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2004 Supreme(UK) 156
2004 (2) U.D., 377
High Court of Uttaranchal
Hon'ble V.S. Sirpurkar, C.J. and Hon'ble Irshad Hussain, J.
Naveell Chandra ………………..Appellant
Vs.
State of Uttaranchal …………..Respondent
Cri. Appeal no. 336 of 2003 WITH Cri. Reference no. 01 of 2003 AND Cri. Appeal no. 59 of 2003
Decided on : 16-08-2004.
Smt. Pushpa Joshi/Sri Nirmal Joshi, Advocates for the appellants. Sri D.K. Sharma, learned Government Advocate for the State.
Headnote:
MURDER - Indian Penal Code - Section 302, Section 34 - The court disposed of the criminal appeal and reference, acquitting two accused and converting the death sentence of the third accused to life imprisonment. The judgment discussed the evidence and found that the accused Naveen Chandra committed the murders, but the court rejected the argument of common intention and found that the other accused did not participate in the murders. The court also criticized the investigation conducted by the revenue staff and emphasized the need for trained police officers in hilly areas. The court concluded that the case did not qualify as the rarest of rare and set aside the death sentence, converting it to life imprisonment.
Fact of the Case:
The three accused were tried for the murder of three individuals. The prosecution's case was based on the evidence of eye-witnesses and the post-mortem reports. The accused denied their guilt, and the trial court convicted them under section 302 read with section 34 of the Indian Penal Code. The defense argued that the eye-witness accounts were unreliable and raised discrepancies in the investigation.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the accused Naveen Chandra committed the murders, but rejected the argument of common intention and acquitted the other accused. The court criticized the investigation conducted by the revenue staff and emphasized the need for trained police officers in hilly areas. The court concluded that the case did not qualify as the rarest of rare and set aside the death sentence, converting it to life imprisonment.
Issues: The main issue was the determination of individual liability for the murders and the assessment of the nature of the offense committed by the accused Naveen Chandra.
Ratio Decidendi: The court rejected the argument of common intention and found that the accused Naveen Chandra committed the murders, but set aside the death sentence, converting it to life imprisonment. The court also criticized the investigation conducted by the revenue staff and emphasized the need for trained police officers in hilly areas.
Final Decision: The court acquitted two accused and converted the death sentence of the third accused to life imprisonment, emphasizing that the case did not qualify as the rarest of rare.
1. This judgment shall dispose of the criminal appeal No. 336 of 2003 along with criminal reference No.1 of 2003 and also the criminal appeal No. 59 of 2003. In criminal appeal No. 336 of 2003 the original accused No.3 Naveen Chandra is the appellant while his parents, namely, Smt. Kamla Devi and Nanda Ballabh, original accused No.2 & 1 respectively, are the appellants in criminal appeal No. 59 of 2003. Since, the original accused No.3 Naveen Chandra has been sentenced to death, a reference No. 1 of 2003 has been referred to us. With the consent of the parties, we have heard all the three matters together. Since, the facts and evidence are common in all the three matters and since all the three accused were tried in a single trial, all the three matters are being disposed of by this common judgment. For the purpose of this judgment, we shall be referring to the accused appellants by their original accused numbers in the Sessions Trial.
2. All the three accused came to be tried by the Sessions Judge, Bageshwar in Session Trial No. 30 of 2001, wherein all the three accused were charged for an offence under section 302 read with section 34 Indian Penal Code on the allegation that on 02-06-2001, these three accused persons, in furtherance of their common intention, had committed murder of Ganesh Dutt S/o Prem Balabh, Smt. Janki Devi W/o Ganesh Dutt and Sandeep S/o Ganesh Dutt. While the accused persons are the husband, wife and son, the deceased are also the husband, wife and son. Interestingly, original accused No.1 Nanda Ballabh is the real brother of the deceased Ganesh Dutt. Shortly stated, the prosecution case was that the relationships between the two brothers, namely, original accused No.1 Nanda Ballabh and the deceased Ganesh Dutt were strained on account of the family matters. They were all residents of the Village Baira Majhara, Tehsil Kapkot, District Bageshwar and their houses are almost adjoining to each other. On the fateful day i.e. on 02-06-2001, there was an altercation in between Nanda Ballabh & his family members on the one hand and Ganesh Dutt & his family members on the other hand during the day time in which, Ganesh received an injury to his head. It is then, the prosecution case that conciliation was to be arranged through a Panchayat at the instance of original accused No.1 Nanda Ballabh, who had sought the intervention of Bhupal Dutt (PW2) and others on the ground that his brother Ganesh Dutt was continuously troubling him and continuously hurling abuses. It seems that this was at TO Clock in the morning and thereafter, there was an altercation during the day time. Bhupal Dutt (PW2), therefore, went along with some others to the house of original accused No.1 Nanda Ballabh, where 7 or 8 other persons were already present. This was at about 5'0 clock in the evening. At the instance of original accused No.1 Nanda Ballabh, Ganesh Dutt was called by Bhupal Dutt (PW2), one Bishan Dutt and Govind Ballabh. They found that Ganesh Dutt already had an injury on his head, yet he came alongwith them to the Courtyard in between the houses of original accused No.1 Nanda Ballabh and the deceased Ganesh Dutt. On being asked as to what the dispute between the two brothers about, Ganesh Dutt allegedly lost his temper and started abusing the original accused No.1 Nanda Ballabh. Therefore, the persons, who were there, took him back to his house. However, Ganesh Dutt, again, came back and held the hand of his sister-in-law i.e. original accused No.2 Smt. Kamla Devi. After this, there was an altercation between original accused No. 1 Nanda Ballabh and Ganesh Dutt and they grappled with each other and Ganesh Dutt was knocked down by original accused No. 1 Nanda Ballabh. In the meantime, original accused No.3 Naveen Chandra rushed and injured Ganesh Dutt on his head by a weapon called "Khukri". The prosecution, further, alleged that Smt. Janki Devi W/o Ganesh Dutt, also came there praying to spare Ganesh Dutt, but she w
