IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI Criminal Appeal (S.J.) No. 771 of 2025 With I.A. No. 14373 of 2025 ----------

1.Pratap Narayan Kuswaha

2.Jagdeo Mandal

3.Gurudeo Mandal

4.Shubham Arya 5.Manoj Mandal

6.Deoghar Mandal ..… Appellants VePrsus

1.The State of Jharkhand

2.Birendra Kumar Rai ….. Respondents ----------

CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJAY PRASAD ----------

For the Appellants : Mr. A.K. Sahani, Advocate For the State : Mr. Pankaj Kumar, P.P.

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Oral Order in the Court

05/14.01.2026 Heard Mr. A.K. Sahani, learned counsel for the appellants and Mr. Pankaj Kumar, learned Public Prosecutor.

2. This Criminal Appeal has been filed on behalf of the Appellants challenging the judgment of conviction dated 23.07.2025 and sentence dated 28.07.2025, passed by Mr. Piyush Srivastava, learned Additional Sessions Judge-IV, Godda in Sessions Trial No. 186 of 2017, by which the Appellants, namely Pratap Narayan Kuswaha, Jagdeo Mandal, Gurudeo Mandal, Shubham Arya, Manoj Mandal, Deoghar Mandal have been convicted for the offences under Sections 307/34, 323/34, 341/34 of I.P.C. and the Appellant No.1 and 2, namely Pratap Narayan Kuswaha and Jagdeo Mandal respectively have been sentenced to undergo R.I. for Five (05) years and to pay the fine of Rs.10,000/- under Section 307/34 of I.P.C.; S.I. for one (01) year under Sections 323/34 of I.P.C. and further S.I. for One (01)

month under Sections 341/34 of I.P.C. respectively.

However, the learned Trial Court has sentenced the Appellant No.s 3, 4, 5 and 6, namely Gurudeo Mandal, Shubham Arya, Manoj Mandal and Deoghar Mandal to undergo R.I. for Seven (07) years with fine of Rs.10,000/- under Sections-307/34 of the I.P.C.; S.I. for one (01) year under Sections 323/34 of I.P.C.; S.I. for One (01) month under Sections 341/34 of I.P.C.

However, all the sentences have been directed to run concurrently.

3. As per F.I.R., the appellants are alleged to have threatened the Informant and his brother for cultivating the land in question. Thereafter, when the Informant and his brother were returning then all the appellants, having armed with Lathi, Dunda and other deadly weapons surrounded them and abused them in filthy language and on protest the appellants started assaulting them with Lathi, spear and dagger. The Informant and his brother Vijay Kumar Rai any how escaped, but the appellants had caught another brother of the Informant, namely Pawan Kumar Rai and Appellant No. 1 and 4, namely Pratap Narayan Kuswaha and Shubham Arya respectively are alleged to have dragged said Pawan Kumar Rai by tying him with a ladder for a distance of 100 meters and planted a pistol in his pocket to implicate him.

I.A. No. 14373 of 2025

4. The instant Interlocutory Application has been filed on behalf of the appellants under Section 430 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 for suspension of their sentence and grant of bail during pendency of the Criminal Appeal.

5. Learned counsel for the appellants submitted that the impugned judgment of conviction and sentence passed by the learned Trial Court is illegal, arbitrary and not sustainable in law. It is submitted that the allegations against the appellants are false and concocted. It is submitted that the Appellant No.2, namely Jagdeo Mandal, who is aged about 90 years, has been convicted and sentenced by the learned Trial Court to undergo R.I. for 05 years, which has resulted into complete miscarriage of justice. It is submitted there is no injury report to support the allegation of grievous injury sustained by the injured persons. It is submitted that there is no serious allegation against Appellant No.s 2, 3, 5 and 6, namely Jagdeo Mandal, Gurudeo Mandal, Manoj Mandal and Deoghar Mandal respectively and at best the allegations against the Appellant 1 and 4, namely Pratap Narayan Kuswaha and Shubham Arya respectively are of dragging the brother of the Informant, namely Pawan Kumar Rai only. It is submitted that there is no independent eye witness of the occurrence and all