CHOTEY Vs. EMPEROR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The applicants, Shiv Shankar and Chhotey Lal, have been convicted under Section 324 and Section 324 read with Section 109, Indian Penal Code, and sentenced to two years and one year's rigorous imprisonment respectively for the two offences.

(2.) The applicants as well as the complainant Rachhpal Singh are residents of Jasrana town in the district of Mainpuri. According to the prosecution the complainant had illicit connexion with the wife of one Mathura Prasad, who was also tried along with the applicants but was acquitted. The applicant Shiv Shankar was in the service of Mathura Prasad, and the other applicant Chhotey Lal is his (Shiv Shankar s) younger brother. Mathura Prasad had engaged Shiv Shankar in order to preventthe complainant from visiting his house, but Shiv Shankar also contracted intimacy with the wife of Mathura, Prasad and a sort of rivalry sprang up between the applicant Shiv Shankar and the complainant. On 18-11-1945, at about 5-30 in the evening the complainant went to the bazar and found Mathura Prasad and the two applicants standing, in front of the shop of one Beni Ram. One Chandan Singh was also sitting there and he ealled out to the complainant and asked him to settle his dispute with the applicant Shiv Shankar. The complainant said something and hot words were exchanged between him and Shiv Shankar. In the meanwhile Shiv Shankar pulled out a knife from his pocket and raised it to strike the complainant. Rachhpal Singh fled into the shop to save himself. He was followed by the applicants as well as Mathura Prasad. Chhotey Lal caught hold of the complainant by the waist while Shiv Shankar inflicted a number of injuries on his person with his knife. Mathura Prasad was said to have stood at the door of the shop in order to prevent the complainant from escaping. The learned Magistrate found that the evidence did not indicate that he (Mathura Prasad) had in fact taken any part in the assault upon the complainant, and accordingly acquitted him. But he accepted the prosecution case and found the applicant Shiv Shankar guilty under Section 324, and the other applicant Chhotey Lal guilty under Section 324 read with Section 109, Indian Penal Code.

(3.) The appellate Court dismissed the appeal of the applicants and maintained their convictions and sentences.