The main legal point established in the judgment is the reliance on the spontaneity of the FIR, the credibility of the eye witnesses, and the consistency between the ocular and medical evidence to establish the guilt of the accused.

HARJIT SINGH BEDI, J.

( 1 ) THIS judgment will dispose of Criminal Appeal Nos. 752-755 of 2005 pertaining to the acquittal of four of the accused whereas Criminal Appeal Nos. 834 of 2005, 835 of 2005 and 910-912 of 2005 have been filed by the accused who stand convicted both by the trial Court as well as by the High Court.

( 2 ) THE facts have been taken from the record of Criminal appeal No. 835 of 2005. They are as under:

( 3 ) ON 4. 4. 1999 Rakesh Kumar Pandey along with his brother-in-law Surya Narain @ Vakil Shukla along with three others, Devi Shankar Dubey, Prem Shanker Dubey and the car driver Shesh Mani were returning from Aurai to Gopiganj in the latter's car No. WB 26a 7554. As the car reached near the Trimuhani on the middle of the road in Gopiganj, accused Udai Bhan Singh, Akbal Bahadur @ Atkoti Singh, Prem singh, Dhunni Singh, Munni Singh, Daroga Singh, Rajeshwar upadhyay, Pintoo Singh and two other persons all armed with modern weapons starting firing at the car. The firing led to the death of Surya Narain @ Vakil Shukla, Devi Shanker dubey and Shesh Mani at the spot. Rakesh Kumar Pandey and prem Shanker who were sitting on the rear seat rushed out of the car to save themselves and they too received some superficial injuries in that process. The assailants also picked up the licensed rifle of Prem Shanker Dubey which was lying in the car and thereafter ran away from the spot. The occurrence was also witnessed by Shiv Prasad @ Dangar tewari, Mukand Lal, Ram Dutt Mishra and several other persons. A FIR was thereafter lodged by Rakesh Kumar pandey at 3. 45 p. m. in Police Station Gopiganj a kilometer away from the place of incident, on which S. I. Vidya prakash Misra reached the place of occurrence and recorded the statement of Rakesh Kumar Pandey whereas SI Rashid ahmad prepared the inquest reports of the deceased on the dictation of SI Vidya Prakash Misra. On an inspection of the site, several pieces of glass, a blood stained piece of rexine, and shoes and some fired cartridges, a rifle and a 9 mm pistol licensed to deceased Surya Narain Shukla were recovered. The bodies were also sent for the post mortem examinations. The post mortem examination on the dead body of Devi Shanker Dubey was conducted by Dr. Radhey Raman on 4. 4. 1999 at about 11. 55 p. m. whereas Dr. Sanjay Tewari conducted the post mortem examinations on the dead bodies of Shesh Mani at 11. 30 p. m and that on Surya Narain Shukla 45 minutes later i. e. at 0030 hours. All three dead bodies showed extensive fire arms injuries. Dr. A. K. Pandey also medically examined Prem Shanker Dubey at 5. 25 p. m on 4. 4. 1999 and found two lacerated simple injuries on his person whereas the examination of Rakesh Kumar Pandey at 8. 15 p. m. on 4. 4. 1999 by Dr. L. S. Mishra showed five simple injuries; three abrasions and two contusions. The doctors opined that these injuries could have been caused as the two were making a hurried exit from the car. On the completion of the investigation the accused were charged for offences punishable under Sections 147, 148, 302 read with 149 I. P. C whereas appellant Suresh Singh @ Jajjey singh was in addition charged under Section 379 IPC for having taking away Prem Shankar Dubey's rifle from the car whereas Tehsildar Singh and Suresh Singh were further charged under Section 411 I. P. C. The accused pleaded not guilty and sought trial.

( 4 ) RAKESH Kumar Pandey, the first informant and the primary witness to the murders, was himself murdered during the course of the trial. The prosecution nevertheless relied on the evidence of PW1 Shiv Prasad @ Dangar Tewari who deposed to the circumstances leading to his presence at the spot and the manner of the attack and further stated that about 15/20 shots had been fired at the car by the accused from a close range as the car had stalled after having had a collision with a bus as the car driver had attempted to race away. He also stated that he knew most of the accused having dealt w