The central legal point established in the judgment is the failure of the prosecution to establish the identity of the accused beyond reasonable doubt, leading to the dismissal of the appeal.

Chander Bhusan Barowalia, J.

The present appeal is maintained by the State of Himachal Pradesh against the judgment of acquittal dated 09.10.2006, passed by learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Una, District Una, H.P. in case No.30-II-2002, under Sections 279, 337 and 338 of Indian Penal Code.

2. Briefly stating the facts giving rise to the present appeal are that on 22.10.2001 at about 9.00 AM, complainant, Rajesh Kumar, alongwith his sister, Monika was coming to Jhalera on his Scooter No.HP-20A-1905 from his house and when they reached near Raisari bridge, a Tata Sumo bearing registration No.DL-ICE 4867 came with high speed from Una side and after coming to the wrong side, struck against their Scooter causing injuries to Rajesh and Monika. The injured were brought to the hospital where Rajesh Kumar gave statement under Section 154 Cr.P.C. The police visited the spot, took in possession Tata Sumo and Scooter and got those vehicles mechanically examined, took photographs of the spot and, after completion of investigations, filed challan against the accused under Sections 279, 337 and 338 IPC.

3. I have heard learned Additional Advocate General for the State-appellant and Shri Chandranarayan Singh, learned counsel for the respondent. Learned Additional Advocate General has vehemently argued that the Court below has arrived at the findings on surmises and conjectures and without appreciating the evidence in its true perspective.

4. Shri Chandranarayan Singh, learned counsel for the accused, on the other hand has argued that the prosecution has miserably failed to establish the case against respondent and none of the witnesses could identify the accused and otherwise also, the prosecution story is full of doubts and appeal be dismissed.

5. To appreciate the arguments of learned Additional Advocate General and learned counsel for the respondent, I have gone through the record in detail.

6. PW1 Dr. S. Rana, examined Monika, daughter of Jagdish Ram, and found injuries on her person and she was referred for X-Ray and after X-Ray, fracture was found and injuries No.1 & 2 were found to be grievous as per MLC Ex.PW1/A. On the same day, she had also examined Rajesh Kumar and found injuries on his person and after receiving report from the C.M.C., Chandigarh, she found fracture and injury No.1 was found to be grievous and others were simple and she had issued MLC Ex.PW1/B, which is on record.

7. PW2 Sanjeev Kumar, Radiographer conducted X-ray of Monika, which are Ex.P1 and Ex.P2 respectively and that of Rajesh Kumar is Ex.P3 and handed-over the same to the police. In the presence of PW6 Rajinder Kumar, the police took into possession Scooter and Tata Sumo alongwith documents on record vide memo Ex.PW6/A and Ex. PW6/B. It has further been alleged that in the presence of PW7 Bhupinder Singh, the accused had produced driving licence, which the police took into possession on 23.10.2001, which is Ex.PW7/A. PW8, HC Ved Parkash, registered FIR Ex.PW8/B, on the basis of statement of Rajesh Kumar Ex.PW8/A.

8. PW3, Rajesh Kumar, has stated that on 22.10.2001, he along with his sister were going on Scooter No.HP-20A-1905 towards Jhalera. He was driving the scooter. At about 9.00 AM, near Raisari Bridge, a Tata Sumo No.DL ICE-4867 came with very high speed and after coming to the wrong side, struck with his scooter. His sister fell down from the bridge. He also sustained grievous injuries on right leg. His sister also got fracture of her arm, hip and at that time Tata Sumo was being driven by the accused. His father Jagdish and one Rakesh Kumar were coming on Scooter behind them and took them to the hospital and his statement Ex.PW3/A was recorded by police the in the hospital. He was also referred for X- Ray. He produced his driving licence to the police, which was taken into possession by the police vide memo Ex.PW2/B. In cross-examination, he has stated that his father reached at the spot after 5-10 minutes of the accident. It has also been admitt