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2024 Supreme(Chh) 56
IN THE HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR
RAMESH SINHA, RAVINDRA KUMAR AGRAWAL, JJ.
The State of Chhattisgarh, Through District Magistrate, Janjgir-Champa, Chhattisgarh - Appellant
Versus
Sahdev @ Lalu Yadav, S/o. Chhaura Yadav & Ors. - Respondents
Acquittal Appeal No. 193 of 2017
Decided On : 09-01-2024
For the Appellant :Mr. Avinash K. Mishra, Government Advocate.
For the Respondent: Mr. Ravindra Sharma.
Headnote:
Acquittal Appeal - Criminal Law - Indian Penal Code, Section 302, Section 354, Section 34, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, Section 3(1)(xi), Section 3(2)(v) - The judgment discusses the evidence presented in the case, including witness testimonies and medical reports, to determine the guilt of the accused. The court analyzes the circumstances leading to the death of the minor girl and concludes that the accused tried to outrage her modesty, leading to a fatal heart attack. The court finds the acquittal by the trial court to be unreasonable and interferes with the decision, convicting the accused under various sections of the IPC and the Act of 1989.
Fact of the Case:
The case involves the death of a minor girl who was allegedly subjected to eve teasing and molestation by the accused, leading to a fatal heart attack. The prosecution presented evidence including witness testimonies and medical reports to establish the guilt of the accused.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the accused tried to outrage the modesty of the victim, resulting in her death due to a syncopic heart attack caused by fear. The court concluded that the acquittal by the trial court was unreasonable and interfered with the decision, convicting the accused under various sections of the IPC and the Act of 1989.
Issues: The main issue was to determine the culpability of the accused in the death of the minor girl and whether their actions constituted offenses under the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Ratio Decidendi: The court's decision was based on the analysis of witness testimonies, medical reports, and the circumstances leading to the death of the minor girl. The court concluded that the accused's actions led to the victim's fatal heart attack, and their conduct indicated an intention to conceal their act of molestation.
Final Decision: The acquittal appeal was allowed, and the accused were convicted under various sections of the IPC and the Act of 1989. They were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment and directed to surrender forthwith before the concerned trial court for serving the sentences.
JUDGMENT :
Ramesh Sinha, J.
1. Challenge in this appeal is to the order dated 11.04.2013 passed by the Special Sessions Judge, Janjgir-Champa in Special Sessions Trial No. 92/2012 whereby the respondents/accused have been acquitted of the charges under Sections 354, 302/34 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3(1)(xi) and 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (for short, the Act of 1989).
2. Case of the prosecution, in brief is that on 23.01.2012, at about 4:00 p.m., the deceased, who was a minor aged about 13 years, had gone on her bi-cycle to fetch tomatoes from the fields (Badi) but did not come back. After one hour, her sister Sheet Kumari (PW-3) went out in search of the deceased. She found that the bi-cycle was lying near the gate of the Badi and in a polythene bag, the plucked tomatoes were kept. When she could not found the deceased, she raised an alarm by shouting her name. At that time, she saw that in the adjacent Badi of Pitamar Yadav, both the accused were leaning on somebody. On hearing the hue and cry of Sheet Kumari, both the accused ran away. She returned back on the bi-cycle and on the way, she met her brother Ganesh and informed the entire incident and after reaching home, she informed her father also. After some time, Ganesh came home and informed that the dead body of the deceased was lying in the water of Shanichara Dam when all of them reached the spot and saw the dead body.
3. The brother of the deceased Ganesh Kumar Suman (PW-10) lodged the first information report (for short, the FIR) (Exhibit P/29) on 24.01.2012 at about 18:30 hours which was registered at Police Station, Baloda, as Crime No. 0/2012 for the offence punishable under Section 302, 354, 34 of the IPC as well as Section 3(2)(v) of the Act of 1989 against the respondents/accused. The said FIR was registered on the basis of merg intimation (Exhibit P/26) bearing No. 6/2012 which was registered on 23.01.2012 at about 19:30 hours on the basis of information given by Ganesh Kumar Suman (PW-10) i.e. the brother of the deceased. Later on, the Police of Police Station AJK, Janjgir registered a numbered FIR bearing Crime No. 7/2012 on 25.01.2012 at about 13:20 hours.
4. After investigating the matter, the police submitted the police report on 19.04.2012 alongwith charge-sheet against the respondent/accused under the aforementioned Sections of the IPC and the Act of 1989 which was registered as Criminal Case No. 300/2012 in the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Janjgir and the same was committed to the Court of Sessions vide order dated 04.05.2012 and it was registered as Special Sessions Trial No. 92/2012.
5. The learned Special Sessions Judge, framed charges against the respondents/accused on 18.05.2012 charging them for the offence punishable under Sections 354, 302 read with Section 34 and Section 3(1)(xi) and Section 3(2)(v) of the Act of 1989. The respondents/ accused denied the charges and prayed for trial.
6. Amongst others, the prosecution has exhibited the following documents in support of its case :
Search Panchnama (Exhibit P/1)
Spot Panchnama (Exhibit P/2)
Property Seizure Memo (Exhibit P/3 to P/6)
Arrest/Court Surrender Memo (Exhibit P/7 and P/8)
Summons under Section 175 Cr.P.C. (Exhibit P/9)
Inquest Report (Exhibit P/10)
Nazri Naksha (Exhibit P/11)
Application for postmortem (Exhibit P/12)
Crime Details Form (Exhibit P/13)
Application for MLC Report (Exhibit P/14 and P/15)
Information of Arrest (Exhibit P/16)
Information of Arrest (Exhibit P/17)
Memo for FSL report (Exhibit P/18 and P/19)
Receipt of Exhibits (Exhibit P/20 and P/21)
Postmortem report (Exhibit P/22)
MLC report (Exhibit P/23)
Application for query report and query report (Exhibit P/23 and P/24)
Property seizure memo (Exhibit P/25)
Merg Intimation (Exhibit P/26)
Dead body Supurdnama (Exhibit P/27)
Copy of Caste certificate (Exhibit P/28)
Unnumbered FIR (Exhibit P/29)
Numbered FIR (Exhibit P/30)
Receipt (Exhibit P/31)
7. In order to bring home the of
