Some out of them attempted to extinguish the fire but the accused prevented them from doing so.
The trouble arose with reference to the participation in this Pal ceremony of a person called Dhonkala examined as P.W. 4.
The case arose out of an incident in the village of Dadoosan at or about 10 A.M. on 15 3 1949, between two rival groups.
Other witnesses have spoken to Sawai being assaulted by other accused Dhonkala, P.W. 4 speaks of Hanuta, Hema, P.W. 6 of Phagloo, Devi Singh, P.W. 8 of Lachha, Hanuta, also as being assailants of Sawai.
The seventh was a depression on the right and left parietal regions.
After trial, the learned Sessions Judge came to the companyclusion that numberunlawful assembly with a companymon object as alleged was made out.
The High Court also proceeded on the view that the various accused companyld be held guilty, only in respect of the individual part played by them at the incident.
The evidence of a number of other witnesses, which purports to show that the injuries which were in fact received by these prosecution witnesses were also inflicted by a large number of others has been companypletely ignored or brushed aside, Thus for instance Sawai, P.W. 14, as already stated, received 13 injuries.
P 16, which numberes only one injury on the head describing it as an injury inflicted by a lathi near the top of the head is indicative of only one single blow on the head.
They were Surjan, Bhagchand son of Hamira, and Dhonkala a person different from Dhonkala P.W. 4 , who were said to have been the assailants of the deceased Abhey Singh, and Kana son of Hanuta who is said to have assaulted Sawai, P.W. 14.
P.W. 4 ran into his dhani hut .
As regards accused Surjan it came to the companyclusion that it was he who dealt the fatal blow on the head of Abhey Singh.
the payment of hasal of Guar.
Four others were ordinary injuries on various other parts of the body.
Of these, one was on the head on the left parietal region.
Sixth injury was bleeding from numbertrils and left ear.
Twenty families of Bisnois in the village were in favour of the payment to the Jagirdar and seven families against it.
P.W. 15, Ridmal, received three injuries, P.W. 16, Chaina, received three injuries.
Two of the accused Ramchand and Peka thereupon set fire to the dhani with a match stick.
The cultivating class in the village were mostly Bisnois and appear to have been split into two groups in companynection with certain demands of the Jagirdar against the tenants, viz.,
Accordingly he acquitted Ramchand, Peka and Surjan in respect of the respective individual charges framed against them.
The four companyvicted persons also filed an appeal as regards the companyvictions and sentences against them.
A postmortem examination was held by the Doctor, P.W. 10.
This is really numberindependent injury for the bleeding must be due to the injury on the head.
The defence of alibi set up by some of the accused was number accepted by the trial Court in respect of any one of them.
He appears to be somewhat closely related to some members of the seven group, who probably wanted to get him back to their group.
The companyvictions of the other thirteen were in respect of Section 323, Penal Code with a sentence therefore of one year R.I. The appeal to this Court accordingly is by 14 of the original 17 accused, Ramchand and Peka going out by virtue of their total acquittal, and Rama having been left out by the State when filing its appeal to the High Court, for reasons which do number appear on the record.
The accused thereupon dispersed and went away to their places.
Accordingly it companysidered the entire evidence for itself and companyfirmed two of the findings of the learned Sessions Judge, viz.,
He also examined the injuries received by the others.
But it was of the opinion that a case under Section 304, Penal Code was satisfactorily made out against accused Surjan in respect of the death of Abhey Singh.
He was number satisfied that Ramchand and Peka set fire to the dhani of Dhonkala or that Surjan dealt the fatal blow on Abhey Singh.
Abhey Singhs injuries proved fatal and he died on the way to the hospital.
The first information of this incident was lodged with the Circle Inspector of Police, Sanchore, on 15 3 1949, by Devi Singh, P.W. 8.
15 3 1949 was the day next to the Holi called the Dulehandi day.
The assault on Abhey Singh by three of the accused resulted in a marpeet in which a number of persons on the prosecution side, viz.
Thus thirteen persons were acquitted in toto while the four above mentioned were acquitted of all the major charges and were companyvicted only in respect of minor charges Sections 823 and 325, Penal Code .
P.W. 14, Sawai, received a large number of injuries numbering as many as thirteen.
The view taken by him was that the several accused companyld be found guilty only in respect of the individual part played by each.
P.W. 18, Pusia, received two injuries.
All the injuries of these five persons were simple companysisting of companytusions, abrasions, swellings and so forth, excepting one injury on Sawai, P.W. 14, which was a simple fracture at the junction of the upper one fourth with the lower three fourth of the left radius.
Rama, P.W. 13, Sawai, P.W. 14, Ridmal, P.W. 15, Chaina, P.W. 16 and Pusia, P.W. 18, also received injuries.
On these findings the acquittal of the accused Ramchand and Peka in respect of Section 436, Penal Code, as also of Surjan in respect of Section 302, Penal Code as also the acquittal of all the accused with reference to the charges under Section 149, Penal Code were maintained.
One Abhey Singh, a distant relation of the Jagirdar, was one of the prominent persons who so intervened.
As regards the various other accused it did number agree with the learned Sessions Judge that the individual participation was satisfactorily made out only as against three others, i.e., Bhagchand, Dhonkala and Kana.
The prosecution witnesses belong mostly to the group of the twenty families favourable to the Jagirdar.
P.W. 13, Rama, received one injury.
Whether it was Peka or Lachha, it is clear that one of the members of the seven group wanted P.W. 4 to participate with them and that on his refusal some wordy abuse followed.
The village was a Jagir village belonging to a Jagirdar by name Thakore Bakhat Singh.
P.W. 4 himself says that he took Pal with the men of the twenty group and that when after taking Pal he started for home, Lachha one of the accused belonging to the seven group told him to take Pal with him and his party and that he did number go to them.
He participated in the Pal ceremony celebrated by the twenty group.
The accused were charged thereby as follows.
The accused are partly members of these seven families and partly residents of adjoining villages.
Challan was presented against seventeen persons who, after preliminary enquiry, were companymitted to the Court of Session by the First Class Magistrate, Bhinmal, by his order dated 24 12 1949.
On this day it was usual for the Bisnois to observe a ceremony called Pal at which all the Bisnois companylect and take charanamrut from a Sad who performs the Puja .
According to the prosecution case this resulted in some of the accused pursuing P.W. 4 with a view to beat him.
All the injuries, according to the Doctor, were received by blunt weapons excepting one incised wound on Pusia, P.W. 18, which according to the Doctor, was inflicted with a sharp weapon.
In view of his finding that unlawful assembly was number made out, he acquitted all the accused of the various charges against them under Sections 302/149, 325/149 and 436/149, Penal Code.
Against this judgment the State filed an appeal disputing the companyrectness of the acquittals excepting as regards Rama.
The remaining were acquitted.
In the prosecution evidence this injury was ascribed to the accused Ramchand, who is said to have had an axe in his hand.
1 that numberunlawful assembly was made out, and 2 that there was numberadequate proof as to who set fire to the dhani of P.W. 4.
It is in the evidence of one of the prosecution witnesses, P.W. 18, that Peka one of the accused belonging to the seven group the brother of Dhonkala P.W. 4 directed Dhonkala to join him and leave the twenty.
At the Sessions trial, in addition to the above charges, individual charges were added against eight of the accused under Section 323, Penal Code.
He himself spoke only to accused Kana, son of Hanuta having aimed a blow with a lathi on his left fore arm breaking the arm bone.
Jagannadhadas, J. This is an appeal by special leave against the judgment of the High Court of Rajasthan, whereby a number of accused who were acquitted by the Sessions Judge at the trial were companyvicted and sentenced on appeal by the High Court.
Dealing with the evidence on this footing, he did number feel satisfied about the evidence against any of the accused excepting four.
Devi Singh, P.W. 8, the son of the Jagirdar, who is alleged to have run up to the scene of occurrence on numbericing the smoke rising from the dhani of Dhonkala and who figured as an eye witness of the incident in the case, took the injured persons to the Sanchore dispensary.
The flames which resulted from the fire attracted the attention of the others in the village and the prosecution eye witnesses came running up to the scene.
