HIGH COURT OF ALLAHABAD
S.K.Mukerjee, Surya Prasad
KISHORI LAL
Versus
STATE OF U P
Decided On : 07 January 1994
Criminal Appeal No. 3364 of 1979.
{'KEYWORD': 'Murder', 'SUBJECT': 'Conviction for Murder', 'ACT SECTION LIST': 'Section 302, I. P. C. simpliciter and Section 302 read with Section 34, I. P. C.'}
Fact of the Case:
The deceased, Ramesh Chandra Singh, a lawyer, was killed by a bomb thrown by the appellant Vinod at the instigation of the appellant Kishori Lal. The incident occurred near a level crossing in Karwi, District Banda.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the prosecution case was doubtful and that the appellants had been falsely implicated due to enmity.
Issues: 1. Whether the prosecution had proved the guilt of the appellants beyond reasonable doubt. 2. Whether the appellants had been falsely implicated due to enmity.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the prosecution case was doubtful for the following reasons: * The deceased was a lawyer of good standing and would not have gone bare-footed to see the youth rally without putting on a trouser, pant or Dhoti. * The time of the incident was mentioned as 6.00 p.m. in the wireless message sent from the Police Station, Karwi to Police Station, Manikpur, but the prosecution alleged that the incident took place at 6.15 p.m. * The informant Chandra Bhan Singh PW 2 was an arch enemy of the accused Kishori Lal and would not have been allowed to go unhurt/uninjured if he had actually been present at the time and place of occurrence. * The First Information Report was written by Chandra Bhan Singh PW 2 at the Police Station, Karwi itself and did not contain the case crime number, which means that the case was not registered till the preparation of Chitthi Majroobi. * The accused Kishori Lal exhorted others to kill Ramesh Chandra Singh with the result that the accused Vinod threw a bomb on his back, which appeared to be unnatural and uncalled for. * There was no source of light mentioned in the First Information Report or anywhere else, so the possibility of the assailants not having been identified by the witnesses at the time of the incident could not be ruled out. * Chandra Bhan Singh PW 8, Ram Singh PW 5 and Natthu had got scattered on the accused Vinod throwing the bomb on the back of Ramesh Chandra Singh deceased, but none of them received any injuries from the splinters of the bomb. * There was a long standing enmity between Chandra Bhan Singh PW 2 and other members of his family on the one side and the accused Kishori Lal of his village on the other.
Final Decision: The court allowed the appeal, set aside the impugned judgment and order, and acquitted the appellants of the offences with which they had been charged.
This is a criminal appeal against the judgment and order dated 17-12-1979 passed by the then learned Sessions Judge, Banda in Session Trial No. 207 of 1979 convicting the appellants Vinod and Kishori Lal under Section 302, I. P. C. simpliciter and Section 302 read with Section 34, I. P. C. and sentencing them to imprisonment for life respectively thereunder.
2. The prosecution case briefly stated is that the informant Chandra Bhan Singh PW 2 is a resident of village Khandeha within the circle of Police Station Mau, District Banda. His real cousin Ramesh Chandra Singh deceased was a lawyer in Karwi. He along with other members of his family was living in Mohaila Nai Bazar, Karwi. There was a long standing enmity bet ween Chandra Bhan Singh PW 2 and the other members of his family on the one side and the accused Kishori Lal of his village on the other. The regional youth rally was going on at Chitrakoot Inter College, Karwi. The deceased Ramesh Chandra Singh had gone to witness that rally. Chindra Bhan Singh PW 2 along with Ram Singh, PW 5 and Natthu ha d also come from Khandeha to see that rally. They met Ramesh Chandra Singh deceased at the rally. The sports were over at about 5. 45 or 6. 00 p. m. on the sugges tion of the deceased Ramesh Chandra Singh, Chandra Bhan Singh and his two companions agreed to stay at the house of Ramesh Chandra Singh in the night. All of them therefore, started for the house of Ramesh Chandra Singh located in Mohaila Nai Bazar, Karwi, when they reached near the level crossing, the saw four accused standing near the railway gate. The accused Kishori Lal was armed with a rifle as soon as Ramesh Chandra Singh deceased and his three companions reached the other side of the gate. The accused Vinod at the instigation of Kishori Lal threw a bomb on the back of the deceased. Consequently Ramesh Chandra Singh fell down. When his three companions challenged, Raj Bahadur and Vindeshwari fired from their country-made pistols held by them, but none was injured. All the accused then fled away towards the western side. Ramesh Chandra Singh had become unconscious. He had received injuries on his back. He was bleeding from his nose. He was taken in a Rickshaw to the Police Station Karwi, Chandra Bhan Singh wrote a report and submitted it there, Ramesh Chandra Singh was then sent to Karwi hospital, where his injuries were medically examined. Hid condition was precarious and therefore, the Medical Officer advised that he should be shifted to Allahabad for better treatment. An Ambulance Car was arranged.
While being taken in the Ambulance Car was Chandra Singh died after covering a distance of 3-4 furlongs. The dead body of Ramesh Chandra Singh was taken back to the police station in the same Ambulance Car. Girish Chandra Dubey, the then Head Clerk of P. S. Karwi recieved the First Information Report (Ex. Ka-1) on 10-12-1978 at 7. 05 p. m. The occurrence had taken place on the level crossing. That place law within me jurisdiction of G. R. P. Manikpur. A wireless message was sent to P. S. Manikpur for conveying the information to the Station Officer, G. R. P. Manik pur about the incident. Consequently, the First Information Report and the other relevant papers were sent to the G. R. P. , Manikpur, Sri Asha Ram Tripathi. PW 10 was the then Station Officer of P. S. Karwi. He held an inquest on the dead body of the deceased and prepared the inquest report (Ex. Ka-33 ). He wrapped and sealed the dead body of the deceased in a sheet of cloth and sent it to the Karwi mortuary for post-mortem examination, Sri Chandra Bhan Singh Chauhan, the then Station Officer of G. R. P. , Manik pur investigated into the case. He went to the Karwi mortuary, where he met the informant Cahandra Bhan Singh. He took down the statements of Chandra Bhan Singh and certain others. He then visited the place of occur rence along with Chandra Bhan Singh. Having reached there, he inspected it and prepared its site-plan (Ex. Ka-5 ).
3.
Login now and unlock free premium legal research
Login to SupremeToday AI and access free legal analysis, AI highlights, and smart tools.
Login
now!
India’s Legal research and Law Firm App, Download now!
Copyright © 2023 Vikas Info Solution Pvt Ltd. All Rights Reserved.