The court held that the prosecution must prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt and that the evidence of eye-witnesses must be corroborated by independent evidence.

Anant Singh, J.

1. All the eight appellants have been convicted for the murder of Kedar Singh under Sections 302/149 and 302/34 of Indian Penal Code, and each of them has been sentenced on each count to undergo imprisonment for life. Bindo, Budhan and Tanik have been further convicted under Sec.147 with one years rigorous imprisonment each, and the rest under Sec.148 with two years rigorous imprisonment each. All the sentences have been ordered to run concurrently.

2. The deceased, Kedar Singh, came from village Barhaiya, and the appellants also come from the same village. The time of the occurrence was about 8.30 P. M. on the 9th November, 1959, and the scene was a spot on the road flank in front of an empty shop of one Sahu Singh situate on the Station Road running from the Barhaiya Railway Station towards the bazar on the east. The prosecution case is that Kedar Singh, on the date of the occurrence, had been to Monghyr town to attend to a criminal case which had been filed against him by appellant Nirsu Singh. Kedar Singh arrived at the Barhaiya Railway Station by Barauni Passenger which reached the station at 8.17 P.M. that evening. Appellant Nirsu Singh, as it appears from his own version, had also travelled by the same train, alighting at Barhaiya at about the same time as Kedar Singh. From the Barhaiya Station, Kedar Singh proceeded on a rickshaw for home through the Station Road. He had gone about 290 steps from the station and was passing across the shop of Sahu Singh when he was suddenly attacked by 12-14 persons, who lay in ambush in the shop of Sahu. Singh. Ram Rijhan Singh (P.W. 4), a cousin of Kedar Singh, had also gone to the railway station to attend the same train since he was expecting his father-in-law by that very train. His father-in-law did not come, and Rijhan was returning on foot from the station a little ahead of Kedar Singh, whom he did not see.

It was about 8-30 P.M. when Ram Rijhan saw the rickshaw coming behind him attacked by persons who came out of the shop of Sahu Singh. They were 12-14 in number, and were variously armed with bhalas, pharsas, barchhis and lathis. Among them, appellants Siri Singh and Bilayati Singh were identified, each carrying a bhala, appellants Nanda and Ram Balak, each carrying a pharsa, appellant Nirsu a barchhi, and the other three appellants, Bindo, Budhan and Tanik, a lathi each. Kedar, it is said, was dragged out of the rickshaw, and, thereafter, Nanda and Ram Balak each dealt a pharsa blow on the head of Kedar, Siri a bhala blow in his abdomen and Nirsu barchhi blow in the back; whereas the others are also said to have assaulted him generally with their respective weapons. On seeing the various assailants from a distance of 5-7 steps in the moonlight night, Ram Rijhan (P.W. 4) raised an alarm, which attracted to the scene Devendra Pd. Singh (P. W. 1), Medani Singh (P. W. 2). Kapildeo Singh (P.W. 3) and Phudo Singh alias Badri Narain Singh (P.W. 5), who were, at the relevant time, at different places at short distances from the scene of the occurrence. They also identified the eight appellants out of 12-14 assailants carrying the various weapons as attributed to them by Ram Rijhan (P.W. 4) and assaulting Kedar likewise.

3. The assailants, after assaulting Kedar, took to their heels. P.Ws. 1 to 5 went near Kedar and found him dead. Ram Rijhan (P.W. 4), leaving the corpse in charge of P. Ws. 1, 2. 3 and 5, went alone to the thana, which was at a distance of about one-fourth of a mile, and lodged a first information report (exhibit 2/1) there before an Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police, Jainarayan Singh (P.W. 9), who was the officer in charge at the time. The first information report was attested by one Banke and another Dubey, who were passing nearby the thana at the time.

4. The Assistant Sub-Inspector (P.W. 9) left the thana at 9.30 P. M. and reached the place of occurrence at 9.45 P. M. He found the dead body of Kedar lying in front of the shop of Sahu Singh