JUDGMENT

A. K. Patnaik, J.-These are all appeals by way of special leave under Article 136 of the Constitution against the common judgment of the Patna High Court in Death Reference No.12/2007 and Criminal Appeals (DB) Nos. 1282, 1308, 1318, 1327, 1345, 1354 of 2007.

FACTS

2. The facts are that a typed report was lodged by Mohan Rajak, Deputy Superintendent of Police (East), Muzaffarpur (for short ‘the informant’) on 05.12.1994 at 22.10 hours (10.10 p.m.) at PS Sadar, District Muzaffarpur (East), which was treated as FIR. The prosecution case in the FIR briefly was as follows:

On the night of 04.12.1994, certain unknown criminals had murdered Shri Kaushlendra Kumar Shukla @ Chhotan Shukla and his associates at NH-28 and the post mortem on Chhotan Shukla and the other deceased persons was done on 05.12.1994 at the SKM College Hospital. The supporters of Chhotan Shukla belonging to the Bihar Peoples Party gathered in large numbers at the hospital. Considering the possibility of breakdown of law and order, the officers of the civil and police administration remained present with armed force and lathi force at the hospital. After the post mortem, the dead bodies were taken in a process