Back
BOMBAY HIGH COURT
Nitin Jamdar and C. V. Bhadang, JJ.
Rakesh @ Pintya Ramesh Rane
and Ors. – Appellants
versus
State of Maharashtra and Ors. – Respondents
Criminal Appeal No.257 of 2013 with Criminal Appeal No.259 of 2013 with Criminal Appeal No.359 of 2013 with Criminal Appeal No.919 of 2013
Decided on 1.10.2021
Indian Penal Code, 1860 – Sections 302, 307, 120-B and 34 – Arms Act, 1959 – Sections 3 and 25 – Murder, attempt to murder and conspiracy – Common intention – Conviction and sentence – FIR filed against unknown persons – None of eyewitnesses knew assailants – Incident took place suddenly, which did not last for more than five minutes, wherein deceased and eyewitnesses were shocked and surprised – Assailants were wearing helmets – There is delay of two months in holding test identification parade – Test identification parade conducted was in complete breach of criminal manual – There is no substantive evidence that precautions taken to ensure that test identification parade is fair and how it was conducted to exclude suspicion of unfairness or risk of erroneous identification – Seizure Panchanama cannot be relied upon against accused by itself – It is highly doubtful whether deceased had given any oral dying declaration in vehicle – Prosecution has not proved that accused were actual assailants – There is doubt regarding recovery of weapon used in crime – Evidence regarding motive because of non-grant of no-objection certificate is not brought on record by Prosecution – Appeals Partly allowed. (Paras 31, 32, 34, 40, 45, 58, 62, 63, 64 and 65)
Result: Criminal Appeals Partly allowed.
JUDGMENT
Nitin Jamdar, J.—These four criminal appeals arise from the judgment and order passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Raigad-Alibaug dated 28 August 2010 in Sessions Case No. 104 of 2010.
2. Six persons, (1) Satish Yashwant Patil (2) Atul Suresh Thakur (3) Krishna Kashinath Patil (4) Sumedh @ Sumit @ Pappu Chandrakant Yerunkar (5) Rakesh @ Pintya Ramesh Rane and (6) Pradeep Mahadeo Mali were accused in Sessions Case No.104/2010 and charged for the offences punishable under section 302, 307, 120-B and 34 of the Indian Penal Code and sections 3, 25 of the Indian Arms Act, 1959.
3. Accused No.4- Pappu @ Sumedh Yerunkar and Accused No.5- Rakesh @ Pintya Rane have been convicted under section 302 read with section 34 of the IPC. Accused No.5 has filed Criminal Appeal No.257/2013, and Accused No.4 has filed Criminal Appeal No.259/2013 challenging their conviction.
4. Accused No.1- Satish Yashwant Patil, Accused No.2-Atul Suresh Thakur, Accused No.3- Krishna Kashinath Patil and Accused No.6- Pradeep Mahadeo Mali have been acquitted. Criminal Appeal No.359/2013 is filed by Ajay Thakur, brother of the deceased and Criminal Appeal No.919/2013 is filed by the State of Maharashtra challenging the acquittal of these four original accused.
5. These appeals have been heard together and are disposed of by this common judgment and order.
6. The prosecution case, in short, is as under:—
(i) There were many businesses at Uran dealing in sludge oil generated from the Jawaharlal Nehru Port. They formed an association of which Santosh Thakur was an office bearer. Accused No.4- Pappu Yerunkar, Accused No.5- Pintya Rane, Accused No.6- Pradeep Mali, Accused No.1- Satish Patil, and Accused No.3- Krishna Patil at Center Mall, Vashi entered into a criminal conspiracy to kill Santosh Thakur. The conspiracy was hatched to eliminate Santosh Thakur because Santosh Thakur did not give them No Objection to enter in the sludge oil business at Uran. To eliminate Santosh Thakur, Satish Patil gave Rs.50,000/- to accused Pappu Yerunkar through accused Krishna Patil. Atul and Krishna provided a motorcycle and a car.
(ii) Rashad Humaji, Ajadar Pathan, Maksud and Santosh Kelkar (Fitter) have their garages at Kotnaka-Uran. On 26 April 2010, at about 6.15 p.m., Santosh Thakur came to the garage of Ajadar Pathan at Uran- Kotnaka, Kaladhonda, for car repair work. Santosh Thakur gave work of cleaning the number plate of his vehicle to Rashad Humaji. Santosh Thakur and Rashad Humaji were sitting in front of the garage. Ajadar Pathan, his brother-in-law of Masum Ijaz Pathan, was sitting there on a pipe. Three unknown persons came there on a black coloured Unicorn make motorcycle and stopped at a tea stall nearby. Two persons sitting as pillion riders got off and walked near Santosh Thakur from the backside. They were around 25 to 30 years old. One of them had curly hair. They took out their pistols and fired on Santosh Thakur. The pistol of one of them was locked and did not fire. The bullet fired by the curly-haired person hit Santosh Thakur. Santosh Thakur started running, calling for help. The curly-haired person again fired 3 to 4 rounds. One bullet hit the left leg of Rashad Humaji. Santosh Thakur received the bullets in his chest, back and gluteal region. Santosh Thakur collapsed in front of shop No.10. Then the unknown persons sat on the motorcycle waiting with the rider and went away towards Panvel side. Masum Ijaz Pathan, Santosh Fitter, Maksud rushed towards Santosh Thakur.
(iii) Baba, the driver of the maternal uncle of Santosh Thakur, who was driving past, stopped seeing the crowd. Ajay Thakur, brother of Santosh Thakur, came to the spot after receiving the information on the phone. Santosh Thakur was put in the car driven by Baba and was taken to Dake hospital at Uran. On the way, Ajay Thakur asked Santosh Thakur about the incident. In the presence of Maksud, Santosh Fitter, Rashad and Baba driver, Santosh Thakur told that accused Sati
An indispensable Tool for Legal Professionals, Endorsed by Various High Court and Judicial Officers
Please visit our Training & Support
Center or Contact Us for assistance
Scan Me!
India’s Legal research and Law Firm App, Download now!
For Daily Legal Updates, Join us on :
Back to top
