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REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL APPEAL NOS.1174-1178_OF 2011

[Arising out of SLP((Criminal) Nos. 3865-69 of 2011]

Prakash Kadam & etc. etc.

..

Appellants

-versus-

Ramprasad Vishwanath Gupta & Anr.

..

Respondents

J U D G M E N T

Markandey Katju, J.

A curse shall light upon the limbs of men;

Domestic fury and fierce civil strife

Shall cumber all the parts of Italy;

Blood and destruction shall be so in use

And dreadful objects so familiar

That mothers shall but smile when they behold

Their infants quarter’d with the hands of war;

All pity choked with custom of fell deeds:

And Caesar’s spirit, ranging for revenge,

With Ate by his side come hot from hell,

Shall in these confines with a monarch’s voice

Cry “Havoc!” and let slip the dogs of war;

That this foul deed shall smell above the earth

With carrion mean, groaning for burial.

-- (Shakespeare: Julius Caesar Act 3 Scene 1)

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1.

Leave granted. Heard learned counsel for the appellants and perused

the record.

2.

This case reveals to what grisly depths our society has descended.

3.

This appeal has been filed against the impugned judgment and order

dated 21.1.2011 passed by the High Court of Judicaure at Bombay in

Criminal Application Nos. 5283-5285 and 5303-5304 of 2010 by which the

High Court has cancelled the bail granted to the appellants by the Sessions

Court.

4.

The appellants are policemen accused of a contract killing in Sessions

Case No. 317/2010 which is pending before the Sessions Judge, Greater

Bombay. The appellants have been charge-sheeted for offences punishable

under Sections 302/34,120-B, 364/34 IPC and other minor offences. The

victim of the offence is deceased Ramnaryan Gupta @ Lakhanbhaiyya. The

prosecution case is that the appellants were engaged as contract killers by a

private person to eliminate the deceased.

5.

The case of the prosecution in brief is that the deceased Ramnarayan

Gupta and the accused No. 14, Janardan Bhange were, once upon a time,

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very close to each other. Both of them had been working as estate agents

and, mainly their business was to purchase land from the farmers whose land

has been acquired by the Government under the Land Acquisition Act and to

whom 12 percent of the land was given by the Government. This 12 percent

of the land was being purchased at meager price by the deceased and

accused No. 14, Janardan Bhange and was being sold on premium at later

stage. During the course of that business, both of them had been exchanging

the files pending with them for disposal pertaining to the said land.

6.

There were some differences between the deceased Ramnarayan

Gupta and accused No. 14, Janardan and hence it is alleged that the accused

Janardan decided to eliminate the deceased in a false police encounter.

Hence, he hired the services of the accused, and in pursuance of the said

conspiracy the deceased Ramnarayan Gupta and his friend Anil Bheda were

abducted on 11.11.2006 from near a shop named Trisha Collections at

Vashi, New Bombay by 4 or 5 well-built persons who appeared to be

policemen and were forcibly bundled into a Qualis car. The complainant,

brother of the deceased, sent telegrams and fax messages to different

authorities complaining that the said two persons had been abducted by

some persons who appeared to be policemen and were in danger of losing

their lives.

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7.

It is alleged that at Bhandup Complex the deceased was shifted to an

Innova vehicle. The deceased and witness Anil Bheda were taken to D.N.

Nagar police station in two separate vehicles i.e. one Qualis and the other

Innova. It is alleged that the deceased was killed and his dead body was

thrown near Nana-Nani Park at Versova. The dead body, after some time,

was collected from the said place by the police to create a false case of

police encounter. A case vide C.R. No. 302/2006 was registered on

11.11.2006 at Versova Police Stati