Point of Law : While appreciating the evidence of a witness, minor discrepancies on trivial matters, which do not affect the core of the prosecution case, may not prompt the court to reject the evidence in its entirety.

JUDGMENT :

VIKAS KUNVAR SRIVASTAV, J.

1. The instant criminal appeal is directed against the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 27.09.1984 passed by the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Lalitpur in Session Trial No. 47 of 1983 (State vs. Karan Singh), convicting and sentencing the appellant under Section 302, 148, 149 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 to undergo life imprisonment and rigorous imprisonment for one year respectively (Life imprisonment under Section 302/149 I.P.C. and rigorous imprisonment under Section 148 I.P.C.). From the same Case Crime No. 53 of 1979, under Section 396 I.P.C. Police Station Saujana, District Lalitpur, three sessions trial were instituted i.e. Sessions Trial No. 15 of 1980 (State vs. Aman Singh and Others), Sessions Trial No. 23 of 1980 (State vs. Kishora) and Sessions Trial No. 47 of 1983 (State vs. Karan Singh).

Factual Matrix

2. The prosecution case as emerged from the written information given by the first informant, Kashiram on 22.11.1979 in the Police Station-Saujana, District Lalitpur, the evidence on record both the documentary and oral, are stated briefly as follows:

The first informant Kashiram alongwith his real brother Ramphal both S/o Motilal R/o Village Agodi, Police Station Saujana, District Lalitpur went to their agricultural field of jowar to take care and protection of the crops. The first informant (Kashiram) handed over his licensed gun no. 1516 of 12 bore with 25 cartridges to his brother ‘Ramphal’ and went himself into the field to cut grass. After cutting the grass at about 5:00 p.m. in the evening, when the day light was still existing, the first informant lift the bundle of grass and moved on the way to his house with his brother ‘Ramphal’ ahead of him. About ten paces away from their field on the way to their home, when they reached near the agricultural field of Baldu Lodhi, the accused persons Karan Singh S/o Majboot Singh Thakur armed with axe (Kulhari), Aman Singh S/o Majboot Singh Thakur armed with sickle (hasiya), Kishora S/o Kamatua Nai armed with axe (Kulhari), Hallu S/o Kamatua Nai armed with axe, all residents of Agodi Police Station Saujana, District Lalitpur with brother-in-law of Kishora namely ‘Bhaiyan Nai’ R/o Village Rangaon, Police Station Mandwara, District Lalitpur, came out from the crops of jowar in aforesaid field of Baldu Lodhi. They caught hold the informant’s brother Ramphal and tossed him on the earth. They inflicted blows of axe (Kulhari) and sickle (Hasiya) on him. Informant’s brother Ramphal began to scream and the informant was also raising alarm for help, upon which Pooran, Pragi, Jagan, Sunnu, all residents of Village Agodi rushed to the spot, but after killing Ramphal, all the five assailants fled from the spot snatching the licensed gun, cartridges and the wrist watch from the hands of the deceased. When the witnesses began to gather near the spot of the incident, Kishora Nai made a fire from the licensed gun of the informant. It was stated that the dead body of Ramphal (deceased) i.e. the informant’s brother was lying in the agricultural field of Baldu Lodhi and some of the villagers stayed near the dead-body.

This written information dated 22.11.1979 was given by the informant in the police station Saujana at about 8:00 a.m. The first information report was lodged accordingly, on the basis of written information under Section 396 I.P.C. The distance of the spot of the incident from the Police Station Saujana is shown as about 13 k.m. in the F.I.R. towards South-West from the police station.

After registering the F.I.R. police reached at the spot of the incident and started the proceeding of inquest, prepared site map on the orientation of witnesses, collected the blood stained soil and plain earth soil from the spot of the incident, prepared memo thereof and sent the body for postmortem. After getting the post mort