Judgment on Board

Per Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice

1. The present appeal is listed today for final hearing. Further, learned counsel for the appellants submits that though the appellant is on bail, it is wrongly mentioned in the cause-list that the appellants are on jail. However, considering the fact that counsel for the appellants are ready and willing to argue the matter finally, we proceed to hear the same.

2. The present appeal is filed under Section 374(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short, ‘Cr.P.C.’) directed against the impugned judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 09.02.2022 passed by learned First Additional Additional Sessions Judge, Rajnandgaon (C.G.) in Sessions Case No.11/2019, whereby the learned trial Court has convicted the appellants for the offence punishable under Sections 302/34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short, ‘IPC’) and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and fine of Rs.10,000/- each, in default of payment of fine amount, additional rigorous imprisonment for six months to each of them.

3. The prosecution case, in brief, is that on 08.11.2018, the complainant, Lokesh Yadav, lodged a report at Police Station Lalbag stating that at about 9:00 PM on the said date, he and his brother, the deceased Domendra Yadav, had taken dinner together. Thereafter, while the complainant was watching television, the deceased informed his mother, Surajbai, that he was going out to consume gutkha and left the house. It is further alleged that shortly thereafter, one Evan Yadav, a neighbour, came to the complainant and informed him that the deceased was being assaulted. Upon receiving such information, the complainant rushed towards the place of occurrence. On reaching there, he allegedly saw his sister Tulsi Yadav attempting to intervene, while the accused persons, namely Monu Patoti and Deepchandra, were assaulting the deceased. The complainant has further stated that when he attempted to intervene, he too was pushed and knocked down by the accused persons. It is alleged that by the time he reached near the deceased, the accused had already inflicted fatal injuries upon him by means of a stick and a sharp-edged weapon, including a knife, and thereafter fled from the spot. The deceased was found lying on the roadside in an injured condition, bleeding profusely, having sustained injuries behind the left ear, on the waist, and on the back. With the assistance of a passerby, the injured was taken to the District Hospital, Rajnandgaon, where he succumbed to his injuries during treatment.

4. On the basis of the aforesaid information, an inquest proceeding (Ex.P-13) was initiated. Thereafter, First Information Report (Ex.P-14) was registered at Police Station Lalbag vide Crime No. 436/2018 for the offence punishable under Section 302/34 of the Indian Penal Code.

5. The dead body of the deceased was subjected to postmortem examination and the report thereof (Ex.P-23A) was obtained.

6. During the course of investigation, viscera of the deceased was seized (Ex.P-31). Certain articles, including plain cloth pieces, were seized under seizure memo (Ex.P-32). Blood-stained soil and plain soil were seized from near the place of occurrence at the instance of the complainant (Ex.P-6). A bamboo stick allegedly used in the commission of the offence was seized under seizure memo (Ex.P-8). The accused persons were taken into custody and their memorandum statements (Ex.P-4 and Ex.P-5) were recorded. Pursuant thereto, a bamboo stick allegedly bearing bloodstains was seized at the instance of accused Deepchand (Ex.P-7). Blood-stained clothes allegedly worn by the accused persons at the time of the incident were also seized under seizure memos (Ex.P-8 and Ex.P-9). The seized articles were sent for chemical examination to the Forensic Science Laboratory, Raipur, and reports (Ex.P-37 and Ex.P-38) were obtained. Site maps of the place of occurrence were prepared (Ex.P-15 and Ex.P-23). Statements o