JUDGMENT

Chakradhari Sharan Singh, J. - In the present criminal appeal, twelve appellants have assailed the judgment of conviction and sentence recorded by the learned Ad hoc Additional Sessions Judge-II, Bagaha, whereby they have been held guilty of committing offences punishable under Sections 302, 323 read with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code. Besides, the appellants No. 1, 8 and 9 have been held guilty, of the offence punishable under Section 148 of the IPC whereas the rest nine have been held guilty of the offence punishable under Section 147 of the IPC. The appellants have been sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life and payment of fine of Rs. 5,000/- and in default of payment of fine, further rigorous imprisonment for six months, for the offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 149 of the IPC and to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a term of six months for the offence punishable under Section 323 read with Section 149 of the IPC. Appellants No. 1, 8 and 9 have been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a term of two years for the offence punishable under Section 148 of the IPC. Rest of the appellants, other than Appellants No. 1, 8 and 9; have been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a term of one year for the offence punishable under Section 147 of the IPC and rigorous imprisonment for a term of six months for the offence punishable under Section 323 read with Section 149 of the IPC. The sentences of the offenders are to run concurrently; the periods of detention in jail custody during trial are to be set off, learned trial court has held.

2. We have heard Mrs. Renu Jha and Mr. Nishant Kumar Sinha learned counsel for the appellants, Mr. D.K. Sinha, learned Additional Public Prosecutor for the State of Bihar and Mr. Amish Kumar, learned Amicus Curiae.

3. For the benefit of precision, the appellants have been denoted, in short, as A-1 for Appellant No. 1 and so on, as per their position in the cause title of the memo of appeal, for the purpose present judgment and order. The prosecution's witnesses have been referred to as the 'PW-1' and so on.

4. Narration of the case of the prosecution, as unfolded in the FIR registered on the basis of written report of the informant Rameshwar Prasad Yadav (P.W.-11) on 15.07.2010, is that at 8.00 a.m. in the morning he, accompanying his elder brother Rajdeo Yadav (deceased-1, in short D-l), had gone for agriculture across a canal, nearly 3 kilometers away from their house and as soon as they reached their destination, they saw 12 persons named in the FIR and 10-15 unknown who were variously armed, emerging from an adjacent sugarcane field. They surrounded the informant and the deceased. The informant (P.W.-11) somehow managed to escape and returned back to his village and narrated the incident to Nand Kishore Yadav @ Batkhari Yadav (deceased-2, in short D-2), Chandra Mohan Yadav (P.W.-8), Yogi Yadav (P.W.-6), Pujari Yadav (P.W.-7) and Arvind Yadav. Immediately thereafter Arvind Yadav, son of Rajdeo Yadav (D-1) took the licensed firearm (gun) of Rajdeo Yadav (D-1) for being handed over to him, seemingly, for his protection and to rescue him. The informant is said to have disclosed the villagers that the accused persons were contemplating to kill Rajdeo (D-1). Thereafter Nand Kishore Yadav @ Batkhari Yadav (D-2), Chandra Mohan Yadav (P.W.-8), Shiv Sagar Yadav (deceased-3, D-3 in short), Pujari Yadav (P.W.-7) and Yogi Yadav (P.W.-6) accompanied Arvind Yadav. As soon as they reached near the place of occurrence, the accused persons snatched the gun which Arvind Yadav was carrying. Bhola Yadav (A-1) thereafter assaulted Rajdeo Yadav (D-1) with farsa in his head and because of the injuries which he sustained, he fell down. After Rajdeo Yadav fell down, Rajendra Yadav (A-9) hit Rajdeo Yadav (D-1) with the butt of the gun in his chest. Rajdeo Yadav (D-1) thereafter became unconscious. Chokat Yadav (A-7) hit Nand Kishore Yadav @ Batkhari Yadav (D-2)with gu