- (1.) THIS appeal, preferred by the appel­lant u/s 374(2) of The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter to be referred as Cr.P.C.), is directed against the judg­ment and order dated 9.02.1993 passed by Special Judge (Sessions Judge), Tehri Garhwal in ST. No.5 of 1991, State Vs. Ghyanshyam Kala, whereby the learned Special Judge (Sessions Judge) has con­victed the appellant/accused under Section 3(x) of The Scheduled Castes & the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (hereinafter to be referred as the Act) and was sentenced to undergo one year R.I. with fine of Rs.1,000/- and in de­fault of payment of fine, three months' fur­ther R.I. was awarded.
(2.) I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the entire mate­rial available on record. In brief, the prosecution case is that P.W. 1 Kirpa lal Vishwakarma lodged an FIR on 8.9.1991 at P.S. Tehri with the averments that he was the Principal of Govt. Inter College, Rajakhet, Tehri Garhwal and the appellant/accused Ghanshyam Kala was posted as Chowkidar in the aforesaid college. In the night of 6.9.1991, appellant/accused was found absent from his duties. On 7.9.1991 at about 10:00 P.M., appellant/accused came along with his companions at the residence of complainant and hurled filthy abuses to him and with the intention to kill the complainant, as­saulted at the door and the appellant/ac­cused also challenged the complainant to come out of the room and said- .........[vernacular ommited text]........... After raising the alarm by the complainant., the neigbourers came on the place of occurrence and saved com­plainant's life. Appellant/accused and his companions were continued making noise till 2:00 AM in the night. Due to the above-said incident, the complainant felt insulted, tortured and the above-said de­famatory words were used against him. With these averments, the FIR Ex.Ka-1 was lodged by P.W.1 Kripalal Vishwakama at P.S. Tehri on 8.9.1991 at 5:30 PM. On the basis of this FIR, Chik FIR was pre­pared by Constable Clerk Lakhi Ram Raturi, i.e. Ex.Ka-2. The entry was also made by him in the G.D., the carbon copy of which is Ex.Ka-3. Investigation of this case was initially entrusted to S.I. R.C. Sidhaula and later on the investigation was transferred to SSI K.P. Singh (P.W.5). The I.O. during the course of investigation inspected the place of occurrence and pre­pared the site plan, i.e. Ex.Ka.4. During the course of investigation, the I.O. re­corded the statements of witnesses and after completing the investigation, he filed the charge sheet against the appellant/ac­cused in the court of Special Judge (Ses­sions Judge) Tehri, i.e. Ex.Ka.8.
(3.) ON 30.1.1992, learned Special Judge, Tehri Garhwal framed the charge against the appellant/accused under Sec­tion 3(x) of the Act. The charge was read over and explained to the appellant/ac­cused, who pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried.;