LAKSHMAN URAON, J. - (1.) BOTH the appellants have preferred this appeal against the judgment and order of conviction and sentence dated 30.11.98 and 1. 12.98 respectively passed by Shri Rajesh Kumar Dubey, Vlllth Addl. Judicial Commissioner, Ranchi in S.T.No.291/97 whereby and whereunder the appellant No.1 Gurmukh Singh, was sentenced for life under Section 302, IPC and further appellant No.2, Basanti Devi and appellant No.1, Gurmukh Singh, were sentenced for life imprisonments under Section 302/34, IPC, directing both the sentences will run concurrently.
(2.) THE prosecution case is based on the fard beyan of Man Singh, PW -3, the informant of this case, whose fard beyan, Ext.1, was recorded by S.I. of P.S Sukhdeonagar, S.K. Jha, on 8.11.96 at Sadar Hospital, Ranchi at 13 Hrs, alleging that the deceased Sardar Bhagat Singh was the elder brother of the informant, Man Singh. Sardar Bhagat singh was residing alongwith his family at Jamshedpur whereas his remaining four brothers are residing at ltki Road, Piska More, P.S. -Sukhdeonagar, District -Ranchi. Sardar Bhagat Singh had advanced Rs.40,000/ - to the appellants to run poultry -farm business after selling the lands in the month of May 1996 by his mother situated at Piska More. To realize the loan amount, Sardar Bhagat Singh had come from Jamshedpur one month prior to the alleged occurrence and was staying with the informant, Man Singh. On 8.11.96 at about 10 A.M. the informant and his elder brother, Sardar Bhagat Singh, had gone to realize the advanced amount to the residence of Basanti Kaur @ Basanti Devi, situated at Etki Road. The informant was talking with his sister, Rani Kaur, by the side of the house of the appellants and his elder brother, Bhagat Singh, had gone to Basanti Kaur, who is the wife of his elder brother to realize the advanced amount. Basanti Kaur and Bhagat Singh came out and were talking. In course of altercation Basanti Kaur @ Basanti Devi caught both the hands of Bhagat Singh from behind and then her son, Gurmukh Singh, appellant No.1, stabbed four times on the chest and abdomen of Bhagat Singh. On being injured Bhagat Singh fell down crying for help. On hearing the alarm, Gurbinder Kaur, PW -2, Rani Kaur, PW -1 and other Mahalla people saw the alleged occurrence. They saw the appellant, Gurmukh Singh, fleeing away with a Chhura in his hand. Formal FIR, Ext. 3, was drawn on the same day at about 9.30 P.M. and after investigation chargesheet under Section 302/34, IPC, was submitted against both the appellants. The prosecution has examined altogether six witnesses in order to substantiate the charges levelled against the appellant No.1 under Section 302, IPC and also against both the appellants under Section 302/34, IPC. PW -1, Rani Kaur, sister of the informant, PW -2, Gurbinder Kaur, wife of the elder brother of the informant and PW -3, Man Singh, the informant and the brother of the deceased, claim to be the eye -witness. PW -4, Jagdeep Singh, is the nephew of the informant, who was not present at the P.O. at the time of the alleged occurrence. PW -5, Sushil Kr. Jha, is the I.O. and PW -6 is Dr. Tulsi Mahto, who conducted autopsy on the dead body of Sardar Bhagat Singh. PW -1, Rani Kaur, has deposed that her father, Lakshman Singh, had two wives. From his first wife, he got two sons, namely, Bhagwan Singh and Bhajan Singh, and one daughter, namely, Prakash Kaur. From the second wife he got eleven issues. Her father died in the year 1975 whereas her mother is alive. During the life time of Lakshman Singh partition had taken place in which the appellant No.2, Basanti Devi @ Basanti Kaur, was given 11 Kathas of land on which she is residing after constructing a house. She had also sold some lands out of 11 Kathas. She has deposed that after selling the land, Sardar Bhagat Singh shifted to Jamshedpur 15 -17 years ago and was residing there alongwith his family members. Thus the witnesses are the family members of the informant and the deceased. The informant, PW -3, Man Singh, is the brother of the deceased, Sardar Bhagat Singh. Sardar Bhagat Singh had come from Jamshedpur to Ranchi one month prior to the alleged occurrence and was staying with him. On 8.11.96 at about 10 A.M. he alongwith the deceased, Bhagat Singh, had gone to the house of Basanti Kaur as she had called him to refund the advanced loan. Bhagat Singh was demanding his advanced loan. At that time the informant and his sister, PW -1, Rani Kaur. were talking outside the gate of the house of PW -1, Rani Kaur. They heard hot discussions in between Basanti Kaur and Sardar Bhagat Singh. In the mean time Sardar Gurmukh Singh came there. Basanti Kaur caught hold both the hands of Bhagat Singh from behind and then Gurmukh Singh stabbed 4 -5 times with Chhura on the chest and abdomen of Bhagat Singh. After stabbing Gurmukh Singh tied away towards North whereas Basanti Kaur went to the P.S. which is at a distance of one K.M. from her house. The informant took the injured Bhagat Singh to Sadar Hospital. Ranchi where he was declared dead. His fard beyan was recorded by the Police on which he signed, Ext. 1/1. The inquest -report was also prepared on which he signed, Ext.2/1. He deposed that first the inquest -report was prepared then his fard beyan was recorded. He had not informed about the alleged occurrence to Manjit, Jagdeep and Kuldip, who are nephews and brother -in -law of the informant. In his fard beyan he has not mentioned that at the time of the alleged occurrence Rani Kaur, Gurbinder Kaur, Kuldip, Manjit and Jagdeep were also present. On the other hand, he has deposed that he met them for the first time in the hospital. He has not named any Mahalla people who had assembled at the P.O. rather he and his sister, PW -1, Rani Kaur, were at the P.O. and were talking. This witness had deposed that in his presence Bhagat Singh had advanced loan of Rs. 40,000/ - orally after selling the land of Piska More which was allotted in the share of his mother but this witness does not know as to who is the purchaser of the said land rather he claims that Bhagat Singh sold the land whereas the land was allotted in the share of his mother. He does not remember as to whether he had deposed before the I.O. that his mother had sold the land. As per his statement Bhagat Singh had left Ranchi 5 -6 years prior to the alleged occurrence and was residing alongwith his family at Jamshedpur. In the fard beyan he has stated that one month prior to the alleged occurrence Bhagat Singh had gone to Ranchi and was staying with him whereas in course of his evidence he has deposed that 15 days prior to the date of the alleged occurrence he had come to Ranchi and was staying with him. PW -2, Gurbinder Kaur, claims to be the eye -witness as she was standing outside her house and saw the altercation in between Basanti Kaur and Gurmukh Singh on one side and Bhagat Singh on the other side. She also deposed that both the hands of Bhagat Singh were caught from behind by Basanti Kaur and then Gurmukh Singh stabbed with Chhura 3 -4 times on his chest and abdomen. When Bhagat Singh fell down then both the appellants fled away. Her house is situated at a distance of 30 -40 feet from the house of PW -1, Rani Kaur and at a distance of 50 from the house of the appellant, Basanti Kaur. The house of Rani Kaur is not visible from her house. When she saw the alleged stabbing by Gurmukh Singh and catching hold of both the hands of Bhagat Singh by Basanti Kaur at that time she did not see the informant,. PW -3, Man Singh and PW -1, Rani Kaur, rather Man Singh was standing near the house of Rani Kaur. After the alleged occurrence she saw Rani Kaur, PW -1, and Man Singh, PW -3, standing there. She claims that Bhagat Singh had come to Ranchi 15 days prior to the alleged occurrence. She had no personal knowledge regarding advancement of loan of Rs. 40,000/ - by Bhagat Singh to 8asanti Kaur. She has given a different manner of occurrence and has deposed in para 9 that in course of hot altercation in between Bhagat Singh and Gurmukh Singh there was scuffle. Thereafter Basanti Kaur caught hold both the hands of Bhagat Singh and Gurmukh Singh stabbed Bhagat Singh. The females of Mahalla were there who saw the alleged occurrence but they had not gone to the P.O. rather she, PW -1, Rani Kaur and PW -3, Man Singh, went there, P -4, Jagdeep Singh, is a hearsay witness, who was informed by his mother about the alleged occurrence. When he came to know that the injured Bhagat Singh was taken to Sadar Hospital then he followed on Scooter and saw the dead body of Bhagat Singh on a Tempo. The Police prepared the inquest report on which he signed, Ext.2/2. He took the dead body for post mortem examination. When he had gone to Sadar Hospital, he had seen the informant, PW -3, Man Singh, Kuldip Singh and Manjit Singh. They had not informed him about the alleged occurrence even till the day when he was examined in the Court. He was not informed by them about the alleged occurrence. He had not stated before the I.O. that when he asked his mother then he was informed by her that Bhagat Singh was done to death by Basanti Kaur and her son, Gurmukh Singh.
(3.) PW -6, Dr. Tulsi Mahto, conducted the autopsy on the dead body of Bhagat Singh on 8.11.96 at 16.30 Hrs. and found the following stab wounds : - (a) 2 C.M. x 1 C.M. x cavity deep over left chest front upper part situated 5 C.M. left to mid -line, weapon passes through cartilegenous portion left 5th rib, perforates the pericardial and enters into left vertical heart. (b) 3 C.M. x 1 C.M. cavity deep over the left abdomen in front of upper part situated 9 C.M. left to the mid -line, weapon passes through abdominal wall and enters into the stomach (c) 3.5 C.M. x 1.5 C.M. x cavity deep over the left abdomen front situated 6 C.M. left to the umbilicus, weapon passed through abdominal wall and perforates small intestine and mesentry. (d) 2 C.M. x 1 C.M. cavity deep over the right abdomen front lower part situated 3 C.M. right to mid -line the weapons passes through abdomen wall perforates the small intestine. (e) 2 C.M. x 1/2 C.M. x 1 C.M. over left shoulder front. The Doctor found blood and blood clots in the abdominal cavity and thoracic cavity. Stomach contain undigested food matter in pasty form 150 Gms. mixed with blood. The Doctor opined that all the injuries were ante mortem in nature caused by sharpcutting -cum -pointing weapon and the death was due to shock and haemorrhage as a result of above injuries within 3 -18 Hrs. from the time of post mortem examination. The post mortem examination report is Ext.4 and the signature of this witness is, Ext. 4.11.;