- (1.) THIS is an appeal by 14 persons, namely, Badri, Moti, Munshi, Ram Lal, Gopi, Nathu, Ram singh, Shaitan, Badshah Bhupal, Gajju, Sripal, Maharaj Singh and Chhadami, against their conviction under Section. 147, Section 304 Para II, read with Section 149, I. P. C. and Section 323 read with Section 149, I. P. C. AH the appellants have been sentenced to 1 year's R. I. under section 147, I. P. C. ; each of the appellants 10 to 14 have been sentenced to 5 years' R. I. under section 304 Para II read with Section 149, I. P. C. ; each of the appellants 1 to 9 have been sentenced to 4 years' R. I. under Section 304 Para II read with Section 149, I. P. C. ; and all the appellants have been sentenced to 1 year's R. I. under Section 323 read with Section 149, I. P. C. The sentences have been made to run concurrently.
(2.) THE prosecution case in brief was that the appellants with two others, 'namely, Balwant and babu, who have been acquitted by the court below, entered the Thaar of Kehri deceased and inflicted injuries with lathis on Kehri, his brother Ram Singh and his son Hira Lal, with the result that Kehri died in the evening and the other two who received simple injuries had to remain in hospital for a number of days. According to the prosecution the incident happened on 11th september 1950 at about 7 o'clock in the morning. The motive for the crime as alleged by the prosecution was that for a number of years litigation was going on between Kehri deceased on the one hand and Bhupal, appellant 10, on the other for the partition of a holding. Bhupal had won in the trial court and in the court of the Commissioner. Kehri had filed an appeal in the board of Revenue which was pending at the time of the incident. The prosecution alleged that bhupal had been threatening Kehri to withdraw his appeal or he would lose his life and that since Kehri did not mind the threat he was done to death in the manner already stated.
(3.) THE first information report of the incident was sent by post both to the police station Eka and to the Superintendent of Police on 14th September 1950. The police station received it on 16th september and recorded it in the general diary on that date. Obviously the report was sent by post after a long time. An explanation for the delay was given by Roshan in whose name the report was sent. He stated that after his father, his uncle and his brother had been beaten, he took them to the dispensary at Jasrana which was 10 miles from the village, that Kehri died in the evening of the llth and the other two injured persons had to remain in hospital, that he had to take the body of the deceased for post mortem examination to the district headquarters at Mainpuri which is 30 miles away, that he reached there with the dead body in the morning of the 12th and returned to his village after the post mortem examination on the 13th, on which date he heard that his brother Hira was lying unconscious in the hospital and was about to die, that on hearing this he rushed to the hospital but found that his brother was alive and was not dying, and that he then sent the report on the 14th.;