- (1.) This criminal appeal u/S. 374(2), Cr. P.C. has been preferred against the judgment and order of Sri Jag Mohan Paliwal, the then VII Additional Sessions Judge, Unnao delivered on 30-3- 1984 in Sessions Trial No. 237 of 1984, whereby he convicted and sentenced the appellant u/S. 307, I.P.C. to undergo four years' R.I.
(2.) Briefly speaking the facts giving rise to this appeal are : that on 23-11-1982 there was an alterca tion between Ashok Kumar son of complainant Ram Khelawan and the accused Sukhbir Singh at about 6 p.m. Ashok Kumar had a betel shop and the accused had taken sweets and betels from that shop but did not pay the cost thereof, which resulted in the altercation between the two. It was, however, sub- sided by one Sappu Singh who was sitting nearby. On the same day at about 10 p.m., accused Sukhbir Singh went to the house of the complainant and began to shower abuses from the Galiyara. The complainant Ram-Khelawan was in his room. He came out with a lantern whereupon accused Sukhbir Singh fired at him. Ram Khelawan raised a hue and cry and chased accused Sukhbir Singh and succeeded in apprehend ing him with the help of his sons and others who had also rushed to the place of occurrence on the report of fire-arm. A country-made pistol with a fired cartridge was seized from accused Sukhbir Singh who was held and made to sit at the door-way of Ram Khelawan. A written report was scribed by Gauri Shanker who is the complainant's son and in the meantime Devi Shanker, another son of complainant fetched a Khadkhada and carried injured Ram Khelawan and accused Sukhbir Singh to the police station Kotwali, district Unnao and lodged the F.I.R. there at 12.20 a.m. on 24-11-1982. The accused Sukhbir Singh was also handed over to the police together with the country-made pistol seized from him. A case u/S. 307, I. P.C. was registered at the police station on the basis of this F.I.R. and investigation followed. After completing the investigation and obtaining the sanction for prosecution, the Investigating Officer submitted the charge-sheet against the appellant for his prosecution u/S. 307, I.P.C. and Section 25, Arms Act.
(3.) The prosecution examined in support of its case, Ram Khelawan P.W. 1, Ashok Kumar P.W. 2, Gauri Shanker P.W. 3 and Bal Krishna P.W. 4 as witnesses of fact while S.I. Ran Vijay Singh P.W. 5, Constable Moharrir Bhajan Lal P.W. 6 and Dr. B. N. Saxena P.W. 7 were examined as formal witnesses. The prosecution also exhibited the material docu ments and articles in the case. The accused denied the prosecution allegations and pleaded his false implica tion as a result of Partibandi in village, However, he did not adduce any evidence in defence. The learned Additional Sessions Judge on a scrutiny of the prosecution evidence and the material placed on record came to find that it was accused Sukhbir Singh who had fired at Ram Khelawan causing him fire-arm injuries and that accused Sukhbir Singh was also apprehended soon after the occurrence only at a short distance from the place of occurrence together with the country made pistol and handed over to the police thereafter together with the first information report. The learned Additional Sessions Judge acquitted the accused u/S. 25, Arms Act but found the accused guilty u/S. 307, I.P.C. and sentenced him to undergo four years' R.I. Feeling aggrieved by this order of conviction and sentence, the convict Sukhbir Singh has preferred this appeal. State has not preferred appeal against the acquittal u/S. 25, Arms Act.;