The High Court agreed with the trial companyrt except insofar as the companyplicity of the two appellants is companycerned and set aside the order of acquittal recorded against them.
The investigation of the case was companyducted by Sub Inspector Sultan Singh PW 8 at the initial stage and was then taken over by PW 9 Laxman Singh Sub Inspector.
MEHRAJ SINGH v. STATE OF U.P. Anand, J. The trial companyrt, after appreciating the evidence on the record, opined that the first information report was ante timed and that the ocular testimony was companytradicted by medical evidence.
The investigating officer numbericed presence of the cart of the deceased at a distance of five steps from the khajoor tree.
During her cross examination she admitted that she took numbersteps to save her husband by either falling on her husband or taking the assault on herself.
The manner of occurrence was deposed to at the trial by Smt Kamlesh PW 3, widow of the deceased.
She admitted that she did number even receive a scratch during the entire occurrence and her clothes neither got torn number even got stained with blood.
Dr N.K. Pande, PW 10 companyducted the postmortem examination of the deceased.
He denied that he was a servant of Makhar Singh.
Since, the appeals arise out of the companymon judgment, these are being disposed of by this companymon judgment.
15 a.m. at Village Dhanju in which one Laxman Singh was murdered.
The first information report was lodged by Makhar Singh, father of the deceased on 3 11 1977, at about 12.45 p.m. at Police Station Daurala at a distance of 4 kms from the place of occurrence.
According to her testimony Neelu had fired about 6 7 shots.
The trial companyrt found merit in the case set up by Neelu, deceased and Babu, the acquitted accused.
Sultan Singh PW 8, according to the prosecution version, reached the scene of occurrence at 2.00 p.m. and prepared the inquest report of deceased Laxman Singh whose dead body was found at a distance of about 21 steps from the khajoor tree which stood on the dividing line between the fields of Balbir Singh and Ganga Saran.
Neelu and Kalu are alleged to have shot at the deceased from their respective weapons, Meharaj Singh, appellant, is alleged to have caused injuries with a knife to the deceased after he had fallen down.
Dr Pande also found that the stomach companytained partially digested food material weighing about 150 gms.
Kalu and Meharaj Singh have filed two separate appeals, as numbericed earlier.
She went on to add that Neelu, Kalu and Babu each had reloaded their firearms during the incident once and they had fired at the deceased twice.
He admitted that Yad Ram and Makhar Singh had stood surety for him in the said murder case against him.
Balbir Singh PW 2 admitted in the cross examination that he arrived at the scene after he heard the sound of firing and also of weeping but still went on to say that he had seen all the accused firing at the deceased twice after reloading their firearms.
He fell down and, thereafter, Meharaj Singh came there and inflicted injuries on him with the knife.
Satkari PW 5 also generally supported the version given by Kamlesh PW 3 and Balbir Singh PW 2.
In the cross examination he admitted that he was a witness for Neelu in a criminal case which he had instituted against the deceased Laxman and others but that he had number been examined till then in the case against Laxman and others and added that in that case it was only Laxman deceased who had caused injuries to Neelu, Kalu and Sri Ram by lathis.
She raised an alarm which attracted Balbir PW 2, Shiv Charan PW 4, Satkarl PW 5 and others.
Balbir Singh PW 2, Shiv Charan PW 4 and Satkari PW 5 have generally supported her testimony.
Prosecution has, however, number examined them as witnesses at the trial.
Their case was that it was a blind murder and since numbere of the alleged eyewitnesses had actually seen the occurrence, they had roped in the accused persons only on account of the previous enmity on mere suspicion.
After having numbericed the substratum of the ocular testimony, we shall number deal with the medical evidence.
They also witnessed the occurrence.
On 3 11 1977 at about 11.00 a.m. when deceased Laxman Singh along with his wife Smt Kamlesh PW 2, were loading jawar in their cart, kept at the chak road, accused persons armed with gun, companyntry made pistol and knife attacked him.
The State has number filed any appeal against acquittal of Babu.
The trial companyrt also found the evidence of the alleged eyewitnesses PWs 2, 3, 4 and 5 as unreliable number only on account of the fact that they were all interested in the prosecution but also because their companyduct was found to be unnatural.
He also named Resham as an eyewitness.
According to the prosecution case, on account of some pending criminal litigation against the deceased, his father and some other members of his faction for causing injuries to Neelu and Kalu and their father, the relations between the parties were strained and both sides were hostile to each other.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by DR ANAND, J. These two appeals under Section 2 a of the Supreme Court Enlargement of Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction Act, 1970, are directed against the judgment of the Allahabad High Court allowing the appeal of the respondent State and setting aside the acquittal of the appellants in both these appeals.
The assault with the knife by Meharaj Singh companytinued for about half a minute to one minute and that the deceased was lying on his right side when he breathed his last.
The trial companyrt acquitted all the accused, against which order the State went up in appeal to the High Court.
The High Court maintained the acquittal of Babu who is the sisters son of Kalu and Neelu, the two brothers, while companyvicting Kalu and Meharaj Singh for various offences.
She stated that when she along with her husband were bringing the second bundles of jawar, after having placed the first two bundles in the cart earlier, all of a sudden a shot was fired at her husband on receipt of which the bundle of jawar fell down.
18 big shots and 80 pellets, along with wadding pieces, were recovered from different parts of the body of the deceased during the postmortem of the deceased.
Kalu, Neelu, Meharaj Singh and Babu were challaned by the police for an occurrence which took place on 3 11 1977 at 11.00 or 11.
According to him the present occurrence was also witnessed by Resham and Jog Raj.
The dead body of the deceased was sent for postmortem examination which was companyducted by Dr N.K. Pande PW 10, who found a number of gunshot wounds on the deceased besides eight incised wounds.
She deposed that Neelu accused armed with a gun, Kalu and Babu accused each carrying a pistol and Meharaj Singh armed with a knife were seen present near about, at a distance of about 1/2 hath from her husband.
She went on to add that her husband went towards the cart, but companyld hardly reach the boundary of the field of Balbir Singh, when Neelu, Kalu and Babu again fired at him.
