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High Court Of Madhya Pradesh
R. P. AWASTHY, USHA SHUKLA
STATE OF M.P. - Appellant
Versus
MUKUND ALIAS KUNDU MISHRA - Respondents
Criminal Appeal 344 Of 1996
Decided On : 05/14/1996
CRIMINAL APPEALS - [KEYWORD] - [SUBJECT] - [ACT SECTION LIST] - [SUMMARY]
Fact of the Case:
Mukund Mishra and Deva alias Dev Kumar were convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Smt. Sarita Dubey and her two children, Ku. Jyoti Dubey and Deepak Dubey. The prosecution alleged that the accused had entered the house of Smt. Sarita Dubey and killed her and her children in order to rob them of their ornaments and cash. The accused denied the allegations and claimed that they had been falsely implicated.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. The court relied on the following evidence to convict the accused: * The testimony of eyewitnesses who saw the accused entering the house of Smt. Sarita Dubey on the night of the murder. * The recovery of the stolen ornaments and cash from the possession of the accused. * The presence of bloodstains on the clothes of the accused and on the weapons used to kill the victims. * The injuries sustained by the accused, which were consistent with having been caused by the victims in self-defense.
Issues: The main issues in the case were: * Whether the prosecution had proved that the accused had committed the murders. * Whether the accused were entitled to the benefit of doubt.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the prosecution had proved that the accused had committed the murders beyond reasonable doubt. The court found that the evidence against the accused was overwhelming and that there was no room for reasonable doubt. The court also held that the accused were not entitled to the benefit of doubt, as the evidence against them was strong and consistent.
Final Decision: The court dismissed the appeals of the accused and confirmed the death sentence awarded to them.
( 1 ) CRIMINAL Appeals Nos. 343 and 344 of 1996 preferred separately and respective1y by Mukund alias Kundu Mishra and Deva alias Dev Kumar have been filed against the finding of holding them guilty for committing offences punishable under Sections 449, 394 read with Section 397 of the Indian Penal Code and 302 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code and sentencing them respectively to Rigorous Imprisonment for ten years, ten year:, seven years and to death. The Court has also made a reference under Sub-Section (1) of Section 366, Code of Criminal Procedure for confirmation of the said sentence of death awarded to the accused. All of the said three cases, i. e. Criminal Appeal Nos. 343 and 344 of 1996 and Criminal Reference No. 1 of 1996 arise out of one and the same Judgment and therefore, all of the said cases shall be simultaneously disposed of by this single judgment.
( 2 ) PROSECUTION case is that Smt. Sarita Dubey (aged 24 years) used to reside along with her daughter Kumari Jyoti Dubey (aged about 6 years) and her son Deepak Dubey (aged about 4 years) in Panchwati Colony Rajkishore Nagar, Bilaspur. Her husband Anuj Prasad Dubey (PW/9) used to reside, during the relevant period, at Bombay in connection with his business of taking contracts for construction. He used to visit Bilaspur from Bombay from time to time.
( 3 ) THERE is a vacant house belonging to Sardar Kuljeet Singh which is adjacent to the house of Anuj Prasad Dubey and Sarita Dubey. Just in front of the house of Anuj Prasad Dubey, across the road there are houses of one Shri T. B. Singh and Shri S. S. Dixit (PW/1) and his daughter Ku. Shraddha Dixit (PW/6 ). On the eastern side of the house of Anuj Prasad Dubey, there is a vacant plot and thereafter there is a house of Bhagwati Saran Singh. Likewise on the Eastern side of the house of Shri S. S. Dixit and Shri T. B. Singh there is vacant plot and thereafter there is house of Doctor Awdesh Kumar Singh (PW/7 ). The house of Smt. Shailja Singh (PW/8) is by the side of the house of Dr. Awdesh Kumar Singh (PW/7 ). In front of the houses of Shri S. S. Dixit and Shri T. B. Singh, there is a vacant house of Shri R. B. Singh.
( 4 ) ON 17-1-1994,smt. Sarita Dubey had gone to market in the noon and had returned to her house in the afternoon. In the evening, Smt. Shailja Singh (PW/8) had taken tea in the house of Smt. Sarita Dubey and thereafter Smt. Shailja Singh had returned to her house.
( 5 ) PRIOR to residing at Bilaspur Smt. Sarita Dubey had resided alongwith her husband Anuj Prasad Dubey (PW/9) in cosmopolitan cities like Ahmedabad and Delhi and she was very much conscious about her own security and the security of her children. She used to lock the gate of her house in the early hours of night and used to open the said channel gate only when she used to see that the visitor was either known to her or was related to them. On 17-1-1994 also in the early hours of the night, Smt. Sarita Dubey had locked the channel gate which is fixed in the compound wall of her house.
( 6 ) ACCUSED-APPELLANT Mukund Mishra is son-in-law of the cousin of Anuj Prasad Dubey (PW/9), used to reside in Bilaspur itself and, used to visit the house of Anuj Prasad Dubey even when Anuj Prasad Dubey used to be away from his house in connection with his business. Accused Mukund Mishra had taken a loan of Rs. 10,000/- from Anuj Prasad Dubey about 7 or 8 months prior to the date of incident. Mukund Mishra had under-taken that he would be repaying the said amount within 8 days of taking the said loan. However, he did not repay the said loan. Thereupon, Anuj Prasad Dubey made a demand of the said amount from his cousin Santosh Dubey. On the said demand being made, Santosh Dubey repaid the said loan of Rs. 10,000/- to Anuj Prasad Dubey after the lapse of' more than three months from the date of' advancing the said loan.
( 7 ) ABOUT three months thereafter Mukund Mishra again made a demand of Rs. 10,000/- from his father-in-law
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