Judgment

ARIJIT PASAYAT, J.- One Jairam (hereinafter referred to as "the deceased") was in his early teens when he lost his life in an unfortunate dispute where his relatives were the warring parties. There were originally four accused persons, namely, Madan Rai (A-I), Rasbehari (A-2), Sachidanand Rai (A-3) and Janardan Rai (A-4). Accused Madan Rai is the father of Sachidanand and Rasbehari. Accused Madan Rai was charged for commission of offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (in short "IPC") for committing the murder of the deceased and the other three were charged by application of Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC. All the four accused persons were also charged in terms of Section 440 IPC for committing mischief having made preparation to cause hurt.

2. The date of occurrence is 11-5-1984. The dispute arose over fixing of a door by Ramakant (appellant in Crl. As. Nos. 2032-33 of 1996). By infliction of a gunshot injury the deceased breathed his last on 12-5-1984. According to Siyaram (PW 1), the informant, the incident which took life of the deceased was the result of a long-standing dispute over properties. There was a private partition between t