Dharmadhikari, J. -- 1. Brutal murder committed in broad day light in a running bus in presence of driver, conductor and passengers escaped unpunished by the impugned judgment of acquittal passed by the Sessions Judge against which the State in appeal and the complainant in revision (Cr. Revision No. 620/86) have approached this Court. Both the cases are being decided by this Common judgment.

2. There was bitter enmity between the three accused persons on one side and the deceased on the other. Deceased Sardar Singh, his brother Shyam Singh (PW 3) and Ramdulare (PW 9) were accused of murdering Channa Babu, real brother of accused Rammi and Chhinga. The deceased and the other abovementioned accused in that case were acquitted against which an appeal in the High Court was pending.

3. According to the case of the prosecution, on 20.7.1985, deceased Sardar Singh who was a Home Guard in his dress was travelling in a bus of M.P.S.RT.C. from Babai. The three accused persons boarded the bus at a turning towards Naseerabad and at about 5.10 in the afternoon, with knives and Ballam, made a murderous assault on the deceased. The assault caused commotion in the bus. There were about 13 passengers in the bus with a seating capacity of 49. Many of them got terrified. They got down and ran away. The assault attracted attention of the conductor Ramashre (PW 8) and driver of the bus Jabbar Khan (PW 12) who questioned the accused and stopped the bus by giving a call. The assailants caused as many as eleven in-juries all over the body of Sardar Singh who died in the bus itself. The bus was taken by the driver to the Police Station Babai and F.I.R. (EX.P/11) was recorded within less than half an hour i.e. at 17.40 hrs. on the same day on the version given by conductor of the bus Ramashre (PW 8). According to the driver and conductor of the bus, named above, they knew the assailants from before and they could easily identify them. Their names were also mentioned in the F.I.R. by the conductor, Ramashre, the first informant of the incident to the police.

4. The crime was investigated by Station House Officer, Babai Ramesh Chandra Mahor (PW 13) who after recording the F.I.R. visited the spot, prepared an inquest memo and seized the blood stained clothes which were sent to the Serologist for report for confirmation of presence of human blood. The accused are said to have been formally arrested on the next day of the incident i.e. on 21.7.85 at 12.00 in the noon vide arrest memo Ex.P/26 when, it is alleged, the accused were sitting in a thatched shed under a Peepal (banyan) tree and with the approach of police force tried to run away, but were chased and arrested.

5. According to the case of the prosecution, on the information given by accused Rammi, Bhura and Chhinga under memorandums Exs.P/15, P/16 and P/17, the alleged weapons of offence i.e. Ballam and two knives as also a bush shirt concealed in a pond near graveyard in Babai were recovered and seized. The seized articles were sent to the Chemical Analyst and as per report Ex.P/29 presence of human blood on them was• confirmed.

6. All the three accused persons abjured the guilt taking a plea that only because of past enmity they were falsely implicated. They also examined a defence witness Badri Prasad (DW 1) who is alleged to be one of the passengers in the bus on the date of the incident. The said defence witness stated that one fat man had some quarrel and altercation with the deceased on occupying scat in the bus and the said unidentified person took out a knife and gave repeated blows to Sardar Singh resulting in his death.

7. The learned trial Judge in acquitting the three accused disbelieved the eye witness account given by conductor Ramashre (PW 8) and driver Jabbar Khan (PW 12) on the ground that their testimony suffers from material omissions and improvements as compared to the version of the incident given by them to the police and the Magistrate under Sections 161 & 164 Cr. P