JUDGMENT

Tulzapurkar, J.-On the night between the 27th and 28th March, 1972 (around midnight) at the house of Bindra Singh in Village Shah Jalalpur, Police Station Kamlapur, District Sitapur, an incident of dacoity took place during the course of which about 30-32 miscreants variously at med with lathis, dandas, gun, ballam, country made pistols, 'kanta' etc. indulged in arson, loot, violence and murderous assaults on the inmates of the house. The incident lasted for quite some time but before the miscreants left the place two inmates of the house Phoolan Maharaj (a Brahmin Pandit of the family) and Gautam (the minor son aged 11 of Bindra Singh) were murdered, the former by gun shots and the latter by being roasted alive in the fire while Bindra Singh (P.W. 2) himself survived a murderous assault on him; in addition the other members including females in the family received injuries. Among the said miscreants, the prosecution alleged, were the three respondents Gokaran, Prahalad and Sunder, who actively participated in the commission of the said crimes which participation was seen by witnesses standing at a short distance near the 'Bbousala' (chaff-store) of Basant Singh in the lig