Appeal by a man convicted of murder for killing two brothers with a spade and then a knife. The High Court rejected claims of accident or false prosecution, found intention to kill established by the nature of injuries and weapon use, and affirmed the conviction.
Appeal dismissed; conviction and sentence of life imprisonment and fine affirmed.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CRIMINAL APPEAL (DB) No.186 of 2016
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-91 Year-2013 Thana- DHANAHA District- West Champaran
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Hakim Mia @ Hakim Mian S/o Late Guljan Mian, resident of VillageBankatwa, P.S.- Bagaha, District- West Champaran.
... ... Appellant/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Respondent/s
====================================================== Appearance :
For the Appellant/s : Mr. Prince Kumar Mishra, Adv. For the Respondent/s : Mr. Sujit Kumar Singh, APP
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ASHUTOSH KUMAR and HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ALOK KUMAR PANDEY ORAL JUDGMENT (Per: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ASHUTOSH KUMAR)
Date : 18-08-2023
We have heard Mr. Prince Kumar Mishra,
learned Amicus on behalf of the appellant, and Mr. Sujit Kumar Singh, learned Additional Public Prosecutor for
the State.
Bagaha, West Champaran in Sessions Trial No. 270 of 2014 / CIS No. IPC-5034 of 2014 and vide order dated
Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.186 of 2016 dt.18-08-2023 2/16
13.01.2016, he has been sentenced to undergo R.I. for life, to pay fine of Rs.10,000/- and in default of payment of fine, to further suffer rigorous imprisonment for a period of one year.
hit him by that spade. As a result of such assault, Sagir was seriously injured in his right shoulder and he started bleeding profusely.
Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.186 of 2016 dt.18-08-2023 3/16
unconscious immediately. In the meantime, the elder brother of the husband viz. Suleman Mian (another deceased) came from a nearby Mosque and questioned the appellant about his conduct. Infuriated by this, the appellant is alleged to have taken out a knife from his pocket and thrust it in the stomach of aforenoted Suleman Mian, resulting in the innards of the stomach coming out and Suleman dying instantaneously. The appellant left the knife at the P.O. and ran away. The husband of PW-3 died immediately whereas Suleman was taken to a hospital by co-villagers for treatment and he also later succumbed to the injuries.
Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.186 of 2016 dt.18-08-2023 4/16
cognizance was taken and the appellant was put on trial.
fourteen witnesses on behalf of the prosecution and two on behalf of the defence, convicted and sentenced the appellant, as aforesaid.
assailing the judgment has submitted that apart from PW-3 who is wife of one of the deceased, there is no
other eye-witness to the occurrence.
3 in falsely framing the appellant as such accusation against him would have resulted in further division in the property with advantage to PW-3.
Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.186 of 2016 dt.18-08-2023 5/16
Court to the suggestion given to PW-3 that Suleman owed money to Sagir and when the same was demanded by Sagir, an altercation took place between Sagir and Suleman, leading to death of both of them. Suleman was said to have threatened Sagir with a knife and Sagir, in order to save himself, took away the knife from Suleman and hit him in stomach. Sagir was also injured in process.
Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.186 of 2016 dt.18-08-2023 6/16
shortcut approach was adopted by the police in believing
every part of the statement of PW-3 to be true and proceeding on those lines only. Had it not been the case, the weapon of assault would have been examined properly and if any blood was found on it, the same would have been sent for serological examination. Instead, the so-called blood stained shirt of the appellant was seized from the place of occurrence at the instance of Hamid Mian/PW-1.
has been named for some reason or the other by PW-3.
who are none else but the brothers of the deceased as
Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.186 of 2016 dt.18-08-2023 7/16
also of the appellant, assumes importance. Both of them have denied that the appellant had killed the two brothers.
Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.186 of 2016 dt.18-08-2023 8/16
which was found on the body of the deceased/Sagir Mian.
Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.186 of 2016 dt.18-08-2023 9/16
materials by means of a spade at the spot where the construction was going on. It was at that time that the appellant is said to have come and snatched the spade off Sagir. He did not stop there but he gave a spade blow, injuring and killing the deceased/Sagir. Sagir was not in a position to withstand such massive attack and he fell down on the ground. Quite fortuitously, Suleman who had been praying in a nearby Masque, came and on his intervention, he too was assaulted by means of a knife which the appellant was carrying with him.
his pocket is also a factor to be taking into account with respect to his preparedness for using such weapon in case the dispute came to such a pass.
Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.186 of 2016 dt.18-08-2023 10/16
correctness of the arguments advanced on behalf of the appellant and contends that the judgment and order of conviction is not worth interfering.
appellant is required to be seen with some circumspection. Perhaps, the two defence witnesses had reconciled that for some reason or the other, two out of six brothers had died and the third one was about to go
to gallows for killing the two brothers and therefore, it was in the best family interest to save the third brother by deposing in his favour. This again is based on some imagination but, considering the fact that those two brothers who were called to the witness stand by the appellant were not present at the place of occurrence or else one of them might have been the Informant of the
Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.186 of 2016 dt.18-08-2023 11/16
case.
the parties and having examined the records of the case, we find that PW-3 has narrated about the incident without any exaggeration. We tried to find out the source of information to the police which does not appear to be on record; nonetheless, on that account, the statement of PW-3 cannot be doubted, specially when she was present all along when the act was committed.
themselves examined as defence witnesses never made any statement to the police. The I.O. has also categorically admitted that he did not enquire from anyone of the brothers. It was necessary for the I.O. to have found out whether there was any dispute existing between the brothers with respect to allocation of land.
Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.186 of 2016 dt.18-08-2023 12/16
appears that the family property was partitioned amongst six brothers and Sagir, her husband, had got a share of half a Kathha of land in the P.O. village owner which an allotment was made under the Indira Awas Scheme.
Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.186 of 2016 dt.18-08-2023 13/16
occurrence, according to PW-3, took place within five minutes. Sagir died immediately whereas Suleman died after some time.
the manner of occurrence and the place of occurrence stand fully proved.
Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.186 of 2016 dt.18-08-2023 14/16
some dispute between Sagir and the appellant with respect to allotment under the Indira Awas Scheme. It would have been quite natural for the appellant to have made some attempts at stopping Sagir from carrying out the construction. In the process, he may have taken away the spade and would have also hit Sagir. Even till this time, the intention to kill Sagir could not have been determined. That he thrust a knife through and through the body of Suleman, another brother who had come to question the conduct of the appellant, completely confirms that the appellant had come with the intention of causing harm to anybody who would have participated in the construction of the house.
Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.186 of 2016 dt.18-08-2023 15/16
and quality of his act; had the knowledge that the injury inflicted by him would have the potency of killing the victims and therefore, his plea of lack of intention cannot be entertained.
consideration to the fact that it is only PW-3 whose deposition has been relied upon for convicting the appellant and that all other witnesses, who were either witnesses to the inquest or of the seizure, have not supported the prosecution version. But we found in the ultimate analysis that the death of both the brothers is a homicidal death, caused by the appellant and nobody else.
Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.186 of 2016 dt.18-08-2023 16/16
conviction and sentence delivered by the Trial court against the appellant.
dismissed.
Mishra, the Amicus. We direct the Patna High Court Legal Services Authority to pay to Sri Mishra an amount of Rs. 5,000/- towards his professional fee for the assistance rendered to us.
(Ashutosh Kumar, J)
( Alok Kumar Pandey, J)
rishi/amit
| AFR/NAFR | NAFR |
|---|---|
| CAV DATE | NA |
| Uploading Date | 23.08.2023 |
| Transmission Date | 23.08.2023 |
2 issues framed by the court
Whether the appellant had the intention to kill the deceased brothers based on the mode of assault.
Whether the benefit of doubt should be given to the appellant due to lack of corroboration by other witnesses.
1 provisions across 1 enactments
Hakim Mia
The State of Bihar
Ashutosh Kumar
Alok Kumar Pandey
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
