Back
2023 Supreme(All) 1834
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ALLAHABAD
Siddhartha Varma, Manish Kumar Nigam, JJ.
Gulab Singh and Others – Appellants
Versus
State of U.P. – Respondents
Criminal Appeal No. - 836 of 1983
Decided On : 10-05-2023
Advocate Appeared:
For the Appellant : R.B. Sahai, Aditya Yadav, Anil Kumar Singh, G.S. Chaturvedi, Kamal Krishna, Lav Srivastava, Mukesh Kumar Pandey, R.B.Singh, Ranjit Singh, Shyam Srivastava, Shyam Sunder Misra, Sunder Mishra, Surendra Singh, Sushil Kumar Dwivedi, V.P. Srivastava, Vikas Bhatnagar, Virendra Kumar Yadav, Vishesh Kumar
For the Respondent: Ramesh Sinha
The main legal point established in the judgment is the determination of juvenility and the applicability of the Juvenile Justice Act in providing the benefit of the Act of 2015 to the appellant.
Headnote:
Juvenile Justice Act - Determination of Juvenility - Family Register - [JUVENILE JUSTICE ACT] - [Section 94(2)] - [The Board held that the appellant no. 10 Kallu @ Avdhesh was a juvenile on the date of the incident i.e. on 05.12.1981. The Court considered the report of the Board and the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, and concluded that the appellant no. 10 was entitled to the benefit of the Act of 2015. As the appellant had already undergone about three years imprisonment and was found to be a juvenile at the time of occurrence, the Court directed that he be set at liberty and not incur any disqualification because of his conviction and period of sentence undergone by him.]
Fact of the Case:
The appellants were convicted and sentenced for various offenses including murder and attempted murder. Subsequently, an application was filed on behalf of one of the appellants, Kallu @ Avdhesh, claiming to be juvenile on the date of the incident.
Finding of the Court:
The Court considered the report of the Juvenile Justice Board and the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, and concluded that the appellant no. 10 was entitled to the benefit of the Act of 2015. As the appellant had already undergone about three years imprisonment and was found to be a juvenile at the time of occurrence, the Court directed that he be set at liberty and not incur any disqualification because of his conviction and period of sentence undergone by him.
Issues: The main issue was the determination of the juvenility of appellant no. 10 Kallu @ Avdhesh and the applicability of the Juvenile Justice Act in his case.
Ratio Decidendi: The Court relied on the report of the Juvenile Justice Board, the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, and the Family Register Rules to determine the juvenility of the appellant and provide the benefit of the Act of 2015.
Final Decision: The Court allowed the application and directed that appellant no. 10 Kallu @ Avdhesh be set at liberty and not incur any disqualification because of his conviction and period of sentence undergone by him.
JUDGMENT :
Manish Kumar Nigam, J.
Ref: Criminal Misc. Application No. 1 of 2019
1. Heard learned counsel for the appellants, learned A.G.A. for the State.
2. This appeal was filed by appellants Gulab Singh (A1), Shiv Narain Singh (A2), Munnu Singh (A3), Nanka (A4), Basdeo (A5), Chhotku (A6), Girish (A7), Kishore (A8), Jhoori Singh alias Chandra Bhushan Singh (A9) and Kalloo @ Avadesh (A10) against the judgment and order dated 05.04.1983 passed by IIIrd Additional Sessions Judge, Fatehpur in S.T. No. 119 of 1982 (Gulab Singh & others Vs. State of U.P.), by which the appellants had been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment under Section 302 read with 149 I.P.C., seven years rigorous imprisonment under Section 307/149 I.P.C. Jhoori Singh alias Chandra Bhushan Singh (A9) and Kalloo @ Avadesh (A10) were further convicted and sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment under Section 148 I.P.C. Shiv Narain Singh (A2), Munnu Singh (A3), Nanka (A4), Basdeo (A5), Chhotku (A6), Girish (A7) and Kishore (A8) were also convicted and sentenced to one year rigorous imprisonment u/s 147 I.P.C.
3. Briefly stated the facts of the case are that on the basis of a written report (Ex. Ka-1), F.I.R. lodged by PW-1 informant Brij Bhushan at Police Station Ghazipur, District Fatehpur on 05.12.1981 at about 9:30 A.M. regarding an incident which had taken place on 05.12.1981 at about 8:15 A.M., Case Crime No. 941 of 1981, under Section 147, 149, 302 & 307 I.P.C. against the appellants as well as co-accused Raghubir and Babu Singh Yadav was initiated. In the aforesaid incident, Chandra Bhushan and Ban Bihari died and Ram Kripal, Kunj Bihari and Brij Bhushan had received injuries.
4. After investigation, the police submitted a charge sheet against all the accused persons before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Fatehpur.
5. Since, the offences mentioned in the charge sheet were triable exclusively by the court of Sessions, the Chief Judicial Magistrate committed the case of all the accused to the court of Sessions Judge, Fatehupur where the case was registered as S.T. No. 119 of 1982 (Gulab Singh and others v. State of U.P.), thereafter the case was transferred to the court of IIIrd Additional Sessions Judge, Fatehpur, who on the basis of material collected in the investigation and after hearing the prosecution as well as the accused on the point of charge, framed charges under Section 302/149 and 307/149 against all the appellants.
6. Apart from the aforesaid charges, a charge under Section 148 I.P.C. was framed against Jhoori Singh @ Chandra Bhushan (A9) and Kallu @ Avdhesh (A10). Charge under Section 147 I.P.C. was framed against Sri Narayan Singh (A2), Munnu Singh (A3), Nanka (A4), Basudev (A5), Chhotuku (A6), Girish (A7) and Kishore (a-8). The accused appellants denied the charges framed against them and claimed trial.
7. The trial court after considering the evidence brought on record by the prosecution and also the material brought on record convicted and sentenced all the appellants to life imprisonment under Section 302 read with Section 149 I.P.C. Also a punishment of 7 years rigorous imprisonment under Section 307/149 I.P.C. was awarded. Jhoori Singh (A9), Kallu @ Avdhesh (A10), were further convicted and sentenced to 2 years rigorous imprisonment under Section 148 I.P.C. Shiv Narayan Singh (A2), Munnu (A3), Nanka (A4), Basudev (A5), Chhotku (A6), Girish (A7) and Kishore (A8) were convicted for a year of rigorous imprisonment under Section 147 I.P.C.
9. The present appeal was filed against the judgment and order dated 05.04.1983 passed by Additional Sessions Judge. It is to be noted that all the accused persons were on bail during trial.
10. After filing of the appeal, the appellants were granted bail by this Court by order dated 06.04.1983.
11. This Court after hearing the counsel for the appellants as well as learned A.G.A. for the State vide its judgment and order dated 16.08.2018 confirmed the judgment of the trial court with regard to Gulab Singh
