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2018 Supreme(Chh) 408
IN THE HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH, BILASPUR
PRITINKER DIWAKER, SANJAY AGRAWAL, JJ.
Jai @ Gudda Jaiswal S/o. Late Bajrang Prasad Jaiswal & Ors. - Petitioners
Versus
State of Chhattisgarh & Ors. - Respondents
CRA No. 452, 492, 522, 538 of 2012
Decided On : 10-08-2018
For the Appellants :Shri Shakti Raj Sinha, Advocate.
For the Respondent:Shri Vivek Sharma, Govt. Advocate.
Headnote:
Arms Act - Section 25 – Indian Penal Code - Sections 147, 148, 302/149, 302/149 – Appeal Against Conviction and Order of Sentence – Murder Offence - There are two deceased persons as per prosecution case, at around 12.15 am in car parking of hotel Intercity, accused persons standing surrounding two deceased persons and altercation was going on between them - It is alleged that except accused Nos. 4 & 5 all accused persons were carrying firearms. During altercation, accused No.5 Manoj Agrawal snatched pistol from hand of accused No.1 and after abusing one of deceased and saying that if Jai @ Gudda cannot shoot Gudda Sonkar, he himself would do same, fired gunshot near cheek of Gudda Sonkar as result of which Gudda Sonkar fell on floor. When second deceased brother-in-law of first deceased Gudda Sonkar, intervened in the matter, accused No.1 Jai having snatched pistol from hand of accused No.5, caused gunshot injury to Nanka Sonkar as result of which he also fell down on the floor, accused persons fired randomly - First deceased was alive, other accused persons shouted that he is still alive, on which accused No.1 Jai caused another gunshot injury on the chest of Gudda Sonkar and thereafter, all of them ran away from spot. It is said that while the altercation was going on between accused/appellants and two deceased persons, first deceased Gudda Sonkar had made a telephonic call to PW-12 Jugal Kishore who was sitting in another hotel Surya and informed him about the quarrel. After receiving the said information PW-12 in his Scorpio vehicle rushed to hotel Intercity along with one Alok Singh (not examined) and saw accused No.1 and accused No.5 Manoj Agrawal causing gunshot injuries to the deceased persons. Then PW-12 took Gudda Sonkar to CIMS in his Scorpio vehicle where he was declared brought dead. Likewise, other injured Nanka Sonkar was taken to Apollo hospital in a police jeep as in meanwhile PW- 12 had informed the police regarding the incident from Intercity hotel itself, where he too was declared dead – Held, They are of no help to appellants as facts of present case are quite different from that of those cases in which the cited judgments were delivered. Here in this case appellants cannot claim benefit of doubt on account of certain faults in prosecution case as we have already held that such defects in the prosecution case appear to be deliberate ones by the investigating officer to favour the accused/appellants and as per the long settled law, no benefit can be derived out of such lacunae in the prosecution case by the accused when there are other clinching and reliable evidence fortifying their involvement in the crime in question. In the preceding paragraphs we have discussed in detail all the defence raised by the appellants in light of the law governing the field and found them untenable in the eye of law - Judgment impugned has been passed considering all the relevant material adduced by the prosecution and the defence in its correct perspective and as such, the findings of guilt recorded by the trial Court deserve affirmation - Appeals dismissed.
PRITINKER DIWAKER, J.
1. As all these four appeals arise out of a common judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 30.4.2012 passed by the Sessions Judge, Bilaspur in ST No.169/2010, they are being disposed of by this common judgment. By the impugned judgment, the accused/appellants Jai @ Gudda and Manoj Agrawal have been convicted under Sections 147, 148, 302, 302/149 of IPC and Sections 25 & 27 of the Arms Act whereas accused/appellants Vijay @ Hallo, Ajay @ Chhotu, Hani, Samrat & Rishiraj have been convicted under Sections 147, 148, 302/149, 302/149 of IPC and Vijay @ Hallo, Ajay @ Chhotu, Hani & Rishiraj have also been convicted under Section 25 of the Arms Act. The sentence awarded to them is as under:
Conviction
Sentence
U/s 148 of IPC.
3 years' RI.
U/s 302 of IPC.
Imprisonment for life, fine of Rs.1000/- with default stipulation.
U/s 302/149 of IPC.
Imprisonment for life, fine of Rs.1000/- with default stipulation.
U/s 25 of the Arms Act.
3 years' RI and fine of Rs.1000/- with default stipulations.
U/s 27 of the Arms Act.
7 years' RI and fine of Rs.1000/- with default stipulations.
2. In the present case, there are two deceased persons namely Gudda Sonkar @ Krishna Kumar and Nanka Sonkar @ Rajendra Ghore. As per prosecution case, on 9.6.2010 at around 12.15 am in the car parking of hotel Intercity, the accused persons were standing surrounding two deceased persons and altercation was going on between them. It is alleged that except accused Nos. 4 & 5 (Samrat & Manoj Agrawal), all the accused persons were carrying firearms. During altercation, accused No.5 Manoj Agrawal snatched pistol from the hand of accused No.1 Jai @ Gudda and after abusing one of the deceased namely Gudda Sonkar and saying that if Jai @ Gudda cannot shoot Gudda Sonkar, he himself would do the same, fired a gunshot near the cheek of Gudda Sonkar as a result of which Gudda Sonkar fell on the floor. When the second deceased Nanka Sonkar, brother-in-law of first deceased Gudda Sonkar, intervened in the matter, accused No.1 Jai having snatched pistol from the hand of accused No.5, caused a gunshot injury to Nanka Sonkar as a result of which he also fell down on the floor. Thereafter, the accused persons fired randomly. Further case of the prosecution is that as the first deceased Gudda Sonkar was alive, the other accused persons shouted that he is still alive, on which accused No.1 Jai caused another gunshot injury on the chest of Gudda Sonkar and thereafter, all of them ran away from the spot. It is said that while the altercation was going on between the accused/appellants and two deceased persons, the first deceased Gudda Sonkar had made a telephonic call to PW-12 Jugal Kishore who was sitting in another hotel Surya and informed him about the quarrel. After receiving the said information PW-12 in his Scorpio vehicle rushed to hotel Intercity along with one Alok Singh (not examined) and saw accused No.1 Jai @ Gudda and accused No.5 Manoj Agrawal causing gunshot injuries to the deceased persons. Then PW-12 took Gudda Sonkar to CIMS in his Scorpio vehicle where he was declared brought dead. Likewise, other injured Nanka Sonkar was taken to Apollo hospital in a police jeep as in the meanwhile PW- 12 had informed the police regarding the incident from Intercity hotel itself, where he too was declared dead.
3. On 9.6.2010 itself at 2.30 am FIR (Ex.P/33) was lodged by PW- 12 Jugal Kishore against the appellants and three others under Sections 147, 148, 149, 302 of IPC and 25 & 27 of the Arms Act. Merg intimation (Ex.P/34) regarding death of Gudda Sonkar was recorded on 9.6.2010 at 2.35 am whereas merg intimation (Ex.P/35) in respect of deceased Nanka Sonkar was recorded on the same day at 2.40 am at Police Station – Torva, Distt. Bilasp
