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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
S.S. Shinde, Abhay Ahuja, JJ.
State Of Maharashtra - Appellant
Versus
Vilas Narayan Jagtap & Ors. - Respondents
Criminal Appeal No. 739 of 1999
Decided On : 16-11-2021
Acquittal - Appeal - Section 302 IPC - Summary
Fact of the Case:
The case involves a fight between two brothers, resulting in the death of the younger brother. The prosecution alleged that the accused assaulted the deceased with deadly weapons, leading to his death. The witnesses' testimonies and medical evidence were presented to establish the guilt of the accused.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the prosecution failed to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt. The delay in filing the complaint, contradictions in witness testimonies, and lack of conclusive medical evidence raised doubts about the prosecution's case. The court concluded that the death could not be established as homicidal, and the accused were acquitted.
Issues: The key issues revolved around the delay in filing the complaint, contradictions in witness testimonies, and the lack of conclusive medical evidence to establish the cause of death as homicidal.
Ratio Decidendi: The court emphasized the presumption of innocence in favor of the accused, the benefit of reasonable doubt, and the reluctance to disturb the trial court's findings unless palpably wrong or likely to result in injustice. The court highlighted the importance of circumstantial evidence and the need to exclude all possibilities of the accused's innocence.
Final Decision: The court dismissed the appeal and upheld the acquittal of the accused, emphasizing the lack of conclusive evidence to establish the guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
JUDGMENT
Abhay Ahuja, J. - This is an Appeal preferred by the State against the order of acquittal dated 30th September, 1999 of the Respondents from the offences punishable under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code ("IPC") in Sessions Case No.367 of 1997 passed by learned Additional Sessions Judge, Pune.
2. The case of the prosecution is stated as under :-
(a) Briefly stated, this is a case of fight between two brothers where elder brother assaulted the younger brother. According to the prosecution, on 7th June, 1997, the accused attacked the deceased with iron rod, wooden nail and stick due to which the deceased sustained head injury and died in hospital on 16th June, 1997. Sunil (PW-2) and Jalinder Gaikwad (PW-1) are eyewitnesses. Jalinder Gaikwad (PW-2) who is an agriculturist was closest to the place of incident and, therefore, a star witness. The statement of Sunil (PW-2) was recorded on 16th June, 1997 after the death. The postmortem was also conducted on 16th June, 1997 which states the cause of death as "Head Injury" and the NC was lodged on 14th June, 1997, which was converted into FIR after the death of the injured.
(b) The deceased Jalinder Jagtap was the real brother of accused No.1 Vilas Jagtap. His land and the land of Accused No.1 were adjacent to each other and were cultivating the strips separately and there is a stony boundary wall in between each strip considered as a bandh.
(c) The deceased was possessing certain bullocks. Sunil Jagtap (PW-2) was also possessing two bullocks. Both, the deceased and Sunil (PW-2) used to plough the land of the others with four bullocks under an agreement between them locally known as Vargul.
(d) On 7th June, 1997 the deceased went to the house of Sunil (PW-2) and apprised him that they have to plough the land of one Jamdade. Thereafter, both of them went to the land of Jamdade and were ploughing the land. When bullock entered in the land of accused No.1 thereby damaging the crop, accused No.1 started abusing by saying as to whose bullocks entered in his land. Thereupon, exchange of words started initially between Sunil (PW-2) and accused No.1 and then between the deceased and accused No.1, which escalated into a scuffle between both of them.
(e) The accused No.1, who was holding the iron rod and the wooden nail, started assaulting the deceased, due to which the deceased fell down, sustaining invisible injuries. The companion of deceased, viz., Sunil (PW-2) tried to intervene, but due to the threat, he became frightened and went to the land locally known as Ranmala and apprised about the incident to Karan and Lala. Meanwhile, another person by name Jalinder Balu Gaikwad (PW-1), who was working at palace, Rajwada, visited the spot and he too tried to intervene, but in vain. Ultimately, because of gathering of persons, the accused left the spot.
(f) Thereafter, deceased Jalinder Jagtap was taken to the local hospital. His wife was apprised about the incident by Sunil (PW-2). Then Jalinder was shifted to Sassoon Hospital where he was under treatment and succumbed to the internal injuries on 16th June, 1997.
(g) When the deceased was taking treatment, on 14th June, 1997, the complaint (Exhibit-19) was lodged by Lata, wife of the deceased, which was registered as a non-cognizable case (NC) bearing No.360 of 1997 and she was advised to approach the Court for redressal of her grievance. But as the injured succumbed to the injures, the NC was converted into an offence under Section 302 of the IPC and registered as C.R. No. 37 of 1997 on 16th June, 1997.
(h) The inquest panchanama was drawn on 16th June, 1997. The dead body was sent for postmortem where the doctor, who performed autopsy on the corpse of the deceased, opined that the cause of death was "Head injury; associated with Multiple injuries; associated with septicemia". The necessary investigation was conducted and the accused came to be arrested.
(i) At the instance of accused No.1, the weapons were discovered and
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