- (1.) D. V. Sharma, J. All the above mentioned appeals arise out of the same judgment and order dated 31. 10. 1984 passed by 1st Additional and Sessions Judge, Barabanki in joint criminal trials, leading case of which is Sessions Trial No. 90-A of 1974, convicting and sentencing the appellants to undergo 3 months' R. I. under section 147,i. P. C. , 3 months' R. I. under section 120-B, 3 months' R. I. under section 162 read with section 149 I. P. C. , 3 months' R. I. under sections 343 read with section 149, 3 months' R. I. under section 353 read with section 149 I. P. C. , 3 months' R. I. under Rule 119 (5) of the Defence of India Rules, 6 months' R. I. under Rule 43 (5) of the Defence of India Rules, 6 months' R. I. under section 365 read with section 149 I. P. C. , 6 months' R. I. under section 6 (b) and 6 months' R. I. under section 7 (c) of the P. A. C. Act read with section 149 I. P. C. All the sentences were ordered to run concurrently, but the appellants were acquitted under sections 148 and 332 read with section 149 and 409 read with sections 149 and 394 read with sections 149 and 506 read with sections 149 and 504 read with sections 149 and 393 read with sections 149 and 384 read with sections 149 and 395 I. P. C. , under sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act and section 6 (c) of P. A. C. Act, read with section 149 I. P. C.
(2.) AT the very out set we may point out that two accused persons namely Ziledar and Chandrashekher have not filed any appeal. Appellant Brahm Bux Singh, Ali Husain and Ram Sajan are reported to be dead, hence their appeals stand abated. The factual matrix is as under:- In Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary (here-in-after referred to as P. A. C.) is an armed force and regulated by Provincial Armed Constabulary Act, 1948, wherein all sorts of strike or indiscipline are not permissible. Unlike other civil services, this disciplined force has not been authorized to form any union. Thus all sorts of union activities were not permissible to the members of the Provincial Armed Constabulary. The State Government was satisfied that there was great unrest in different battalions of the Provincial Armed Constabulary located at different places. Since these battalions were armed with firearms, accordingly it was considered that before taking any dangerous recourse, it would be better that the Quarter Guards of different battalions should be kept under the charge of the Army. Quarter Guard is the place where the arms and ammunitions are stored. The out break of unrest started at Jahangirabad, Barabanki where battalion No. X-A of the Provincial Armed Constabulary was located under the charge of Commandant Shri S. N. Gupta. Having regard to the indiscipline, unrest and other incriminating activities the report was lodged at P. S. Masauli, district-Barabanki about the incident. The F. I. R. discloses that under the Government Orders communicated through the superior officers to the commandant, it was considered desirable to hand over the charge of Quarter Guard to the Army. Shri S. N. Gupta directed Shri R. B. Singh, adjutant PW-1 to relieve the P. A. C personnel, who were entrusted to the security of the Quarter Guard. At about 2. 00 a. m. in the night intervening 21/22. 5. 1973. Shri R. B. Singh went to take charge of the Quarter Guard so that it might be in the charge of the army. Sri M. P. Misra, Company Commander had to guide the army from Lucknow to Jahangirabad. In the same night at about 2 a. m. Dy. Superintendent of Police Sri B. B. Jatav along with R. I. Sri Shyam Srivastava and one Constable arrived at Jahangirabad in a Jeep, wherefrom they had to go with a Company Commander in the area of Police Station Deva, District Barabanki in order to disarm the unit of P. A. C. already deputed there. The complainant Sri S. N. Gupta along with Nand Lal Singh, Assistant Commandant Sri R. B. Singh, Adjutant and Sri Jatav was sitting at his Bangalow in proper uniform awaiting arrival of the army. On arrival of the army Sri R. B. Singh, Adjutant went towards quarter guard and ordered the Sentries to hand over their rifles. The Sentry Constable Lallan Pandey at once handed over his arm, but other Sentry Constable Shiv Kumar Pandey told the Adjutant that he would hand over his arm only if ordered in writing. The Adjutant started writing and in the meantime accused persons Head Constable Pati Ram Yadav, Subedar Sharma and Constables Shiv Kumar Pandey, Ram Chandra Singh and Natha Ram, who were also on duty at the quarter guard interfered and obstructed the Adjutant while he was discharging his official duty and was in proper uniform. Sri R. B. Singh ran from that place and told the informant Sri S. N. Gupta about the incident. While the informant along with Sri Nand Lal Singh was in the way to quarter guard on a Jeep, on the exhortation of accused, Head Constable Pati Ram Yadav took position and compelled the Bugler to blow double bagel, as a result of which more than four hundred P. A. C. personnel arrived at that place. They in pursuance of their common object closed gate No. 1 of the fort at once so that the vehicles of the army might not come in. Thereafter leaving Nand Lal Singh, Assistant Commandant with the army personnel, the informant, Major Karmwala, Company commander Sri M. P. Misra and Adjutant Sri R. B. Singh came inside the fort through canteen. Sri S. N. Gupta, the Commandant, declared the crowd of J. A. C. personnel deputed at the quarter guard as an unlawful assembly and he ordered them to disperse and also to obey the orders of the Government and to maintain discipline but the P. A. C personnel named below refused to obey the orders of the Commandant and repeatedly excited their other companions to become mutinous:- Head Constables (1) Brahma Baksh Singh, (2) Gulab Singh (3) Ram Chandra Singh, (4) Pati Ram Yadav, (5) Govind Singh, (6) Hu-nar Deo Yadav, (7) Abdul Salam and Constables (8) Fateh Bahadur Singh, (9) Vijai Bahadur Singh (10) Sheo Harsh Pandey, (11) Sanjay Singh, (12) Badruddin, (13) Deota Singh, (14) Sheo Prasad Rai, (15) Ram Deo Yadav, (16) Jwala Prasad Tewari, (17) Roop Chand, (18) Chandra Shekhar Misra, (19) Mohd. Shammim, (20) Subedar Sharma, (21) Ishtiyaq Ahmad, (22) Sheo Kumar Pandey, (23) Ram Chandra Yadav, (24) Natha Ram, (25) Siya Ram Singh, (26) Shyam Prakash Singh, (27) Ziledar Misra, (28) Uma Shanker Pandey and (29) Sheo Mani Kushwaha. However, on their protest Major Sri Karmwala fixed 5 a. m. for taking charge of the armory but the accused refused to hand over charge and told the Commandant that they would go to Lucknow to verify the genuineness about the concerned Government Order. Considering the gravity of the situation the Commandant Sri S. N. Gupta allowed Head Constable Amin Beg, Constable Munna Tewari, Satish Chandra Misra and Jwala Prasad Tewari to go to Lucknow for the purpose. Thereafter when complainant Sri S. N. Gupta, the Commandant, reached the gate of the canteen to leave Major Sri Karmwala out of the fort, he found that the gate was closed and it was not opened even on his order. At that time Sri A. K. Srivastava, Company Commander came to the complainant from the crowed of P. A. C. personnel in a perplexed condition and told him that the accused persons Constable Sheo Harsh Pandey, Fateh Bahadur Singh, Siya Ram Singh and others had obstructed him in discharging public duties, and tried to snatch away the keys of the armory and also compelled him to hand over the keys. The complainant Sri Gupta helped the Company Commander Sri A. K. Srivastava and Major Karmwala in climbing over the roof of the kitchen of the canteen and in jumping down from there outside the boundary wall of the fort. Thereafter the complainant was engaged in pacifying and cooling down the crowd so as to avoid use of force by the army, but the aforesaid personnel captured the informant Sri S. N. Gupta, Commandant, and took him forcibly to the officer's club where the complainant found that Adjutant Sri R. B. Singh P. W. I, Quarter Master Mahabir Singh P. W. 3, Company Commander B. K. Chaturvedi P. W. 8, O. J. Turner, Mahendra Prakash Misra, Onkarvan K. K. Srivastava Subedar Adjutant, Rama Kant Giri, Platoon Commanders Man Bahadur Singh, Ram Surat Ram and Alamdar Husain, Deputy Supdt. of Police Sri B. B. Jatav and Sub-Inspector Shyamji Srivastava had already been confined. They remained in wrongful confinement upto 9. 00 a. m. on 25. 5. 1973 and they were not allowed to move on their own volition. They were also given threats of their lives. The crowd did not allow the Constable Driver Kapil Dev of District Police to go out of the fort from the officer's club. The complainant saw that P. A. C. personnel started breaking locks of the armories and magazines at the quarter guard and more than four hundred P. A. C. personnel armed themselves with different fire fighting equipment like rifles, stengun, L. M. G. grenade etc. and took position inside and also on the roof of the fort. They were prepared to fight with the army and started challenging the army that they should return back otherwise a fight would take place. Thereafter when the army personnel tried to enter the fort by scaling down the boundary wall, the P. A. C. personnel challenged them and made them to run away. The P. A. C. personnel were shouting and warning the army personnel that in case firing open, they would kill the persons under confinement. According to the F. I. R. version on 22. 5. 1973 at 7. 30 a. m. Head Constable Bramha Baksh Singh, Gulab Singh, Ram Chandra Singh, Shyam Sunder Singh, Huner Dev Yadav, Fateh Bahadur Singh, Sanjay Singh and Siya Ram Singh compelled the complainant on the point of bayonet and obtained his signatures on a typed order wherein the matter of using arms of the armory in self-defence by breaking its locks was mentioned. On that very day at about 9 or 10 p. m. the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police, Barabanki also persuaded the P. A. C. personnel, but they were not ready to obey the orders. On 24. 5. 1973 the I. G. also visited the place of occurrence and addressed the Jawans to obey the orders, consequently they were prepared to surrender and deposit the arms on 25. 5. 1973. On 25. 5. 1973 at 9. 00 a. m. the P. A. C. personnel took the complainant out of the room of confinement by opening gate No. 1 and told him to take Sri Gulati D. I. G. (P. A. C.) inside the fort and then before whom they deposited the arms and ammunition of the armory, which could be completed by 4. 00 p. m. and a shortage of hundred cartridges of 303 rifles was detected.
(3.) SRI S. N. Gupta got scribed a written report (Ext. Ka-7) in Hindi by Mahavir Prasad P. W. 3 the then Quarter Master and put his signature in English and sent the same to P. S. Masauli through SRI Nand Lal Singh Assistant Commandant, on the basis of which a check report Ext. Ka-46 and copy of general diary Ext. Ka-47 were prepared on 27. 5. 1973 at 12. 20 p. m. and a case was registered under sections 121,122, 342, 343, 148, 149, 395 and 383 of I. P. C. against the named P. A. C. personnel in the First Information Report and four hundred others. Investigation of the case followed and during investigation complicity of remaining accused persons, namely (30) Moti Chandra, (31) Ram Jatan Chandra, (32) Ali Husain, (33) Ram Harsh Yadav, (34) Durga Prasad, (35) Ram Avadh, (36) Chandrama Yadav, (37) Shyam Sunder Singh, (38) Kailash Nath Upadhya, (39) Baij Nath Singh, (40) Ram Bechan Singh, (41) Sube-dar Singh, (42) Faqir Chandra, (43) Sala-huddin Khan, (44) Man Raj Yadav, (45) Ram Dhari Rai, (46) Shiva Dhar Bajpai, (47) Surendra Narain Lal Khare, (48) Shiv Narain Singh, (49) Devendra Kumar, (50) Naresh Rawat, (51) Satish Chandra Mishra and (52) Ram Sajan, came into light and they were also made accused in the case. After completing the investigation the investigating officer submitted charge-sheets against different set of accused persons on different dates.;