B. N. Agrawal, J. - (1.) Seventeen accused persons were charged and tried for offences under Sections 147, 148, 302, 149, 302 read with Section 34, 307/149, 326/149 and 324/149 of the Indian Penal Code [IPC for short] and by judgment rendered by the Trial Court they were acquitted of all the charges. Against the order of acquittal an appeal was preferred by the State of Maharashtra before the High Court during the pendency of which Abbas Yunus Sonde [A-8] and Ibrahim alias Abdul Rahman Mohammad Kasim Patel [A-9] died, as such, appeal against them abated. The order of acquittal has been confirmed by the High Court in relation to seven accused persons viz., Qasim Hasanmiya Bedekar [A-7, Iqbal Abbas Sonde [A-12, Sharfuddin Abdul Rahiman Patel [A-13, Usman Hasanmiya Bedekar [A-14, Hasanmiya Dhondumiya Bedekar [A-15, Hajirabai w/o Daud Patel [A-16] and Julekhabi w/o Liyakat Sonde [A-17. So far as, Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahiman Patel [A-5, Siraj Abbas Sonde [A-6] and Idrus Yunus Patel [A-11] are concerned, their acquittal has been confirmed in relation to the charge under Section 302 IPC but they have been convicted under Section 148 IPC and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of two years and to pay a fine of Rs. 3,000/- each, in default to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a further period of six months. They have been further convicted under Section 324/149 IPC and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of two years and to pay a fine of Rs. 3,000/- each, in default to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a further period of six months. Both the sentences have been ordered to run concurrently. So far as Abdul Latif Hasanmiya Bedekar [A-1, Liyakat Abbas Sonde [A-2, Shaikhali Kasam Karjikar [A-3, Usman Abdul Rahiman Patel [A-4] and Daud Abdul Rahiman Patel [A-10] are concerned, they have been convicted under Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life. These accused persons have been also convicted under Sections 148 and 324/149 IPC but, no separate sentence has been awarded.
(2.) Prosecution case, in short, was that one Mariam, daughter of Usman Hasanmiya [PW 19] had love affair with Qasim Hasanmiya Bedekar [A-7. On 06.08.1982 Mariam disappeared from the village along with A-7. They proceeded to Bombay and got married on 15.08.1982. They returned to village Halbudruk six days before the incident. There was tension between the two groups in the village, i.e., Bedekars (accused persons) and Jalgaonkars (the members of prosecution party) on account of their said love affair but the matter was settled.
(3.) Further prosecution case was that on 27.8.1982 Salma Usman Dhanse [PW-12] had spread rice on the road in front of her house for drying. She had asked her daughter Parvin to sit and watch the same. Parvin, however, went out for playing which annoyed Salma and she scolded Parvin. Parvin sulked and sat in the sun. Salma told her that like the rice she would also get dried up which would be good for her as her fat would melt in that way. Hajirabai [A-16, who was living in the vicinity, thought that Salma had made those remarks against her, as such she picked up a quarrel with Salma. On 28.8.1982 when Usman Abdul Rahiman Dhanse [PW-3, husband of Salma, was coming to his house, A-16 accosted him and conveyed her grievance against Salma. PW-3 explained to her that those remarks were directed towards Parvin and not her. As A-16 was not satisfied with the explanation, A-4, A-5, A-12 and A-13 came to the house of PW-12 and abused her and her husband [PW-3. When Nijam Malang Mukadam [PW-4, brother of PW-12, enquired as to why they were quarrelling, the four accused persons also abused and threatened him. PW-3 and PW-4 went to Ismail (since deceased) for advice as he was an elderly person in the village. Some other prosecution witnesses were also sitting in the house of Ismail who advised PW-3 and PW-4 not to quarrel but to lodge a complaint with the police. Upon their request Ismail accompanied them to the police station and all the three went on cycles. On their way to the police station they took Hussain Karjikar, brother-in-law of PW-4, along with them. Hussain advised PW-3 and PW-4 to go to Khalapur Police Station and lodge a complaint. Hussain and Ismail waited on the road. PW-3 and PW-4 reached the police station and lodged a First Information Report [FIR for short] against A-4, A-5, A-12 and A-13 on the statement of PW-3. In view of the said case, Head Constable-S.D. Pawar [PW-37, in-charge of the police station, sent Jamadar Pasthe by jeep to village Hal Budruk to bring the accused persons to the police station. A-4, A-5, A-12 and A-13 were brought to the police station by police jeep. The other accused persons, i.e., A-1, A-3, A-6, A-9 and A-11 also arrived at the police station. The police warned the accused persons not to commit breach of peace. A-9, who was also police Patel of the village, promised to bring both the parties to the police station at 7 a.m. next day. The Police obtained a written undertaking from the parties to the above effect.;