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1984 Supreme(Bom) 6
IN THE HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY
B.A. Masodkar V.V. Vaze, JJ.
Dashrath Laxman Satam others.... Appellants.
Versus
State of Maharashtra others .... Respondents.
Criminal Appeal Nos. 1234, 1298 1314 of 1979, and Criminal Revision Application Nos. 712 713 of 1979, decided on 11/12-1-1984.
Advocates appeared :
Vilas V. Kamat and T.H. Sardar, for appellant.
M.D. Gangakhedkar, P.P. for State.
C.A. Phadkar, for appellant in Cri. A. No. 1314.
Identification evidence is sufficient to establish the guilt of an accused if the eyewitnesses had ample opportunity to observe the accused and have consistently identified them in court.
Headnote:
CRIMINAL APPEAL - IDENTIFICATION OF ACCUSED - SUFFICIENCY OF EVIDENCE - ACCOMPLICES - DEFINITION AND LIABILITY - ROBBERY - CHAIN SNATCHING - ENHANCEMENT OF SENTENCE.
Fact of the Case:
A Matka den was raided by a group of armed men, resulting in the deaths of two individuals. The accused were identified by eyewitnesses, including the den's partners and customers, and were subsequently convicted of various offenses, including murder, robbery, and rioting. The accused appealed their convictions, arguing that the identification evidence was unreliable and that they were not accomplices in the crime.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the identification evidence was sufficient to establish the guilt of the accused. The court also held that the taxi driver and his acquaintance, who had transported the accused to and from the scene of the crime, were not accomplices, as they did not have prior knowledge of the accused's plans.
Issues: 1. Whether the identification evidence was sufficient to establish the guilt of the accused. 2. Whether the taxi driver and his acquaintance were accomplices in the crime.
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The court held that the identification evidence was sufficient to establish the guilt of the accused, as the eyewitnesses had ample opportunity to observe the accused during the raid and had consistently identified them in court. The court also noted that the accused had not provided any alibi or explanation for their presence at the scene of the crime. 2. The court held that the taxi driver and his acquaintance were not accomplices in the crime, as they did not have prior knowledge of the accused's plans. The court noted that the accused had approached the taxi driver at random and that the taxi driver had no reason to suspect that they were planning to commit a crime.
Final Decision: The court dismissed the appeals of the accused and upheld their convictions. The court also declined to enhance the sentence of one of the accused, who had been convicted of chain snatching, as the court considered the accused's tender age.
2. The elaborate lighting arrangements for the shack were necessitated by the fact that it was to be used by Minoo as a Matka-den one of the many which have sprung up like mushrooms in this metropolis to satiate the gambling instincts of its proleteriate. Minoo had entered into a partnership with P.W. 2 Hiralal Shrigopal Gupta ("Hiralal") under the terms of which Hiralal was managing the day-to-day affairs of the Matka business because Minoo was more concerned with the management of another gambling den euphemistically called "Nava Bharat Social Club." It appears that the den was frequented by various punters. They used to collect cash as soon as the lucky number was drawn from the Matka in the evening.
3. P.W. 7 Pritamsingh Surjansing ("Pritamsing") plies a taxi belonging to his brother Nazarsingh during the night only. On 7-11-1977 when Pritamsing was in search of customers, he was beckoned by an acquaintance Dnyansingh (Kaka) who asked him to give a lift to Suhas @ Baban Rajaram Sawant (Accused No. 2) who wanted to go to Tardeo. Pritamsing agreed but inquired from Baban (A/2) as to whether he would have any objection if he would give a lift to Kaka and on being assured that there was none, asked Kaka to sit along with A/2 in the taxi. From Batra Petrol Pump the taxi proceeded into a lane where three friends of Baban, Dashrath Laxman Satam (Accused No. 3), Baliram Kashiram Surve (Accused No. 4) and Kiritsingh Pratapsingh Nepali @ Danny (Accused No. 5) also joined Baban who asked Pritamsingh to proceed to Apsara Talkies which is ahead of Bombay Central. There Baban and his three friends got down, had a word with another waiting person who also joined the group. The taxi proceeded to the air-conditioned market at Tardeo where all of them except Kaka got down. Pritamsingh and Kaka had sugarcane juice whereafter Baban and his friends came back to the taxi. A/2 was having a sword in his hand, A/1 a dagger and the taxi proceeded towards Worli as directed by Baban. From Worli the taxi again came back to Apsara Talkies where all persons except Kaka got down, Pritamsingh waited for about 10 to 15 minutes whereafter another person with a beard and three others boarded the taxi which was driven to Saki Naka. The passengers got down at Saki Naka and when Pritamsingh demanded the fare of Rs. 72/-, he was given Rs. 30/- and a wrist watch.
4. Hiralal along with Dadu and Ashok were attending to Matka business as usual at 8.30 p.m. on 7-11-1977. One woman Rozy, one plumber and one Bhayya had come to lay bets. At that time two persons, A/2 and A/3, with swords in hand entered the den and threatened them not to move. They were followed by two more persons, A/1 Kundanlal and A/5 Danny, out of whom A/1 had a dagger in hand and A/5 started giving threats to the inmates that they would be killed if they attempted to move. A third pair followed suit and they were A/4 Baliram and A/6 Anil Dinanath Nedavdekar. A/6 took out the cash from the pockets of one Dadu and emptied the cash box. A/3 robbed a servant Ashok and A/4 snatched the wrist watch
