IMPORTANT POINT
Unlawful assembly.

Judgment :-

Ranjan Gogoi, J.

Being directed against the common judgment dated 16th March, 2007 passed by the High Court of Rajasthan we had heard both the appeals analogously and the same are being disposed of by this common judgment.

2. Criminal Appeal No. 1915 of 2008 has been filed by accused Raju @ Rajendra and accused Pappu @ Ranjeet Singh who have been convicted under Sections 302 and 307 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to undergo, inter alia, RI for life. Criminal Appeal No. 1897 of 2008 has been filed by the State of Rajasthan against the same judgment dated 16th March, 2007 by which the remaining four accused have been acquitted of all the charges brought against them including the charge under Section 302 read with Section 149 IPC.

3. The short case of the prosecution is that on 4th April, 2000 at about 4.30 p.m. PW-13 Mahaveer lodged an FIR (Ex. P-23) in the Dei police station, District Boondi stating that at about 2 – 2.30 p.m. of the same day while he was sitting in the field of one Mukhtyar Singh (deceased) waiting for the thresher, the convicted as well as the acquitted accused (six in all) alongwith another person (who had absconded) came to the spot armed with different kinds of dangerous weapons. In the FIR it was stated that as soon as the accused persons reached the spot, while accused Pappu @ Ranjeet Singh assaulted Mukhtyar Singh with an axe on his head, accused Raju @ Rajendra assaulted the aforesaid person with a sword. Acquitted accused Bachchan Singh reportedly gave lathi blows to Mukhtyar Singh whereas acquitted accused Balwant Singh, his wife Shanti Bai @ Jaswant Kaur and daughter Gurjeet Kaur had pointed country made pistols at Mukhtyar Singh and had exhorted the other accused to kill/eliminate Mukhtyar Singh. In the FIR it was further mentioned that the first informant (PW-13) tried to intervene but he was also assaulted by accused Pappu on his head with an axe and by the accused Raju with a sword on his right arm. Due to the assault committed by the accused on Mukhtyar Singh the aforesaid person lost consciousness and though he was taken to the hospital he passed away shortly after the incident. In the first information report, it was further mentioned that two other persons, i.e., Bittoo (PW-19) and Jamnalal (PW-1) had witnessed the occurrence.

4. On the basis of the aforesaid FIR lodged by PW-13, police registered a case and investigated the same. On completion of the investigation chargesheet was submitted against 7 persons in all, including the convicted and the acquitted accused. Thereafter, the case was committed for trial to the Court of Sessions at Boondi where charges under different sections of the Indian Penal Code including Section 302 read with Section 149 were framed. As the accused persons denied the charges and wanted to be tried the prosecution examined as many as 21 witnesses and also exhibited a large number of documents. Thereafter at the conclusion of the trial while two of the accused i.e. Raju @ Rajendra and Pappu @ Ranjeet Singh were found guilty of the commission of the offence under Section 302, 307, 325, 324 and 148 IPC the remaining accused (acquitted accused) were found guilty of the charge of commission of the same offences with the aid of Section 149 IPC. For commission of the offence under Section 302 IPC each of the accused had been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life. The sentences imposed for commission of the lesser offences, as noticed above, would not require any specific mention as the same were to run concurrently with the sentence of imprisonment for life.

5. Aggrieved by the aforesaid conviction recorded by the learned Trial Court and the sentences imposed, all the six accused had filed a common appeal before the High Court of Rajasthan challenging the order passed by the learned Trial Court. The High Court by its judgment and order dated 16th March, 2007 altered the conviction of the two convicted accused, i.e., Raju