H.C.P. Tripathi, J. - (1.) THIS appeal by the State of Uttar Pradesh is directed against an order of acquittal recorded by the learned Sessions Judge, Hamirpur, in favour of the Respondents in a case Under Sections 302 and 307 both read with Section 149 and Section 201 IPC,
(2.) THE accusations against the Respondents in short were that on 26 -2 -1964, at about 4 p.m. having armed themselves with lethal weapons they formed an unlawful assembly and in prosecution of its common object committed the murder of Tutain and Guman in a field, caused injuries to Parmanand (PW 1) when he tried to interfere and thereafter removed the dc ad bodies from the scene of incident for screening themselves from legal punishment. The prosecution case in brief is as follows: Respondents Amritlal, Khalak Singh and Bhagwan Das are real brothers and so are Respondents Amar Singh and Dhanpat. Sunder Lal's father Dhanni was the real brother of Ganpat father of Amrit Lal, Khalak Singh and Bhagwan. Das and Hori Lal is the son of Sunder Lal. They are Lodis by caste and so were the victims Tutain and Guman. The parties resided in village Veeran. Police Station Jaria in the district of Hamirpur. Smt. Sia Rani (PW 2) is the widow of Tutain deceased and Parmanand (PW 1) is the son of Smt. Sia Rani by her previous husband Phool Chand. About ten days prior to the occurrence Guman had caught hold of the wife of Respondent Khalak Singh in the Har of the village for having sexual intercourse with her. A few days thereafter a Panchayat of the Biradri was convened and it had excommunicated Guman and his family members for this misbehaviour. The excommunication of Guman and his family members by the Panchait had, however, not satisfied Khalak Singh and his father Ganpat who extended a threat to avenge themselves for the dishonour done to a woman member of their family. Tutain and Guman owned a field in the Har of the village. On 26 -9 -1964, Tutain, Guman, Smt. Sia Rani and Parmanand had gone to that field for bringing Jundi sticks and Haryali for fodder. They had taken two bullock carts with them. At about 4 p.m. one of the bullock carts had been loaded with Jundi sticks and the load, was being tied with a rope by Tutain and Guman from one side and Parmanand and Sia Rani on the other. Suddenly the seven Respondents out of whom Amrit Lal was armed with a gun, Hori Lal and Dhanpat with spears and Amar Singh and Khalak Singh with Pharsa and the rest with lathis emerged from the north and Amrit Lal fired a shot hitting Tutain who fell on the ground. Immediately thereafter the remaining six Respondents started belabouring Tutain and Guman with their respective weapons till they were dead on the spot. When Smt. Sia Rani and her son Parmanand rushed to defend them Amrit Lal caught hold of Sia Rani's hands and Dhanpat pierced his spear in the right axilla of Parmanand felling him on the ground. Sunderlal and Bhagwan Das showered lathis blows on fallen Parmanand. The miscreants picked the dead bodies and carried them towards north oh one of the carts parked there and disappeared from the scene. The entire incident was, however, witnessed by Baladin who was collecting fodder in the same field and some passers by who had been attracted to the scene on hearing the report of the gun fire. The witnesses had followed the miscreants for some distance but when Amrit Lal threatened to shoot them they had to return without being able to prevent them from carrying the dead bodies. Parmanand rushed to the police station Jaria five miles away and lodged a first information report of the occurrence on the same date at 6 -45 p.m. in which he gave the essentials of the prosecution story. On the basis of this report a case was registered and investigation followed.
(3.) SUB Inspector O.P. Sharma (PW 8) interrogated Parmanand at the Police Station and reached the village at about 8 p.m. He inspected the field which was alleged to be the venue of the murder and prepared a site plan. He noticed blood splashed in sufficient quantity in the centre of the field and obtained sample of the blood stained earth in a sealed container. He searched for the dead bodies during the same night but could not trace them. On the next morning he continued his search for the dead bodies but without any result. On 28 -2 -1964, however, he succeeded in tracing the bullock cart of the deceased which was said to have been used for carrying the dead bodies from the place of occurrence, in an Arhar field. Several parts of the bullock cart had blood stains on them. They were cut and sealed at the spot. None of the Respondents was available inspite of search. They subsequently surrendered in court on 2 -3 -1964.;