- (1.) Anokhelal Ranjit Singh, original accused 1 and Appellant in Criminal Appeal No. 28 of 1954, Harnarain Nanakchand, original accused 2 and Appellant in Criminal Appeal No. 23 of 1954 and Rankishan Mithanlal Sharma, original accused 4 and Appellant in Criminal Appeal No. 4 of 1954, along with one Rubidas Radhelal, original accused 3 since deceas ed and one Bankelal Devisingh still absconding were charged under Section 397 read with Section 395 of the Indian Penal Code with having committed dacoity and used deadly weapons at the time of committing the same and were also charged under Section 396 of the Indian Penal Code with having committed the murder of Lawrence Quadros at the same time and place and in the course of the same transaction while committing the said dacoity. The trial was held before the Sessions Judge for Greater Bombay with the aid of a special jury. The jury returned unanimnous verdicts of guilty against each of the accused and the learned Sessions Judge convicted them and sentenced each of them to transportation for life. An appeal filed by them to the High Court of Judicature at Bombay was summarily dismissed. Special leave was granted to them to appeal to this Court and these 3 special leave appeals have now come on for hearing and final disposal before us.
(2.) The prosecution alleged that the Lloyds Bank Ltd. had a branch situated at Hornby Road and had three entrances, the main one on Hornby Road and two others on Outram Road and Bastion Road. It was customary for the Bank to send cash from time to time to the Reserve Bank whenever the Head Cashier thought that there was a surplus. On a day previous to the day when cash was to be sent, the Head Cashier would give the currency notes to the Assistant Cashiers. As a token of having checked up the notes each of the Assistant Cashiers would put their signatures on the top and the bottom notes in a bundle containing 100 notes of Rs. 100 each, and would affix thereon the rubber stamp of the Bank. These notes then would be tied up in what are known as "thappis" each "thappi" consisting of 10 bundles a 100 notes each. On the day that the cash was to be sent an escort party would go to the Reserve Bank with the cash consisting of two Assistant Cashiers, one European officer and a peon. The Assistant Cashiers would then put the cash into a leather bag which bag would be attached by an iron chain to the person of the peon. The Lloyds Bank it appear had received a large deposit from the Bank of Iran a few days prior to the day in question and it was decided that an amount of Rs. 12 lakhs should be sent to the Reserve Bank of India on the 20th April 1951.
(3.) In the morning of the 20th April the escort party consisted of Brightling, Sarkari and Doctor and the peon Rama Madura and taxi No. BMT 1829 was summoned to carry the party to the Reserve Bank. The escort party emerged from the rare door of the Bank and went up to the taxi. Bala Gopal Kadam, a watchman was on duty on Bastion Road. When the escort party came out, the taxi's bonnet was in the direction of the Empire Cinema and the driver Lawrence Quadros was at the driver's seat. Brightling got into the taxi first and took his seat on the rear seat and was followed by Rama Madura. Sarkari went round in front and took his seat next to the taxi driver. Rama Madura after entering the taxi placed the bag on the taxi's floor and was about to take his seat. Doctor was standing with his left hand on the rear door of the taxi on the Bank side waiting for Rama Madura to take his seat. It was at this juncture that accused 1, 2 and 4, Rubidas and Bankelal attacked the taxi and escort party. One of these persons first wrenched open the door to the taxi drivers seat, leaned inside and fired twice with a revolver. One of these shots caused an injury to Lawence Quadros near the collar bone, which almost instantaneously caused his death and his body came out with the head first. The man who so shot after leaning into the taxi went round the front of the taxi and took his seat next to the driver's seat. There was another man behind this one when the driver was shot, and he pulled out Lawrence Quadros from the taxi and took his seat at the steering wheel. That man was Rubidas -one time a motor driver in the employ of the Pan American Airways at Delhi. Accused 1 also armed with a revolver stood on the road side of the taxi and fired twice at the taxi from that side and accused 2 and 4 were either at the back or on the Bank side and were also armed with revolvers. Sarkari first thought that these shots were tyre-bursts and naturally got out of his seat to inspect the tyres but hearing further shots he realised that an attempt was being made to loot the cash. He got frightened and went in the direction of Outram Road. Brightling got out of the taxi, first went a little towards the back of the taxi and then seeing that the taxi was surrounded, zig-zagged and went towards the junction of Outram and Bastion Roads where he tried unsuccessfully to stop a passing car. Accused 1 who was firing at the, taxi came near it, opened the back door of the taxi on the road side with his shoulder and got into the taxi. Accused 2 came towards the rear door of the taxi on the Bank side and fired at Doctor injuring him on the dorsum of his left palm. Kadam at about this time raised his baton, realising that Doctor was in danger whereupon accused 2 shouted "Khabardar, Chhod do chale jao, bhago" or words to that effect and shot at him injuring him in his right eye. That injury resulted in the total loss of his right eye. Both the accused 2 and 4 were armed with revolvers. A driver by name Sarvarkhan, was sitting on the footpath near the taxi and seeing the body of Lawrence Ouadros falling out of the taxi he tried to go up to him but the accuser 4 prevented him from doing so shouting at him "khabardar' and threatened him with his revolver. During the course of the attack someone of these men shot at Rama Madura. Rama Madura became unconscious and accused 2 and another dragged him out from the taxi. The taxi was then started whereupon Brightling, who was still on Bastion Road, after making signals to the Cash Department to show as to what was taking place picked up a motor cycle parked near the corner of the Parsi Lying-in-Hospital and threw it in the way of the taxi but Rubidas, who was driving that taxi, managed to drive it away. The taxi however had to be first driven at a slow speed and one Major Casey, who was standing at the corner of the footpath saw the whole of the incident and also those inside the taxi when it was driven past him. The prosecution alleged that accused 1, 2 and 4, Rubidas and Bankelal surrounded and attacked the taxi and its inmates and, after snatching away the bag tied to Ram Madura's belt with the cash containing Rs.12 lakhs drove away in that taxi. Brightling and some other employees of the Bank after some time secured a car which was parked nearby and went round in search of the taxi but to no purpose. Brightling then reported the matter to the Esplanade Police Station but before that the telephone operator of the Bank, Mrs. Paterson who with Miss Vida Palmer, a clerk, had seen the incident from the window on the mezzanine floor had telephoned to the police and several police officers arrived at the Bank soon after. Lawrence Quadros was already dead and his body was sent to the morgue. Doctor, Kadam and Rama madura, who had all been injured, were sent to St. George's Hospital. The taxi which was driven away by Rubidas with the accused and Bankelal, seated therein was found abandoned at about 1.30 p.m. on that very day by the police not far from the Kashmir Hotel.;