlawful act is not liable to be seen qua a common object. The conviction and sentence of Chhatrapal and Pappu @ Shambhu Singh who caused simple injuries by the hard object to the deceased and others, hence, they are liable to be convicted under Sections 324 and 323 of the IPC but sentences are on the higher side, therefore, reduced to the period already undergone by them with an enhancement of fine amount to Rs.2,000 - 2,000/-. 10. So far as the conviction of appellant - Ranjeet Singh is concerned, there is a specific finding that he inserted the sword in the left side of the chest of Mangilal with the intention to kill him. The prosecution has examined Gopal as P.W-10 and according to him, Bheem Singh, Ranjeet Singh and Chhatrapal were carrying sword and Virendra was carrying farsi and others were carrying lathi. All of them were shouting that they will not permit them to go to the police station for lodging F.I.R. He specifically stated that Ranjeet Singh has stopped them and inserted a sword in the chest of Mangilal due to which he sustained injuries on his ribs. He saved himself by hiding under the seat of jeep. All of them were shouting that they will not permit them to go to the police station for lodging F.I.R. He specifically stated that Ranjeet Singh has stopped them and inserted a sword in the chest of Mangilal due to which he sustained injuries on his ribs. He saved himself by hiding under the seat of jeep. Likewise, Motilal (P.W-11) has supported the case and prosecution and he also sustained injuries, therefore, his presence on the spot and testimony cannot be disbelieved. Shankarlal also sustained injuries and fully supported the case of the prosecution, especially the act of appellant - Ranjeet Singh, therefore, we do not find any error in the finding recorded by the trial Court. The trial Court has not committed any error in curtailing the evidence against these three appellants who have been identified by the witness and recovery of arms has also been proved, however, no F.I.R. has been registered as Chhatrapal Singh and Ranjeet Singh also sustained injuries. There was a free fight between two groups in which an unlawful act is liable to be seen and the conviction with the aid of Section 149 of the IPC. 11. All the appellants are hereby acquitted under sections 148 and 149 of I.P.C. Ranjeet Singh is hereby convicted under section 302 I.P.C. and the sentence of Life Imprisonment and fine are maintained, hence, the Criminal Appeal No.252 of 2002 filed by Ranjeet Singh @ Rana is partly allowed and the criminal appeals by Chhatrapal Singh & Pappu @ Shambhu Singh i.e. Criminal Appeals No.209 of 2002 & 216 of 2002 respectively are hereby partly allowed. Their conviction under Sections 323 and 324 with the aid of Section 149 of the IPC is hereby quashed and now they are convicted under sections 323 and 324 and the sentences are reduced from 2 - 2 years to the period already undergone by them. However, the fine amount is enhanced to Rs.2000 - 2000/-under each section. Their bail bonds are discharged upon deposit of a fine amount Records of the trial Court be sent back. Let a copy of this judgment be kept in the connected appeals also.