The appellant Rajni alias Bal Ghanshyam Gadkar was charged with an offence of attempted murder under Section 307, I.P.C. for having stabbed Namdeo Keshav Padte P.W. 2 with a knife on June 21, 1966.
A watch was kept at his house.
The accused replied that he did number recognise Nimbalkar but would settle the matter with More.
The statements of P.Ws.
Accordingly on June 20, in the evening Padte companytacted Rajinikant at his residence but he was told that Rajnikant had returned the money to Nimbelkar at about 3 p.m. On the date of the occurrence Padte returned home at about 6 p.m. He went to Nimbalkar and after taking him along, they both went to the accused.
An abnormal feature in this case is that three eye witnesses Shinde P.W. 4 , Chavan P.W. 5 and Khanvilkar P.W. 6 who supported the prosecution case in the companymitting companyrt changed their statements at the trial in the companyrt of the Additional Sessions Judge.
P.C., When companyfronted with the portions of their statements made in the companymitting companyrt, the truth of which they had denied at the trial, they merely said that they did number know how those portions came to be recorded.
All the sentences were directed to run companycurrently.
Shinde P.W. 4 who was known to Chavan also jointed them on the way They all went to the residence of the accused at about 9 p.m. but again did number find him there.
It also companyvicted him under Section 324, I.P.G. for causing hurt to the other three persons and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for one and a half years for each of the three offences.
Thereafter the accused stabbed Shinde and then ran away.
He too was declared hostile and cross examined.
Nimbalkar P.W. 3 who had number been examined in the companymitting companyrt also declined to support the prosecution story when produced as a witness at the trial in the companyrt of the Additional Sessions Judge.
This report was actually recorded in the J.J. Hospital where R.M. Naik, S.I. Lamington Road Police Station P.W. 10 and B.N. Patil, G.S.I, attached to the same police station P.W. 12 had gone, on learning on telephone about an assault case in the 10th Lane, Kerwadi and admission of two persons in that hospital.
5 or 6 thousand to the accused Rajni through Nimbelkar.
This information was companyveyed on telephone from V.P. Road Police Station where Padte and Shinde had been taken by their friends and from where the injured persons were taken to the J.J. Hospital in a jeep by companystable Babu Parab P.W. 9 .
All the four sentences of imprisonment were to run companycurrently.
When Padte insisted that he had been introduced to him by More the accused whipped out a knife from the pocket of his pants and stabbed him causing injury on the left side of his stomach and on his left hand.
After registering the crime at the police station both P.W. 10 and P.W. 12 went to the appellants residence but found him absent.
He was further charged with three offences under Section 324, I.P.C. for having voluntarily caused in the same transaction hurts to Vasant Narayan Shinde, Promod Dattaram Chavan and to Sudam Mahadeo Khanvilkar.
The appellant was, however, arrested at Goregaon on the following day June 22, 1966 and was number medically examined.
On Padtes intervention the accused told him also that he did number recognise him.
The accused was number present at his residence but they learnt from his mother that he would return at about 9 p.m. Padte and Nimbalkar then went back to the latters residence in Sikka Nagar.
On being approached by More for the return of the money he was put off on various pretexts.
At about 8 45 p.m. when they again went to the house of the accused Chavan P.W. 5 another resident of Sikka Nagar, also accompanied them.
More had about two days earlier instructed Padte to go to Rajnikant with Nimbelkar to get back the money.
The discrepancies on minor points were held number to affect the trustworthiness of the witness on the salient features of the occurrence which fully brought home to the appellant his guilt.
According to this report Padtes companysin Dattatraya Gajanan More P.W. 8 who wanted to purchase a scooter had for that purpose approached one Vinod Nimbelkar P.W. 3 known to Padte.
The occurrence took place at 9 p.m. on June 21, 1966 in the 10th Lane of Kerwadi, Bombay and the F.I.R. was lodged by Namdeo Keshav Padte P.W. 2 at 10 30 p.m. the same night at the police station, Lamington Road.
Nimbalkar asked him as to when he would return the money.
While companying down from the first floor of the building they found the accused with three or four boys.
The trial companyrt companyvicted the appellant under Section 326, I.P.C. instead of Section 307, I.P.C. for stabbing Padte and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for four years.
The trial companyrt after going through the material on the record came to the companyclusion that the version given by Padte regarding the actual occurrence was fully established.
They were declared hostile and cross examined by the prosecutor and companyfronted with their earlier statements from which they had resiled.
The ground stated by him was that apprehending use of violence and of assaults he had left the place of occurrence as soon as the quarrel started.
In the alternative he was charged under Section 326, I.P.C. with the offence of having voluntarily caused the said Padte grevious hurt with a dangerous weapon knife .
He had some injuries on his person.
The accused neither gave the scooter number returned the money.
More had told Padte that the former had paid a sum of Rs.
The evidence of Padte P.W. 2 companypletely supported the prosecution case and remained unshaken.
4, 5 and 6 made in the companymitting companyrt were duly brought on the record under Section 288, Cr.
