- (1.) D. K. Trivedi, J. The present criminal appeal is filed by the State of U. P. against the judgment and order dated 16-2- 1979, passed by the 1st Addl. Sessions Judge, Unnao, acquitting the respondents from the charges levelled against them holding that the prosecution has failed to prove the guilt of the respondents beyond reasonable doubt.
(2.) INITIALLY, one Brij Mohan was also prosecuted alongwith the respondents but co-accused Brij Mohan died during the pendency of the trial, hence the trial abated against co-accused Brij Mohan. All the accused persons were prosecuted under Sections 302/149 I. P. C. and 323/149 I. P. C. Accused Kailash Nath was further prosecuted under Section 148 I. P. C. and the remaining accused were prosecuted under Section 147 I. P. C. The respondents as well as the deceased are residents of the same village and are related to each other. One Mahabir had three sons namely; Raj Bahadur, Brij Mohan and Murli Dhar (deceased) Raj Bahadur's Sons Kailash Nath and Alma Ram are accused persons and accused Om Prakash son of Jeet Bahadur is grand son of Raj Bahadur. Bihari son of Brij Mohan is also an accused. Murli Dhar is deceased in this case and Ashok Kumar, P. W. 1 is the complainant in this case. According to the prosecution case, the incident took place on 25-4-1976 at about 12-30 noon in village-Sasan, PS. Bighapur, District-Unnao. It is said that on the date of the incident, the Kurk Amin had come to the village-Sasan and started realising the 'lagan' as well as Vikas Kar. Murli Dhar (deceased) informed him that he would pay the 'lagan' only in respect of two khatas on that day to day only and not on the next date 'vikas Kar' would be paid. It is said that accused Kailash Nath asked him to pay the entire amount of arrears on that very day otherwise he would not allow him to harvest the crop of wheat. On this some altercation took place and it is said that accused Kailash Nath armed with axe, Atma Ram armed with 'danda' Started assaulting Murli Dhar with their respective weapons. The complainant tried to save Murli Dhar but it is said that Briji Mohan and Om Prakash, who were armded with lathis started assault ing the complainant as well as Murli Dhar (deceased ). It is said that Kailash Nath also asaulted him with axe which hit him on his head. On receipt of the injuries Murli Dhar fell down and became unconscious and thereafter, the caused persons ran away. P. W. 1 Ashok Kumar, then went to the police station-Bighapur, and lodged the F. I. R. (Ext. Ka-4) oh 25-4-1976 at about 2. 00 p. m. The distance of the Police Station Bighapur is about 6 miles from the place of incident. Constable Sahdeo registered the case in the G. D. (Ext. Ka-13) (P. W. 6) Suraj Pal Singh, S. O. , who was present at the time of lodging of the F. I. R. recorded the statement of the complainant at the police station itself and, thereafter, sent him to the P. H. C. Bighapur for medical examination through Constable Ram Sunder Singh. The Investigating Officer, thereafter, let for the spot but while he was passing nearby Bighapur Hospital, he noticed that a bullock- cart was parked and on enquiry, he came to know that the condition of injured Murlidhar was serious. On receipt of this information, he made an arrangement to sent Murlidhar to Sadar Hospital and thereafter, sent him to Hospital for medical treatment. Thereafter, he reached the place of the incident and prepared site plan Ext. Ka-4. He also collected samples of blood stained and plain earth from the spot of the occurrence and also prepared a memo Ext. ka-35 to this effect. He also recorded the statements of the witnesses and thereafter returned to the police station and at the police station, he found Kailash as well as Om Prakash, accused persons present. Accused Kailash has also lodged a report at the Police Station -Bighapur, at 2. 15 p. m. Injured Murlidhar died in the District Hospital, Unnao on 25- 4-1976 at about 8. 15 p. m. On receipt of this information, the police of P. S. Kotwali made an entry to this effect and (P. W. 2) Drigpal Singh, S. I. prepared the inquest report and other relevant papers Ext. ka-8 and 9. (P. W. 4) Ram Ratan, S. O. P. S. Bighapur, Distt-Unnao, took up the investigation in this case on 28-4- 1976 and after completing the same, submitted the charge-sheet against the accused persons. The autopsy on the dead body of deceased. Murlidhar was conducted by Dr. V. K. Verma, Medical Officer, District Hospital on 26-4-1976 at about 3. 30 p. m. The medical report is Ext. Ka-1. The doctor found the following ante-mortem injuries on the dead body of deceased Murlidhar. Ante Mortem Injuries (1) Lacerated wound 2" x 1/2" x bone deep on left side of head 5" above the left ear. (2) Lacerated wound 2" x 1/2" x bone deep on right side of scalp 3" above right ear. (3) Abraded contusion 2"x 1/2" on back of upper part on left side.
(3.) ON internal examination the doctor found the fracture of right and left side parietal bones of Murlidhar (deceased ). According to the doctor the death has been caused due to shock and haemorrhage as a result of ante-mortem injuries. According to him the injuries could have been caused by the blunt object like lathi. However, he further stated that if the axe hit by its reverse side, then the injuries mentioned above could have also been caused. Injured Murlidhar was also medically examined when he was alive, by Dr. S. N. Dixit on 25-4-1976 at about 5. 10 p. m. at P. H. C. Bighapur, District-Unnao. The said injury report is Ext. ka-33. Dr. S. N. Dixit also examined the injuries of injured Ashok Kumar and prepared the injury report Ext. ka-32. He found the following injuries on the person of injured Ashok Kumar: (1) Lacerated wound 3 cm. x 1/2 cm. x bone deep on the left side head 10 cm. above left ear. (2) Contused wound 3 cm. x 1 cm. x scalp deep on the head 14 cm. above right ear. (3) Constused wound 1 cm. x 1/2 cm. x scalp deep on right side head 11 cm. from right ear. (4) Abrasion 2 cm. x 1/2 cm. on the right forehead 1 cm. above right eye brow outer border. (5) Constusion 6 cm. x 2 cm. on the left arm 6 cm. above left albow joint. (6) Abrasion 12 cm. x 1 cm. on the left forearm (7) Constusion 15 cm. x 1 cm. on left fore arm. According to him the injuries were simple and were caused by some blunt object like lathi;