The prosecution must establish the case beyond reasonable doubt, and inconsistencies in victim statements and lack of evidence can lead to acquittal.

S.P. GARG, J.

1. Both the above appeals are disposed of together as they arise out of a common judgment.

2. The appellants – Manjeet Kaur and Veermati impugn a judgment dated 24.04.2004 of learned Addl. Sessions Judge in Sessions Case No. 94/97 arising out of FIR No.202/94 PS Janakpuri by which the appellant – Manjeet Kaur was held guilty for committing offences punishable under Sections 366, 109 IPC read with Section 376 IPC, 342 and 120B IPC read with Section 211 IPC and the appellant – Veermati was held guilty for committing offence punishable under Section 120B IPC read with Section 211 IPC. By an order dated 15.05.2004, they were awarded various prison terms with fine.

3. Briefly stated, the prosecution case as reflected in the charge-sheet was that on the night intervening 19/20.04.1994 one Dinesh Dubey arrested in case FIR No.201/94 of Police Station Janakpuri made a disclosure statement informing that he and his friends had a land dispute with Chander Pradhan and wanted him to be implicated in a false case. Accordingly, they all hatched a conspiracy to involve Chander Pradhan in a rape case. On 10.04.1994, the victim ‘P’ (changed name) was abducted by the appellants and was raped by Dinesh Dubey. She was compelled to lodge false complaint under Section 376 IPC against Chander Pradhan. Subsequently, the victim was recovered from Bindapur Extension where she was in the captivity of the appellant – Manjeet Kaur. She recorded her statement; she was medically examined. Statements of the witnesses conversant with the facts were recorded. The prosecution arrested Dinesh Dubey (since expired), Abdul Aziz Mirza, Shanta Bhandari, Surjeet Singh, Vijender Singh and Bharat Bhushan besides the appellants. Statements of the witnesses conversant with the facts were recorded. Upon completion of the investigation, a charge-sheet was filed against all of them in the Court. In order to establish its case, the prosecution examined seventeen witnesses. In 313 Cr.P.C. statements, the accused persons denied their involvement in the crime and pleaded false implication. Since Dinesh Dubey had expired during trial, the proceedings against him stood ‘abated’. After considering the rival contentions of the parties and on appreciation of the evidence, the Trial Court, by the impugned judgment, acquitted Abdul Aziz Mirza, Surjeet Singh, Vijender Singh and Bharat Bhushan of all the charges. It is relevant to note that State did not challenge their acquittal. Shanta Bhandari and Veermati (the appellant) were convicted under Section 120B IPC read with Section 211 IPC only. It is unclear if the said conviction has been challenged by Shanta Bhandari. Being aggrieved and dissatisfied, the appellants have filed the instant appeals.

4. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and have examined the file. At the outset, it may be mentioned that the original Trial Court record was not available. Vide letter No.27267-Crl. dated 09.09.2011, the Trial Court was directed to reconstruct the record. Vide letter dated 17.01.2012, the learned Addl. Sessions Judge sent the reconstructed file to the extent it was possible. On perusal of the reconstructed Trial Court record, it reveals that photocopies of statements of PW-1 (Jayanti Thakur), PW-2 (Chandrika Thakur), PW-5 (Const.Hari Ram), PW-8 (Dr.Shami Bhasin), PW-9 (Insp.Nand Kumar), PW-10 (Ram Sagar Yadav), PW-12 (O.P.Yadav) and PW-15 Inspector Rajinder Singh Adhikari are on record. Some pages of the charge-sheet have also been reconstructed. Apparently, in the absence of complete Trial Court record, this court is handicap to scrutinize the impugned judgment. The incident pertains to the year 1994. No useful purpose will be served to seek de-novo trial.

5. Certified copy of the impugned judgment is on record. Main allegations were against accused Dinesh Dubey who as observed above has since expired and the proceedings against him have been dropped as ‘abated’. The victim ‘P’ had appeared as PW-4 before th