Conviction under Section 324 IPC for a 1988 group assault over a land dispute was upheld; the High Court reduced the 3-year rigorous imprisonment to the period already undergone as undertrial prisoners and dismissed the appeal.
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CRIMINAL APPEAL (SJ) No.69 of 2006
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All are residents of village Nawada Ben, P.S. Udwant Nagar, Distt.- Bhojpur.
... ... Appellant/S Versus State Of Bihar ... ... Respondent/S ====================================================== Appearance : For the Appellant/s : Mr. Vipul Sinha ( Amicus Curiae ) For the Respondent/s : Mr. Mukeshwar Dayal, A.P.P. ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUNIL KUMAR PANWAR ORAL JUDGMENT Date : 18-03-2024
Heard Mr. Vipul Sinha, learned Amicus Curiae
on behalf of the appellants and Mr. Mukeshwar Dayal, learned APP appearing for the State.
Patna High Court CR. APP (SJ) No.69 of 2006 dt.18-03-2024 2/8
No. 34 of 1988, whereby and where-under appellants
are convicted under Section 324 of Indian Penal Code
and awarded sentence to undergo rigorous imprisonment of 3 years each.
Fardbyan of informant, Radha Krishna Singh, stating therein that in the night of 3rd -4th of March, 1988, while he, his brother and his father was sleeping at the door of
his house on Chowki, at about 2-3 AM, appellants along with other accused persons, armed with lathi, bhala and gun, came there and started assaulting the informant and his family members indiscriminately. On raising alarm by the informant, neighbors woke and then accused persons fled away. The motive of occurrence is said to have been old litigation over an adjacent plot of land.
drawn up and Udwant Nagar P.S. case No. 34/88 was registered against all the accused persons u/s 147, 148,
Patna High Court CR. APP (SJ) No.69 of 2006 dt.18-03-2024 3/8
149, 307, 323, 324, 325 of Indian Penal Code and Section 27 of Arms Act.
sheet was submitted against the appellants and three other persons, namely, Sudershan Singh, Hare Ram Singh and Jai Ram Singh who were acquitted by learned trial court and accordingly, cognizance was taken. Therefore, the case was committed to the Court of Sessions for trial and disposal.
whether the prosecution is able to prove the charges levelled against the appellants/ accused persons beyond reasonable doubt or not. It would not be out of place to mention here that before trial Court eight accused persons were facing trial and out of them accused Jai Ram Singh, Hare Ram Singh and Sudarshan Singh were
Patna High Court CR. APP (SJ) No.69 of 2006 dt.18-03-2024 4/8
acquitted after giving the benefit of doubt and the present appellant were convicted and hereby sentenced.
persons stand charged u/s 307/149 of Indian Penal Code, accused Jawahar Singh & Vinay Singh stand charged u/s 147, accused Harkhen Singh, Sudershan Singh, Hare Ram Singh, Sri Ram Singh, Triloki Singh, Jai Kishore Singh, Jai Ram Singh also stand charged u/s 148 of Indian Penal Code and accused Jai Kishore Singh stands charged u/s 27 of Arms Act.
adduced on behalf of the prosecution and some set of documents were also exhibited.
support the prosecution version and he has been declared hostile.
Patna High Court CR. APP (SJ) No.69 of 2006 dt.18-03-2024 5/8
Singhashan Singh Yadav, P.W. 6 Radha Krishna Singh Yadav (informant), P.W. 7 Md. Suleman (treating doctor), P.W. 8 Tarkeshwar Prasad, P.W. 9 Gorakh Singh, P.W. 10. Jaganlal Rai.
records, oral and documentary evidence adduced on behalf of the prosecution during trial and scrutinize the judgment passed by the trial court. Trial court rightly observed and mentioned vide para 13 of the judgment that this case appears to be one u/s 324 Indian Penal Code instead of a case u/s 307 Indian Penal Code. Injuries of alleged injured persons are of simple in nature. Injury sustained by P.W. 5 (Ram Singhashan Singh Yadav) is in shape of curve as a farsa is a curved weapon but there is no mention of farsa in the F.I.R.
According to F.I.R., there was only one assault by lathi on all the three injured but injury of Ram Singhashan Singh Yadav has been found to be by sharp weapon. Allegedly, 9 accused persons have assaulted to Jainath
Patna High Court CR. APP (SJ) No.69 of 2006 dt.18-03-2024 6/8
Singh but as per the injury report, he sustained only three injuries, which contradicts with the prosecution version. None of the witnesses alleged that any of the accused has repeated the blow. There is no circumstance to prevent the accused persons in executing attempted
murder as it has come that one of the accused was armed with fire arms and if there had been intention to commit murder, fire arm could be fired from the weapons or it might have been repeated by the accused persons.
Patna High Court CR. APP (SJ) No.69 of 2006 dt.18-03-2024 7/8
offenders. According to provision of Sections 360 and 361 of Cr.P.C., the appellants are entitled for getting the benefit of probation of first offender Act. The appellants have been facing the ordeal of trial and appeal since 1988 (more than 35 years). The appellants are entitled to get some relief in respect of sentence awarded by the trial Court since the appellants remained in custody during trial of this case.
Patna High Court CR. APP (SJ) No.69 of 2006 dt.18-03-2024 8/8
Indian Penal Code is hereby confirmed and such appellants are sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for period during which, they remained in jail as under trial prisoners in connection with this case.
record the words of appreciation for able assistance rendered by him in arriving this Court at the proper conclusion in deciding the instant appeal. The Patna High Court Legal Services Committee is hereby directed to pay a sum of Rs. 6,000/- (rupees six thousand only) to Mr. Vipul Sinha, towards his professional fee.
(Sunil Kumar Panwar, J)
Nirajkrs/-
| AFR/NAFR | NAFR |
|---|---|
| CAV DATE | NA |
| Uploading Date | 20-03-2024 |
| Transmission Date | 20-03-2024 |
2 issues framed by the court
Whether the prosecution proved the charges against the appellants beyond reasonable doubt?
Whether the sentence of 3 years' RI was excessive for first offenders who had undergone prolonged trial since 1988?
3 provisions across 3 enactments
Harkhen Singh
Tirloki Singh
Binay Kumar Singh @ Binay Singh
Jawahar Singh
Jai Kishor Singh
State of Bihar
Sunil Kumar Panwar
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
