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IN THE HIGH COURT OF PATNA
S. Anwar Ahmad and P.K. Banerji, JJ.
Kumar Jibeshwar Singh - Appellants
Vs.
The State - Respondent
Cr. Appeal No. 146 of 1968
Decided On: 02.04.1971
The appellant was convicted of murdering Shree Kant Choudhary by intentionally or knowingly causing his death with rifle, on the 30th November, 1966, at the portico of the Trust Office, Rajnagar, P.S. Madhubani, District Darbhanga. The conviction was based on the testimony of Bishundeo Mishra (P.W. 14), the solitary eye witness examined in the case. The appellant denied his presence at or near about the time at the place of occurrence at the Trust Office and asserted that on that date at about 11 or 11.30 A.M. he had gone to his father-in-law Rajeshwar Ojha's place to take his mid-day meal and after taking his mid-day meal he stayed there till 3.30 or 4 P.M. when a mob came and started saying that he had murdered his manager, and he assured them to enquire what had happened. He denied ownership or possession of the black rubber gum-boots (Exhibits V and V/I) said to have been recovered from his residential house (Deorhi) on the 30th of December, 1966. His defence was that there is a group of people who want to harm him and with that end in view and in ORDER :to get rid of him and to grab his estate, he had been falsely implicated in the case. The court held that the evidence of Bishundeo Mishra (P.W. 14) is not of such a high standard as can be depended upon as an entirely reliable evidence and it may be somewhat hazardous on such evidence to base a conviction of the accused in a capital charge case, more so, because it is the uncorroborated oral testimony of the witness. The conviction of the appellant based on the solitary testimony of Bishundeo Mishra cannot be sustained and the appellant is entitled to the benefit of doubt in the case.
Fact of the Case:
The appellant was convicted of murdering Shree Kant Choudhary by intentionally or knowingly causing his death with rifle, on the 30th November, 1966, at the portico of the Trust Office, Rajnagar, P.S. Madhubani, District Darbhanga. The conviction was based on the testimony of Bishundeo Mishra (P.W. 14), the solitary eye witness examined in the case.
Finding of the Court:
The court held that the evidence of Bishundeo Mishra (P.W. 14) is not of such a high standard as can be depended upon as an entirely reliable evidence and it may be somewhat hazardous on such evidence to base a conviction of the accused in a capital charge case, more so, because it is the uncorroborated oral testimony of the witness. The conviction of the appellant based on the solitary testimony of Bishundeo Mishra cannot be sustained and the appellant is entitled to the benefit of doubt in the case.
Issues: 1. Whether the evidence of Bishundeo Mishra (P.W. 14) is reliable? 2. Whether the appellant is entitled to the benefit of doubt?
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the evidence of Bishundeo Mishra (P.W. 14) is not of such a high standard as can be depended upon as an entirely reliable evidence and it may be somewhat hazardous on such evidence to base a conviction of the accused in a capital charge case, more so, because it is the uncorroborated oral testimony of the witness. The conviction of the appellant based on the solitary testimony of Bishundeo Mishra cannot be sustained and the appellant is entitled to the benefit of doubt in the case.
Final Decision: The appeal is allowed and the conviction and sentence imposed on the appellant are set aside. The appellant is acquitted of the charge and he is discharged from his bail-bond.
P.K. Banerji, J.
1. Kumar Jibeshwar Singh aged 36 years (hereinafter referred to as the appellant or Kumar), the sole appellant, convicted in the case under Section 302, Indian Penal Code, for having committed the murder of Shree Kant Choudhary by intentionally or knowingly causing his death with rifle, on the 30th November, 1966, at the portico of the Trust Office, Rajnagar, P.S. Madhubani, District Darbhanga, and sentenced to life imprisonment, happens to be the son of late Raja Bahadur Bisheshwar Singh, younger brother of Mahrajadhiraj Sir Kameshwar Singh Bahadur of Darbhanga. The person killed, viz., Shree Kant Choudhary, aged about 60 years (hereinafter referred to as the deceased or S.K.C.), was an old employee of the Rajnagar Raj and was, at the relevant time, the manager of this estate. The appellant is the proprietor of Rajnagar Raj and lives in his residential house within the Rajnagar Raj compound (hereinafter referred to as the Raj compound), within Madhubani P.S. in the district of Darbhanga. For the management of temples etc., of the Rajnagar Raj, there is a Trust of which the appellant happens to be the trustee. Within the Raj compound, at a distance of about 150-175 yards north of the southern entrance gate of the Raj compound, there is a portico type arched gate through which there is a passage from south to north. This passage portion of the arch measures 19 ft. from south to north and 14 ft. 9 inches from east to west. On the western side of this portico is a room of the size 12' 10 east to west X 19' 19' north to south having one door in each of its four walls on the four sides. The eastern door in the eastern wall opens in the portico, the level of the floor of this door being only a few inches above the floor of the portico. There is another room on the eastern side of the portico, opposite this western room, with four doors on each side of the four walls. The Trust Office is held in these two rooms. The number of clerks employed in this office is seven or eight. At a distance of 150 yards north of the Trust Office, there is another similar arch-gate, a portico and about 50 yards north-west of this second portico is the residential house of the appellant known as Deorhi or Bara Kotha; and about 400 yds. north-east of the said residential house of the appellant and about 200 yds. north of the Trust Office is the residential quarters of Rajeshwar Jha, Pujari, who happens to be the father-in-law of the appellant. A bi-weekly Hat is held outside the Raj compound at a distance of about 600 yds. south-east of the Trust Office. This Hat is held on every Wednesday and Sunday. The public way from the Hat to the villages towards the north lies through the Raj compound and the said pathway entering through the southern entrance gate of the Raj compound trifurcates at a tri-junction, at a distance of fifteen laggas south of the Trust Office; one passage goes straight to the Trust Office, the other goes to the Durga temple situate at a distance of 20 yards east of the Trust Office and the third, passing along the eastern side of the Durga temple, proceeds north-west and goes out of the Raj compound through its northern gate. The Rajnagar Block Development Office (Block Office) is located at a distance of 200 yards south-west of the southern entrance gate of Raj compound in a portion of the outhouse of the Rajnagar Raj. By the side of the Block Development Office is the strong room or the armory of the Rajnagar Raj.
2. The prosecution case is that on the day of occurrence, which was a Wednesday and also a Hat day, at about 3 P.M., appellant Kumar Jibeshwar Singh wearing a Khaki woollen coat with fur collars, a woollen pant and black rubber gum-boots and carrying a rifle in his hand came from the northern side and entered into the western room of the Trust Office through its eastern door which alone (of the four doors of the room) was open at the time. There was nobody either in this room or in the room opposit
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