Hari Lal Agrawal, J.

Both these appeals have been heard together as they arise out of the same judgment and, accordingly, they are being disposed of by this judgment. They have been filed by the eight appellants mentioned above against the judgment and order of conviction recorded by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Arrah, convicting them variously. Each of the eight appellants has been convicted under section 302 read with section 149 of the Indian Penal Code for committing the murder of Mahanth Vijayanand Parbat and sentenced to imprisonment for life and also under section 201 of the Indian Penal Code for removing his dead body with the intention of screening themselves from legal punishment. No separate sentence, however, has been awarded for this offence. The three appellants of criminal appeal No. 211 of 1971 and appellant Nos. 1 and 4 of Criminal Appeal No. 197 of 1971 have further been convicted under section 148 and the remaining three appellants, namely, appellant Nos. 2, 3 and 5 under section 147 of the Indian Penal Code, but no separate sentence has been awarded under either of these two sections.

2. All the eight appellants were put on trial before the learned Additional Sessions Judge on the charge that in the night of 25th August 1968, they being variously armed, formed an unlawful assembly, and in prosecution of the common object of the said assembly, they caused the murder of the aforesaid Mahanth Vijayanand Parbat at about 11 P.M. at Nauratan Garh near Naya Bhojpur, under Dumraon Police Station.

5. The first information report of the aforesaid incident was lodged by Bihar Ahir (P.W.1) at about 6 A.M. on 26.8.1968 with the Dumraon police, which was at a distance of about three miles from the place of occurrence.

4. The deceased was the Mahanth of a Mathia situated in village Rampur Mathia, within Semri Police station. This village is about two miles away from Dumraon Railway station and about 600 yards from the place of occurrence. According to the prosecution case, the deceased, who was a member of the Jana Sangh, had gone to Arrah on 25th August 1968 to attend a meeting of the District Jana Sangh where election of the office bearers was to take place. Along with him had gone Billar Ahir (P.W. 1), Kedar Nath Ahir (P.W. 3), Basdeo Ahir (P.W. 4) and Lalbachan Ahir (P.W. 6), who also were members of the said party. They had reached Arrah sometime in the day and after the conclusion of the meeting at about 5. P.M., they all along with one Sheodan Pandey left for their village home. It is said that the deceased was elected as one of the Vice President of the District Jana Sangh and Shri Narayan Dwivedi (P.W. 14), an Advocate of Arrah, was elected as its President. All the above named six persons boarded the train at Arrah at about 8 P.M. and reached Dumraon Railway station at about 10 P.M. from there they proceeded on foot for village Rampur Mathia. They reached Naoratan Garh at about 10.30 P.M., but inasmuch as on account of rains, the lands and the passage thereafter had got over flooded with water, the deceased and one of his companions. Basdeo Ahir (P.W. 4), went out to call a Mallah. One Kolahal Mallah agreed to take them on his boat. As there was shallow water for some distance, the Mallah asked the Mahanth and his party to cover the said distance up to the boat on foot. The prosecution party, accordingly, took off their shoes, and holding them in their hands, proceeded towards the place where the boat was kept. The deceased had also a three shell torch and he held it in his other hand.

It is said that when they had proceeded for about fifty steps towards the north, they heard some sound of movement coming from the close by maize field on the eastern side. On hearing the said sound, the deceased flashed his torch towards that side, and in that light they saw 15 or 16 persons, coming out of the said field, variously armed. Out of them, they identified eight persons, namely, the appellants. Appellant Lahnohar

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