- (1.) The State of Uttar Pradesh on being aggrieved by the judgment of the High Court of Allahabad (Lucknow Bench) rendered in Crl. A. No. 664 of 1977 and Government Appeal No. 796 of 1977 whereby the High Court reversed the judgment of the trial court convicting the 4 respondents herein and also dismissing the appeal preferred by the State under Section 377 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for enhancement of sentence of death instead of sentence of imprisonment for life. Facts of the case are well set out both in the judgment of the trial court as well as of the High Court. Hence we feel that it is not necessary for us to reiterate the same except referring to a few facts which are necessary for the disposal of this appeal.
(2.) The 4 respondents who were arrayed as accused 7, 3, 2, and 6 respectively before the trial court along with 3 others namely accused 1, 4 and 5 took their trial on the allegations that on March 14, 1976 at about 3.30 p.m. they all formed themselves into an unlawful assembly and in prosecution of the common object of such assembly caused the death of the deceased Fakhrul Hassan alias Fakku. The third respondent (A-2) fired at the deceased with his pistol for more than three times and that the fourth respondent (A-6) decapitated the deceased after he had fallen down by means of a weapon like a gandasa whilst the victim was thrust to the ground by respondents 1, 2 and 3 and other unidentified persons. To substantiate these allegations the prosecution has examined nearly 16 witnesses of whom PWs 1 and 2 are the eyewitnesses. PW 8 is the father of the deceased. PW 4 is the person who claims to have seen both the deceased and accused 7 moving together at the time of the occurrence at about 2.00 p.m. The rest are either formal or official witnesses.
(3.) The motive for the occurrence is as follows: The deceased aged 28 years, son of PW 8 was having illicit intimacy with Smt Naseem who is the daughter of the third respondent (Aziz Ahmad alias Lallu, A-2) and sister of the first respondent Jamal Ahmad. Naseem was married to a person (whose name is not brought in evidence) at Fathepur. Smt Naseem left her marital home about 17 or 18 days before the occurrence and was missing. The third respondent suspected that the deceased may have been responsible for the missing. This was the proximate cause for this barbarous murder of the deceased. Quresh Ahmed Khan and his son Aziz Ahmed Khan alias Lallu, the third respondent herein went to the house of PW 8 and made a complaint about the missing of the third respondent's daughter, Smt Naseem. PW 8 told that he would make an enquiry from his son and give them a reply. On the same day, PW 8 told Quresh Ahmed Khan and Aziz Ahmed Khan that his son, the deceased had nothing to do with the missing of Smt Naseem.;