- (1.)These appeals are directed against the judgment dated 5th of June, 1997 passed in Sessions Trial No. 375/92 by the Fourth Additional Sessions Judge, Bilaspur. By the impugned judgment, the appellants were convicted and sentenced in the following manner with a direction to run the sentences concurrently:- JUDGEMENT_113_TLCHH0_2013_1.html
(2.)1 Eleven (11) accused persons (A-1 to A-11) were tried for the offences punishable u/Ss 302/149 (in 4 counts), 307/149 (in 2 counts), 324/149 (in 3 counts) & 323/149 IPC (in 2 counts). The allegations are that on 8.6.1992 at about 11.45 a.m., they formed an unlawful assembly and in furtherance of the common object of the said assembly committed murder of 4 deceased persons namely- Adhindas, Fatte, Rameshwar and Mohani, attempted to the lives of Padum (PW-15) & Dilip Kumar (PW-8), caused hurt by dangerous weapons to Satrughan (PW-14), Mani Ram (PW-4) & Roopchand (PW-25) and caused simple hurt to Moolchandra (PW-6) & Resham (PW-7).
2.2 Village- Dayalpur and Bandhwa are adjacently situated. There was parti-bandi in these villages. One party was belonging to Kejaha Satnami and the other party was belonging to Adhindas. On 8.6.1992 at about 9.30 a.m., Kejaha Satnami, father of Satrughan (A-9) and Lakhan (A-10), was murdered and an offence was registered. An other offence for committing mischief by fire was also registered. For investigation of the said offences, a police party, comprising S.I., Sanjay Tiwari (PW-21 S.H.O.), A.S.I., Chotelal Pandey (PW-20) and Constable, Virendra Kumar (PW-24), had reached to village Dayalpur and investigation was being conducted. The police party was interrogating the deceased and injured persons of this case by camping near Jaitkham.

2.3 The allegations are that the accused persons, who were belonging to the party of deceased- Kejaha, gathered near his dead body, put Tika on their forehead by blood of deceased- Kejaha and sworn that they shall take revenge (saying that "[kuw dk cnyk [kwu ls gh yasxas ") and shall commit murder of the persons belonging to the party of Adhindas (deceased person). At about 11.45 a.m., the accused persons (A-1 to A-11), all of a sudden, appeard near Jaitkham and attacked over the complainant party who were present with the police. The accused persons were armed with lathi and tabbal etc. They surrounded the persons of the complainant party and started assaulting them. Four (4) persons of the complainant party namely- Adhindas, Fatte, Rameshwar and Mohani sustained multiple serious injuries and succumbed to those injuries. Other persons present there namely - Padum (PW-15), Dilip Kumar (PW-8), Satrughan (PW-14), Mani Ram (PW-4), Roopchand (PW-25), Moolchandra (PW-6) and Resham (PW-7) also sustained multiple injuries. When the incident was going on, S.I., Sanjay Tiwari (PW-21) and two other police officers, A.S.I., Chotelal Pandey (PW- 20), and Constable, Virendra Kumar (PW-24) tried to intervene, but the accused persons did not hear them. The persons of police party fired many rounds in the air from their services revolver to stop the accused persons and to prevent the incident, but the accused persons attacked over the police party also. They assaulted A.S.I., Chotelal Pandey (PW-20) by tabbal who had sustained injury. Constable, Virendra Kumar (PW-24) had also sustained injuries. They also attacked over S.I., Sanjay Tiwari (PW-21) and somehow their lives were saved. For attempting to the lives of above police personnels, a separate offence u/Ss 148, 307/149 and 333/149 IPC was also registered against the accused persons which became the subject matter of Sessions Trial No. 49/93 in which they were convicted by the Sessions Court.

2.4 S.I., Sanjay Tiwari (PW-21) immediately recorded Dehatinalishi (Ex.-P/52), based on which, First Information Report (F.I.R. Ex.-P/51) was registered. Notices (Ex.-P/24, P/26, P/28 & P/30) to the Panchas were issued and inquest(s) (Ex.-P/25, P/27, P/29 & P/31) were prepared and the dead bodies were sent for post-mortem. The postmortem examinations were conducted by Dr. N.S. Chandel (PW-2). He noticed following injuries on the dead bodies of the deceased persons:-

2.4.1 Deceased- Mohani:

(i) Incised wound of 6 x 3 cm x bone deep on the right scapular region, scapula was broken into 3 pieces;

(ii) Contusion of 10 x 4 cm on the lower right portion of the back;

(iii) Incised wound of 6 x 3 cm x bone deep on the occipital region having fracture of underlying bone;

(iv) Lacerated wound of 3.5 x 2 cm x bone deep on the right parietal region;

(v) Lacerated wound of 10 x 3 cm x bone deep on the right occipito-parietal region, underlying occipital bone was broken into several pieces, brain matter had come out; &

(vi) Multiple wounds of teeth-bite (5 in number) on the upper portion of left forearm.

On internal examination, it was found that there were multiple fractures over occipital and parietal bones. Brain membrane has ruptured; brain matter has come out, many blood clots were present on right and left occipital region. According to him injury no. (i) & (iii) were caused by sharp edged weapons and other injuries were caused by hard and rough weapons and teeth-bite. The injuries were ante-mortem and sufficient to cause death in ordinary course of nature. The cause of death was injuries to the skull and brain and the death was homicidal in nature. His postmortem report is Ex.-P/6.

2.4.2 Deceased- Rameshwar :

(i) Lacerated wound of 6 x 4 cm x bone deep on the left occipital region;

(ii) Incised wound of 5 x 3 cm x bone deep on the right parietal region, underlying bone was broken into many pieces, the brain matter has come out;

(iii) Lacerated wound of 3 x 2 x 2 cm on the left parietal region;

(iv) Lobe of right ear-pinna was completely cut;

(v) There was swelling of 10 x 8 cm around the right eye, the eye was blackish;

(vi) Abrasion of 6 x 5 cm on the right portion of back; &

(vii) Abrasion of 10 x 1 cm on the right thigh.

On internal examination, it was found that blood clots were present on right parietal and occipital regions; there were multiple fractures on right parietal and occipital bones; some pieces of bones have pierced into brain tissue; right parietal and occipital lobes of the brain were ruptured. All the injuries were ante-mortem. Injury no. (i), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi) & (vii) were caused by hard and rough object and injury no. (ii) was caused by sharp edged weapon. The cause of death was injury to the skull and brain and death was homicidal in nature. His postmortem report is Ex.-P/7.

2.4.3 Deceased- Adhindas :

(i) Swelling of 6 x 4 cm on the right portion of forehead, right eye blackish;

(ii) Swelling of 8 x 3 cm on the right forearm;

(iii) Swelling of 5.5 x 2 cm on the left forearm;

(iv) Swelling of 12 x 2 cm on the lower portion of right leg;

(v) Swelling of 16 x 2 cm on the right portion of chest;

(vi) Swelling on the right portion of chest at the position of 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th ribs, on pressing it was appearing with the ribs were broken;

(vii) Lacerated wound of 5 x 2 x 2 cm near left eyebrow;

(viii) Left ear-pinna was torn; &

(ix) Lacerated wound of 4 x 2 x 2 cm on the left occipital region.

On internal examination, blood clots were found on left temporal parietal and occipital regions, brain membrane was reddish, blood clots were found over the brain membrane; there were fractures over 3rd & 6th ribs; a piece of rib has broken and pierced into left lung; thoracic cavity was full of blood; trachea was also full of blood. All the injuries were ante-mortem caused by hard and rough object. They were sufficient to cause death in ordinary course of nature. The cause of death was injuries to the brain and lung and the death was homicidal in nature. His postmortem report is Ex.-P/8.

2.4.4 Deceased- Fatte :

(i) Swelling over the right forearm. It was appearing that there were fractures over the bones;

(ii) Abrasion of 12 x 2 cm on the left portion of back;

(iii) Left ear-pinna was torn, the ear passage was full of blood;

(iv) Incised wound of 4.5 x 3 cm x bone deep on the occipital region, there was fracture on the underlying bone; &

(v) Incised wounds of 8 x 3 cm x bone deep on the left parietal region, there was fracture on the underlying bone.

On internal examination, it was found that there was sub-dural haemorrhage in the cerebral region; there were fractures over the right parietal and occipital bones; the injuries were ante-mortem; injury no. (i), (ii) & (iii) were caused by hard and blunt object and injury no. (iv) & (v) were caused by sharp edged object. These injuries were sufficient to cause death in ordinary course of nature. The cause of death was injury to the skull and brain and the death was homicidal in nature. His postmortem report is Ex.-P/9.

2.5 Injured persons were also sent for their medical examinations. Following are the injuries sustained by the injured persons:-

2.5.1 Injured- Dilip (PW-8):

(I) Incised wound of 11 x 3 x 3 cm over back part of right shoulder joint, margins clean cut and regular.

The above injury was caused by hard and sharp cutting object. His MLC report is Ex.-P/5. He was advised for Xray examination. On X-ray examination, it was found that there was corresponding fracture on acromian process. His X-ray report is Ex.-P/61. He was admitted in the hospital from 9.6.1992 and was discharged on 21.6.1992. Discharge ticket is Ex.-P/63.

2.5.2 Injured- Padum (PW-15):

(i) Incised wound of 5 x 1/2 x 1/2 cm on temporoparietal area;

(ii) Swelling and tenderness over left forearm;

(iii) Pain, swelling and tenderness over right forearm;

(iv) Abrasion over right side of elbow; &

(v) Abrasions over both sides of right knee.

On X-ray examination, it was found that there was a fracture over his left ulna. X-ray report is Ex.-P/62.

2.5.3 Injured- Satrughan (PW-14):

(i) Incised wound of 15 x 5 x 5 cm on the left portion of back and back portion of left forearm, margins regular, red in colour. It was simple injury caused by sharp edged weapon. His MLC report is Ex.-P/1.

2.5.4 Injured- Mani Ram (PW-4):

(i) Incised wound of 5 x 8 x 8 cm (bone deep) on the left portion of skull, margins regular, red in colour;

(ii) Abrasion of 3 x 1 cm on the left patella, read in colour;

(iii) Incised wound of 1 x 5 x 5 cm on the upper portion of left leg, red in colour; &

(iv) Abrasion of .8 x .8 cm on the middle of the nose, red in colour.

Injury no. (i) & (iii) were caused by sharp edged weapon and injury no. (ii) and (iv) were caused by hard and rough object. All the injuries were simple injuries. His MLC report is Ex.-P/2.

2.5.5 Injured- Roopchand (PW-25 ) :

(i) Incised wound on the back portion of left shoulder joint, margins regular, red in colour; blood was coming out.

The injury was caused by sharp edged weapon. X-ray examination was advised. Cut injuries were found over superior aspect of left shoulder and articular surface of head of humorous. He was admitted in the hospital from 9.6.1992 to 21.7.1992. Surgery was performed. Discharge ticket is Ex.-P/64 and bed-head-ticket is Ex.- P/65.

2.5.6 Injured- Moolchandra (PW-6):

(I) Lacerated wound of 3 x .8 x .5 cm on the left portion of skull, margins regular, red in colour.

It was simple injury caused by hard and rough object. His MLC report is Ex.-P/3.

2.5.7 Injured- Resham(PW-7):

(i) Two bruises of 7 x 2.7 cm and 5 x 2.5 cm on the back portion of right side of chest; &

(ii) Abrasion of 3.5 x 2 cm on the back portion of right forearm, red in colour.

Both injuries were simple injuries caused by hard and rough object. His MLC report is Ex.-P/4.

2.6 The case of the prosecution was based on 16 eyewitnesses, including the above injured witnesses as also the police personnels who were also injured. The learned Sessions Judge relied on the testimonies of these witnesses and held that it was proved beyond all reasonable doubts that the accused persons had formed an unlawful assembly and had committed the above offences in furtherance of the common objects of the said assembly. The accused persons, thus, were convicted and sentenced as above.

(3.)Accused- Babudas (A-3) had also filed a separate appeal. However, he died during the pendency of the appeal, therefore, his appeal has abated. Thus, the remaining 10 accused persons are before us.