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2014 Supreme(Sikk) 94
SIKKIM HIGH COURT
NARENDRA KUMAR JAIN and S. P. WANGDI, JJ.
State of Sikkim – Appellant
Vs.
Aita Hang Subba – Respondent
D. B. Cri. Appeal No. 10 of 2013
Decided on : 02/07/2014
The main legal point established in the judgment is that the court has the power to review and reappreciate the evidence in an appeal against acquittal, and minor discrepancies in the evidence do not necessarily discredit the entire prosecution's case.
Headnote:
IPC - Criminal Law - Section 302, Section 304 Part II - Summary
Fact of the Case:
The case involved an altercation between the deceased and the accused during a marriage celebration, resulting in the accused hitting the deceased with a firewood, causing severe head injuries. The deceased later died due to the injuries.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the evidence overwhelmingly proved that the deceased died due to the injury sustained from the assault by the accused. The court rejected the respondent's claim that the injuries were caused by a fall, and concluded that the accused was guilty under Section 304 Part II of the IPC.
Issues: The main issue was whether the accused was responsible for the death of the deceased and if the evidence supported the charge under Section 302 of the IPC.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the evidence of the witnesses and the medical report overwhelmingly proved that the accused caused the death of the deceased, rejecting the respondent's claims of contradictory evidence and unreliable statements.
Final Decision: The court allowed the state's appeal in part, setting aside the trial court's judgment and convicting the accused under Section 304 Part II of the IPC. The court restricted the period of sentence to the imprisonment already undergone by the accused.
Wangdi, J.
This Appeal is directed against the impugned judgment dated 01.04.2013 in S.T.Case No.17 of 2010 of the Learned Sessions Judge, South and West Sikkim at Namchi, by which the respondent/accused was acquitted of the charge under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (for short ' IPC- ) for having caused the death of the deceased, Rajesh Chettri.
2. The facts of the case so far as it is relevant for the purpose of disposal of this Appeal are that on 26.04.2010 when the deceased Rajesh Chettri had gone to the house of one Dik Bahadur Rai at Upper Barakheley, Singling, West Sikkim to participate in the marriage celebration of his daughter, an altercation took place between him and the respondent/accused, Aita Hang Subba, in the courtyard of the said Dik Bahadur Rai at about 1400/1430 hours and that the respondent/accused person was seen hitting the deceased Rajesh Chettri with a rounded firewood causing the deceased severe head injuries with the respondent/accused in the process which he was also injured over his left eye. The fight was ultimately stopped by Som Bahadur Rai, PW4, and Mani Lall Subba, PW3, who led the deceased to his house. In the early morning of the next day, the wife of the deceased, Beena Subba, finding the condition of her husband/the deceased critical, decided to take him to the Namchi District Hospital and while doing so, stopped at the Soreng Police Station and informed of her husband- s condition and sought for a medical examination requisition form. No sooner had she put up her complaint, N/K Dhan Bahadur Tamang, informed of the deceased having died, which was later confirmed by Dr. Praveen Gurung, the Medical Officer at the Soreng P.H.C. The motive of the respondent/accused to put the deceased to death was prima facie established when the Soreng Police Station found from the records of the Police Station that a case under Section 457/380 IPC under FIR No. 06(04)10 dated 27.04.2010 had earlier been registered against the respondent/accused, on a complaint lodged by the deceased Rajesh Chettri. Therefore, Soreng P.S. case FIR No. 8(04)10 dated 27.04.2010 under Section 302, IPC was registered against the respondent/accused and taken up for investigation.
3. Upon investigation, it was revealed that a marriage ceremony of the youngest daughter of one Dik Bahadur Rai was held at Upper Barakheley on 25.04.2010 and on the next day, i.e., on 26.04.2010, the said Dik Bahadur Rai invited the youth of the locality to help him in winding up and putting away things. After completion of the work at about 1000 hours, all the youths who had gathered to help were offered lunch. After the lunch was over, most of the youths left the house except for few of them who stayed behind to enjoy with the rum and beer offered to them by the said Dik Bahadur Rai. In a group of 6 persons consisting of the respondent/accused, the deceased Rajesh Chettri alias Raju, Mingma Sherpa alias Pala (PW-9), Som Bahadur Rai (PW-4), Mani Lall Subba (PW-8) and Yuvraj Subba (PW-3), the respondent/accused and Yuvraj Subba (PW-3) were engaged in a cheerful banter when some mud fell into the glass of the deceased. This led to an argument between the respondent/accused and the deceased which got aggravated into a physical fight. They were separated by Som Bahadur Subba (PW-4) and Mani Lall Subba (PW-8), but the respondent/accused rushed to the kitchen of the house and picked up a solid piece of firewood from behind it and hit the deceased with it on the head felling the deceased to the ground. Even then the respondent/accused continued to assault him mercilessly hitting him 2/3 times on the head and the back. They were again separated by PW-4, PW-8, and PW-9 and the deceased, led away to his residence by Mani Lall Subba, PW-8, and Som Bahadur Rai, PW-4.
4. In the evening, when Beena Subba, wife of the deceased returned home, she found the deceased asleep and did not disturb him presuming him to be under the influence of alcohol. The ne
