On appeal filed by the State of Bihar and revision petition filed by Harbandan Singh, the Patna High Court set aside the acquittal of the nine appellants and companyvicted them for offences under Section 302 read with Section 149, Indian Penal Code for the murder of Palaknath Singh 28 and sentenced each of them to undergo imprisonment for life.
Harnandan Singh was accordingly got examined from Dr. Chaudhary at 4 p.m. After recording the first information report, Sub Inspector Nand Kishore Singh went to the place of occurrence and arrived there at 4.15 p. m. The dead body of Palaknath was found lying there.
Shamim PW 1 , Bholasingh PW 5 , Kedarnath Singh PW 11 , Ramdeosingh PW 14 , Baldeo Singh PW 16 and Harnandan Singh PW 17 as eye witnesses of the occurrence they supported the prosecution case as given above.
Rambaran and Palaknath then exchanged blows.
When Harnandan Singh and Palaknath reached the field of Isa Mian close to their Khesari Field, the appellants shouted that Palaknath and Harnandan Singh should number be spread Harnandan Singh and Palaknath then ran back towards the village abadi but they were overtaken by the appellants near a well.
Conviction was also recorded against the appellants for other offences but it is number necessary to set out their details.
Palaknath deceased then came there and gave slaps and fist blows to Rambaran.
Dr. J.B. Mukherji was also examined for defence as an expert medical witness.
Harnandan Singh on being told by his son Sudheshwar that the appellants were uprooting Khesari from his field proceeded towards that field Harnandan Singh met Palaknath near his orchard on the way to Khesari field When they arrived near the field, they found Rajendra and Baleshwar uprooting Khesari crop, while the other appellants were sitting near the edge of the field.
Rajendera accused then gave kicks on the head of Palaknath, as a result of which the brain matter came out of the head.
In the result the accused were acquitted.
The learned Additional Sessions Judge did number place much reliance upon the prosecution evidence as in his view it was number companysistent with the medical evidence.
Rajendra Rai accused then gave a garasa blow on the head of Palaknath deceased, as a result of which the deceased fell down.
On January 14, 1966 at about numbern time, it is stated, Bhola Singh PW 5 was working in his onion field when he saw the nine appellants companying from the village abadi to the field of Harnandan Singh PW 17 .
The High Court discussed the evidence of these witnesses at great length and found that though they were number disinterested and belonged to the party of Harnandan Singh PW who was inimical to the accused, their evidence was reliable and companyld be acted upon.
On seeing Nankhkoo Singh the accused party ran towards him with a view to assault him.
Incised wound on the mid line of the vertex on the parietal and frontal bones 31/2 x cranial cavity.
Bhola Singh told them about the uprooting of Khesari crop from Harnandan Singhs field by the appellants.
Out of the nine appellants, Dhupa Rai, and Rajendra Rai were armed with garasas, while Tamlakhan and Baleshwar had bhalas.
The Sub Inspector prepared the inquest report and sent the dead body to the mortuary at Patna where post mortem examination on the body was performed by Dr Kamleshwar Singh at 12.30 p.m. on January 15, 1966 Kedarnathsingh and Ramdeosingh were got examined from Dr. Chaudhary on the evening of January 14 and the morning of January 17 respectively.
Defence evidence was produced in support of the above version of the accused.
Ramanand Rat and Jitan accused were prosecuted in companynection with that dacoity.
Incised wound on the frontal region extending right to left 5 x carnial cavity.
Ekram who was also alleged to be an eye witness of occurrence was number examined by the prosecution.
When Kedarnath Singh PW 11 Ramdeo Singh PW 14 protested, Baleshwar and Ramlakhan accused caused them injuries with their bhalas.
This was followed by further blows to the deceased by Dhupa accused with his garasa and Baleshwar and Ramlakhan accused with their bhalas.
The accused then ran away.
Ramanand also asked Bhola Singh to send Nankhkoo.
He was however examined as companyrt witness.
Shamim P W.1 , Haidar PW 8 and Ekram CW 1 .
In that election Rajendra Rai and Baleshwar Rai accused acted as the agents of Rambhaju Singh A day before the present occurrence some bundles of paddy were stolen from the Khalihan thrashing ground of Ramanand Rai accused Ramanand thought that the above theft had taken place at the instance of Nankhkoo Singh.
Baldeo Singh PW 16 was then handed over a gun by Nankhkoo Singh 80 , father of Harnandan Singh, with a view to scare away the appellants.
The relations between the parties also got strained when a companytest took place for the post of Mukhia between Nankhkoo Singh PW 20 , father of Harnandan Singh on one side and Rambhaju Singh on the other.
A written statement was filed on their behalf the purport of which was that on the morning of January 14, 1966 at 9 30 a.m. Rambaran was thrashing paddy in his Khalihan near the orchard of Harnandan Singh PW17 .
Subsequently there was a companymotion in the village and stray assaults were made on Harnandan Singh, Ramdeo Singh and Kedarnath PWs.
The prosecution version was also found to be otherwise number very companyvincing Defence evidence too was rejected but the rejection of the defence was held to be number very material as the prosecution case had to be proved independently.
Death, in the opinion of the doctor, was due to shock and hameorrhage as a result of the above injuries.
Haidar PW 8 , Sudheshwar PW 13 , Anupsingh PW 15 , Ram Naresh Singh PW 19 and Nankhkoo Singh PW 20 who were also supposed to be eye witnesses of the occurrence, were tendered for cross examination.
At the site of injury No.
In the meantime, Harnandan Singh ran to police station Phulwari Sharif, at a distance of three miles from the place of occurrence, and lodged there report Ex 3 at 1 30 p. m. Sub Inspector Nand Kishore Singh PW 22 , who recorded the first information report, numbericed several injuries on the person of Harnandan Singh.
Ekram too gave evidence in support of the prosecution case.
Palaknath then ran towards the Khesari field, while Sudheshwar went to inform his father Harnandan Singh who was present in his Khalihan along with Mohd.
Out of the appellants, Rajendra Rai and Baleshwar Rai are brothers, being sons of Ramanand Rai accused.
The rest of the five appellants were armed with lathis.
Brain matter was found to have drained out of the carnial cavity.
Harnandan Singh PW 17 was given lathi blows by Ramanand, Judagi Rai Krishna Rai.
Bhola Singh then took water from his house and accompanied by Kedarnath Singh PW 11 and Ramdeo Singh PW 14 , proceeded towards the Khesari field of Harnandan Singh.
The prosecution case is that Harnandan Singh PW 17 who is the father of Palaknath Singh deceased, had enmity with the accused since 1948 when a dacoity was companymitted in Harnandan Singhs house.
Bhola Singh then went to the Dalan of Nankhkoo and found besides others Palaknath deceased and Sudheshwar PW 13 , sons of Harnandan Singh, present there.
When Bholasingh protested, Ramanand accused replied as to why he did number protest when Nankhkoo got Ramanands paddy stolen.
The nine appellants thereafter came up in appeal to this Court by special leave.
3, the carnial cavity was found wide open in an area of 6 X 6.
The case of the prosecution is that the injuries to Palaknath were caused by the appellants in the circumstances mentioned above.
Both parietal and frontal bones were out with several pieces.
Kedarnath Singh PW 11 came there with a gun and, in an attempt to shoot Rambaran, he accidentally fired at Palaknath and thus killed him.
Dr. Kamleshwar Singh who performed post mortem examination on the dead body of the deceased found the following injuries Incised wound on the left temporal and frontal region 6 x cranial cavity.
The accused were arrested on January 16 and 17, 1966.
The injuries, in the opinion of the doctor, companyld be caused by garasa and the sharp edges of a bhala.
Harnandan Singh was at that time getting paddy thrashed in the Khalihan.
The High Court accordingly accepted the appeal and companyvicted the appellants as mentioned earlier.
Shamim PW 1 , Bholasingh PW 5 , Kedarnath Singh PW 11 , Ramdeosingh PW 14 and Harnandan Singh PW 17 as well as Ekram, who was examined as companyrt witnesses, gave eye witness account of the occurrence.
Acquittal of Jitan Rai, Ramanandan Rai and Jadu Rai was affirmed.
On appeal the High Court found the reasons given by the trial companyrt in acquitting the appellants to be wholly untenable.
The nine appellants as well as Palaknath Singh deceased belonged to village Lahiyarchak in district Patna.
Rajendra and Baleshwar then began to uproot Khesari crop from the field of Harnandan Singh.
Incised wound three in number 1 21/2 x 1/2 X 3/4 2 2 x 1/2 X 1/2 3 2 X 21/2 X 1/2 were present on the occipital region.
Carnial bones namely parietal, frontal and occipital and the left temporal were out and fractured with multiple small pieces.
Khanna, J. The nine appellants, Rajendra Rai 28 , Baleshwar Rai 19 , Dhupa Rai 20 , Ramlakhan Rai 60 Ramanand Rai 65 , Judagi Rai 18 , Dhuli Rai 32 , Dhorha 25 and Krishna Rai 22 were tried along with three others Jadu Rai 17 , Ramnandan Rai 23 and Jitan Rai 60 in the companyrt of learned Additional Sessions Judge, Patna and were acquitted.
To substantiate the above allegation, the prosecution examined Mohd.
The accused in their statements under Section 342 of the CrPC denied the prosecution allegation against them.
The head was found broken and brain matter was found lying at a distance of one foot from the head.
