JODHRAJ SINGH Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted.

(2.) Appellant together with various others were tried for commission of an offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code for causing murder of one Vishava Priya @ Lalla on 13.12.1992. A First Information Report in relation to the said incident was lodged by one Ashok Kumar Sharma. The incident allegedly took place at about 6 p.m. on the said date. In the First Information Report, the complainant alleged that at the said date and time when he himself and his uncle Mahendra Kumar had been getting the Pattis loaded near the road, a tempo (a three wheeler) occupied by one Ajij Naeem, Bhupendra and the appellant arrived. The accused were armed with weapons like lathi, dhariya, ballam and sariya. As there existed a dispute between the deceased and Bhupendra, apprehending that they may kill him, the complainant and the said Mahendra Kumar immediately came to the place of occurrence and found the appellant and others assaulting the deceased. They, on seeing them, ran away. A First Information Report was lodged at about 9.10 p.m. on the same day. Appellant was named therein along with others, wherein it was alleged that he was armed with a gandasi and he along with others assaulted the deceased. It was furthermore alleged that Bhupendra had thrown a stone on the deceased, due to which he suffered a wound on his head. Investigation into commission of the offence was carried out. Upon completion of the investigation, a chargesheet was filed against the appellant as also the said Ajij Naeem and Bhupendra. Appellant had been absconding for about seven years. His case was separated from that of the other accused. Two separate trials, thus, took place in relation to the said incident.

(3.) In the first trial involving the accused named in the First Information Report, other than the appellant, several witnesses were examined. Two of them, viz., Ram Het (PW-8) and Ghasi Lal (PW-9) fully supported the prosecution case. One Pratap Yadav (PW-10) and Alok Tripathi (PW-14, however, were declared hostile therein. In the second trial, where the appellant was involved, they also turned hostile. Appellant was, however, convicted. Four separate appeals were preferred before the High Court.