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ALLAHABAD HIGH COURT
Shri Narayan Shukla, Krishna Pratap Singh, JJ.
Sobran (in jail) - Appellant
Versus
State of U.P. - Respondent
Criminal Appeal No. 7974 of 2007
Decided On : 20-12-2016
Dacoity - Section 396 IPC - [Section 396 IPC] - The court acquitted the accused of charges under Section 396 IPC due to lack of evidence and delayed FIR, and ordered the immediate release of the appellant-accused Sobran.
Fact of the Case:
The case involved a dacoity in the house of the deceased Jagat Pal, where several family members were injured and killed. The prosecution's case was based on the testimony of the son of the deceased and the wife of one of the injured, who implicated the accused based on an earlier land dispute and enmity.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the delayed FIR and lack of corroborative evidence, along with the close relationship between the witnesses and the deceased, raised considerable suspicion about the involvement of the accused in the dacoity. The court also noted the absence of recovery of incriminating articles and the failure to identify the actual dacoits.
Issues: The issues revolved around the credibility of the witnesses, the delayed FIR, lack of corroborative evidence, and the absence of recovery of incriminating articles.
Ratio Decidendi: The court emphasized the importance of prompt lodging of the FIR, the need for a plausible explanation for any delay, and the potential for delayed FIRs to be influenced by afterthoughts, embellishments, or concocted stories. The court also highlighted the significance of considering the delay in the background of the facts and circumstances of each case.
Final Decision: The court acquitted the accused of charges under Section 396 IPC due to lack of evidence and delayed FIR, and ordered the immediate release of the appellant-accused Sobran.
Krishna Pratap Singh, J.
Heard Sri Dalvir Singh, learned counsel for the appellant and learned A.G.A. for the State.
This appeal has been preferred against judgment and order dated 23.10.2007 passed by Special Judge, DDA/Additional Sessions Judge, Court No. 5 Etah in Sessions Trial No. 112-A of 2001 arising out of case crime No. 22 of 1996, P.S. Raja Ka Rampur, District Etah, whereby the appellant Sobran has been convicted and sentenced under Section 396 IPC to suffer imprisonment for life and to pay fine of Rs. 10,000/-, in default to undergo imprisonment for additional one year.
Briefly the facts of the case are as follows: - Raj Shekhar (PW-1) is son of deceased Dr. Jagat Pal and co-accused as well as informant Ram Ratan is brother of the deceased. Injured witness Smt. Vimla Devi (PW-2) is wife of Udaivir Singh who had sustained injuries during the commission of dacoity. Deceased Jagat Pal was the father-in-law of Smt. Vimla Devi, Raj Shekhar (PW-1), Smt. Vimla Devi (PW-2), Dr. K.P. Garg (PW-3), Dr. A.K. Saxena (PW-4), Inspector Chandra Sen Gautam (PW-5), Investigating Officer Constable Rajvir Singh (PW-6), Constable Surendra Singh (PW-7), SI Ram Pal Gupta (PW-8), Investigating Officer Naresh Chandra Sharma (PW-9), Investigating Officer Mahesh Chandra (PW-10). Court has examined Constable Kukar Singh CW-1 for ascertaining death of accused Raj Kumar @ Basanto. These witnesses had proved documentary evidence of prosecution.
Other facts of the case is that a written report (tehrir 5A) was moved by co-accused Ram Ratan in the police station Raja Ka Rampur at 7: 30 a.m. on 22.3.1996 alleging therein that in the intervening night of 21/22.3.1996 a dacoity has been committed in the house of his brother Jagat Pal and after this information at 6: 00 AM he reached there and he found the dead bodies of his brother Jagat Pal, his mother Smt. Ram Kali and Chandra Devi (Bhabhi) were lying there and there were signs of stabbing and injuries caused by blunt weapons and that Udaivir, wife of Udaivir namely Vimla Devi (PW-2), Raj Shekhar (PW-1) and son-in-law of Rameshwar were lying in injured condition. Said co-accused Ram Ratan has also stated in the tehrir that he was told by the wife of Udaivir namely Smt. Vimla (PW-2) that 8/10 miscreants armed with weapons have trespassed into her house and committed murders and robbery and licence gun, cash and jewelry was taken away by them. On this information, the FIR was registered vide FIR Ext. Ka 36 and entry was made in GD vide entry no. 12 Ext. Ka-37. The police including PW-5 SI Chandra Sen Gautam have reached at the spot. According to the statement of Raj Shekhar (PW-1) and Smt. Vimla Devi (PW-2) there was some dispute over the land and partition between deceased Jagat Pal and some of the co-accused persons. On 21.3.1996, deceased Jagat Pal has told his family members that he was feeling danger to his life as Raj Kumar, Ram Ratan and Arvind have threatened to kill him. In the night of 21.3.1996 when the deceased Jagat Pal and other members of his family including the two deceased persons were sleeping in their house situated at Raja Ka Rampur the son of Dr. Jagat Pal (deceased) namely Raj Shekhar (PW-1) after hearing some noise from the roof of their house woke up and saw that accused Sobran alongwith Gajraj, Top Singh, Girish, Ram Niwas have trespassed into the 'baithak'. Some of these persons were having iron pipes. Following these persons, Arvind, Raj Kumar, Ram Ratan, Dr. Abhay Pal and Rajeev @ Pappu have also trespassed in the 'baithak'. These persons were having knives while Girish, Arvind, Ram Niwas and Ram Ratan were having guns. All these persons forcibly took the son of the deceased Jagat Pal namely Udaivir from his room and brought him to the baithak. Following Udaivir, Smt. Vimla Devi (PW-2) also reached there. The accused persons threatened the family members of the deceased persons and started attacking them with pipes and knives. Some of them kept pressed the mouth of some
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