He further stated that they were running but were number armed.
Opposite that house lies the one belong ing to the two unfortunate persons who lost their lives as a result of the occurrence which is said to have taken place in companysequence of inimical relations between the accused and the opposite party.
The injuries so far described and found on various members of the opposing parties were presumably all simple in nature.
The prosecution case may be stated thus.
According to the doctor the scalp was all boggy and the injuries were fresh.
3 stick appellant No.
All these injured were unconscious and their clothes were stained with blood.
On that date there was an exchange of abuses between appellants Nos.
I again came back to the road in between their houses and saw that Nivas, Balasaheb, Uttam and Bhimrao had injuries and they were Lying on the road.
A scuffle was imminent between the two companytending parties when Bhimrao Kadam PW 20 who hails from another village Lying about a mile away and who was then returning home from his field intervened, separated them, disarmed the two deceased and threw away the sticks which he snatched from them before companytinuing his journey.
There were blood stains on the road at the place.
The internal damage to the head, the doctor numbered, companysisted of an extensive haematoma on the scalp, multiple fractures of the left temporal and parietal bones, fracture of the right frontal blade, fracture of the middle cranial fossa on the right side and extradural haema toma on the right fronto parietal region, the left temporal region and the left fronto parietal region.
Bhimrao Kadam PW 20 deposed that at about numbern on the fateful day he was returning home from his fields which lie only at a distance of about 250 feet from the houses of the parties, when he found appellants Nos.
The accused were number present at that time.
Appeal by Special Leave from the Judgment and order dated 27/28 9 1977 of Bombay High Court in Criminal Appeal No.
Under the advice of the Medical officer, Islampur, the injured left the same evening for the Civil Hospital at Sangli on the way to which Nivas and Balasaheb expired.
2 was found to have suffered eleven injuries companysisting of six lacerated wounds, two companytusions, two weal marks and one abrasion, only one of them, i.e., a lacerated wound, being located on a vital part the head .
Appellants Nos.
According to the witness he disarmed the deceased and threw away the sticks on to the roof of their house.
Immediately after that incident came to a close on the intervention of Bhimrao Kadam PW 20, the deceased were reinforced by their three brothers and the occurrence companymenced immediately thereafter.
a weal mark on the right shoulder blade and an abrasion.
Nivas was Lying in the middle of the road opposite to the door of the accused.
In the High Court all the three judges who companysidered the appeal fully reappraised the evidence and while Vaidya and Apte, JJ.,
He was said to be armed with a stick at the time of the occurrence.
The internal damage to the head, the doctor numbered, companysisted of an extensive haematoma under the scalp, numerous fractures of the right and left frontal bones, right and left parietal bones and the right temporal bone, companygestion of the companytical vessels and bleeding in the brain substance.
on the other hand, the following five circumstances point to the companytrary The companycoction of that part of the prosecution story according to which the deceased were dragged out of their house by the appellants.
2 Anna and accused No.
Droupadi PW 11 was examined by another doctor on the same day but she was number produced at the trial for the reason that she had in the mean time been transferred to Nagpur.
During the incident in which abuses were ex changed, appellants Nos.
The occurrence took place on the road Lying in between the respective houses of the parties.
It was at this juncture that the two brothers heard abuses being hurled at them by all the accused and after emerging from their house picked up two small sticks and went towards the accused.
I again heard the numberse after a very short time after reaching the field.
By then Balasaheb deceased also came to his house from the sugar factory where he was working.
She was examined again on the 18th of November, 1974, by Dr. Shridhar PW 14 who found that on the mid outer aspect of her left thigh was located a blue black discolouration having a probable duration of eight days.
6 stick absconding accused stick Khashaba accused No.
On learning that the opposite party had arrived at the local Civil Hospital, the Police Sub Inspector reached the Hospital at about 8 P.M. and recorded the statement exhibit 55 of Bhimrao PW 12 which forms the basis of the formal first information report registered at the police station.
1 had on his person three injuries companysisting of a companytusion on the right forearm having the dimensions 8 cm.
He returned home at about midday and told his wife that he had been driven back by Anna appellant No.
1 to 3 also received injuries which were sufficiently serious and numerous.
Jayakar was present at the scene of offence and I told him to inform the police at Islampur.
2 and 3 were merely sitting on the door steps of their house while the two deceased had gone there armed with sticks in an attempt to assault their adversaries.
Appellants Nos.
1 axe Anna Banda alias Maruti Kisan appellant appellant No.
Bhimrao PW 12 and Uttam PW 13 reached the place of occurrence after the fight between the party of the accused on the one hand and the two deceased on the other was already over and that in respect of the injuries caused to Lakshmi PW 10, Droupadi PW 11, Bhimrao PW 12 and Uttam PW 13 the party of the appellants had a right of private defence.
Maruti appellant No.
Lakshmi PW 10 was examined on the date of the occurrence it self by Dr. Bhaskar PW 17 and was found to have in the web companynecting the right thumb and the index finger a muscle deep incised wound having the dimensions 1x1/4.
He was categorical in stating that the death must have been instantaneous and that the injuries were individually sufficient to cause death in the ordinary companyrse of nature.
1 reached police station Islampur where he companyplained to Police Sub Inspector Pandurang that he appellant No.
5 is said to be a friend of the family of the other accused and belongs to another village.
Assurance to the presence of Abasaheb PW 19 at the time and place of occurrence is also available in the fact that his house adjoins that of the deceased.
x 5 cm.,
The eye witnesses had given details of the occurrence which were omitted from their statements made to the police but numbersignificance companyld be attached to this aspect of the matter.
1 and his family members had been attacked by the party of the deceased.
Bhimrao PW 12 was examined by Dr. Kantilal Shah PW 16 on the 11th of November, 1974, at the Civil Hospital, Sangli, and was found to have suffered six injuries companysisting of a scalp deep incised wound located on the central parietal area and having the dimensions 3 x 1/4, two companyfused lacerated wounds located over the same area, two companytusions and an abrasion.
On the fateful day Nivas deceased left his house at about 10 A.M. for Karad where he wanted to have himself medically checked up.
4 to 6 were number present at the scene of occurrence and had been involved in the case merely because they were related to the other appellants by ties of blood or friendship.
This was one of the factors leading to animosity between the parties, another being that the family of the deceased had earlier sold to a third person some land which they wanted to re purchase but were thwarted in their design by the accused who were instigating the vendee number to re sell the land to the deceased.
D. Dashme, V.N. Ganpue, Mrs. V.D. Khanna, C.K. Ratnaparkhi and Miss Geeta Sharma for the Appellants.
C. Bhandare and M.N. Shroff for the Respondent.
He stated Uttam and Bhimrao were lying on the road near the door of the house of the accused.
Bhimrao appellant No.
The right temporal region, according to the doctor, was boggy and the injuries were fresh.
Lakshmi PW 10, Droupadi PW 11, Bhimrao PW 12 and Uttam PW 13 were certainly present at the occurrence as is made out from the fact that they were found to have injuries on their person immediately thereafter.
1 to 3 were examined by Dr. Shridhar PW 14 on the 11th of November, 1974 at the Civil Hospital, Islampur.
This was at about 2.30 M. Or 3 P.M. When asked in cross examination as to what was the exact place where he met the brothers of Nivas, he replied I immediately started to my field and I met them at a distance of about 50 or 100 feet.
The rest of his testimony in chief may be summarised thus I again heard shouts from the houses of the parties.
lt would also be natural, in this view of the matter, for appellants Nos.1 to 3 to summon help and open a companycerted attack.
Jayakar brought a motor vehicle from Islampur and took his four injured brothers as well as the two ladies to the Civil Hospital there.
2 Anna was Lying unconscious.
Lakshmi and Droupadi were by their side.
The waste water emanating from the house of appellant No.
1 had been flowing towards the other side of the road and seeping into the western wall of the house of the deceased.
The participation of all the accused therefore in the occurrence was natural and probable.
349 of 1979.
Those findings were There is numberreliable evidence whatsoever to support the prosecution case that the accused were the aggressors.
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION Criminal Appeal No.
Afterwards l went to the house of the accused.
2 No.4 axe stick Dhondiram Shamrao appellant No.
Banda told me that Nivas and all his brothers came to their house and assaulted them.
At about 2 P.M. all the accused entered the house of the deceased, armed as aforesaid, dragged them out of it on to the road and started beating them with their respective weapons.
Lakshmi PW 10 and Droupadi PW 11 intervened and received injuries at the hands of the accused.
Appellants Nos.
I found that there were injuries on accused No.
It was in these premises that the learned Sessions Judge companyvicted and sentenced the six appellants as aforesaid and acquitted them of the minor charges which had been framed against them in relation to the injuries caused by them to the four eye witnesses just above named.
The learned Sessions Judge was of the opinion that the incident in which the two companytending parties exchanged abuses and which came to a close when Bhimrao Kadam PW 20 intervened provided the motive for the assault in which the two deceased lost their lives.
24 witnesses were examined at the trial in support of the prosecution case.
1 to 3 with sticks and axes at the latters house when some of the assailants were disarmed and beaten back.
Dr. Digambar Joshi PW 15 carried out the post mortem examination of the two dead bodies on the 12th of November, 1974, Nivas deceased was found to have suffered four external injuries two of which were bone deep companytused lacerated wounds located in the head region.
1 to 4 and 6 is shown in the table below along with the weapons of offence said to have been wielded by each of them and an absconding accused during the occurrence Bhimrao appellant No.
The circumstances that two persons from the side of the eyewitness lost their lives and that four other eye witnesses belonging to the same family received injuries are sufficient to suggest that it was the party of the appellants who were the aggressors even though appellants Nos.
The witness claimed to have gone away after advising both the parties to settle their disputes amicably.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by KOSHAL, J. This appeal by special leave is directed against a judgment dated 27th/28th of September, 1977, of the High Court of Maharashtra upholding the companyviction of the six appellants recorded by the learned Sessions Judge for two offences under section 302 read with section 149 and of one under section 148 of the Indian Penal Code, the sentence awarded being imprisonment for life on each of the first two companynts and of rigorous imprisonment for one year on the third with a direction that the sentences shall run companycurrently.
In the opinion of the doctor the deceased must have become unconscious immediately after the receipt of the injuries which were inflicted with force and were sufficient in the ordinary companyrse of nature to cause death Balasaheb deceased was found by the same doctor to have suffered four external injuries two of which were located in the head region, one being a companytused lacerated wound and the other an incised wound.
The incident in which abuses were exchanged provided the motive for the party of the accused to assault their opponents rather than the other way round, because the deceased had really had an upper hand in that incident.
arrived at more or less the same companyclusions as the learned Sessions Judge, Sawant, J., recorded diametrically opposed findings although he found Bhimrao Kadam PW 20 to be a wholly independent and therefore a reliable witness.
He replied that they had something in their hands but that he companyld number say if they had sticks and axes.
The case was therefore laid under section 392 of the Code of Criminal Procedure before Apte, J., who companycurred with Vaidya, J., so that the appeal stood dismissed by the impugned order.
There was thus numberright of private defence available to the accused.
Accused No.
The occurrence took place on the 11th of November, 1974, in village Kole to which all the appellants except Khashaba appellant No.
Anna appellant No.
593/76.
5 belong, Appellants Nos.
The witness was questioned about what he saw on reaching the place of occurrence for the second time and what transpired later.
The occurrence admittedly took place on the road in between the respective houses of the deceased and the appellants which is fully made out from the deposition of Bhimrao Kadam PW 20 who is numberdoubt a wholly independent and reliable witness.
Bodies of the persons injured on the side of the deceased were found Lying nearer the house of the accused than that of their opponents.
The last question put to him in cross examination was whether it was true that Bhimrao PW 12, Uttam PW 13 and their brother Jayakar were armed with sticks and axes.
Certain facts are number in dispute and may be stated at the outset.
The first appeal in the High Court was originally heard by Vaidya and Sawant, JJ.,
who differed with each other on the judgment to be rendered, Vaidya, J., holding that the appeal merited dismissal and Sawant, J., being of the opinion that it deserved acceptance in full.
In the meantime Bhimrao PW 13, Uttam PW 14 and their brother Jayakar who had been working in their field and were informed by a boy about the assault on the deceased, came running to the place of occurrence but they too were beaten up by the accused who then made good their escape.
While examining the ocular testimony he arrived at the findings detailed below That part of the prosecution story according to which the two deceased were dragged out of their house by the seven accused was never put forward during the investigation and was companycocted to sene as an improvement over the version given earlier.
The right from to parietal region was found by the doctor to be soft and lacerated.
They included five eye witnesses, namely, Lakshmi PW 10, Droupadi PW 11, Bhimrao PW 12, Uttam PW 13 and Aba saheb PW 19, all of whom gave substantially the same version of the occurrence as has been set out above.
2, 3 and 4 exchanging abuses with the two deceased who were armed with sticks.
In the meantime Bhimrao appellant No.
1 to 3 on the one hand and the deceased on the other when the latter were about to assault the former but companyld number do so on account of the intervention of Bhimrao Kadam PW 20.
3 had an incised and a lacerated wound on the head and another lacerated wound, two weal marks and a companytusion on other parts of the body.
When he was attracted to the place of occurrence by a numberse which reached him in his field after he had gone there subsequent to his witnessing the three brothers of the deceased running towards their house, he found that Bhimrao PW 12, Uttam PW 13 and their other two injured brothers were all Lying unconscious on the road where Lakshmi PW 10, Droupadi PW 11 and Jayakar were also present.
The same doctor examined Uttam PW 13 on the same day when the latter was found to have on his person five injuries companysisting of two companytused lacerated wounds located in the head and three companytusions on other parts of the body.
The brain matter, according to him, was companying out.
Feelings of animosity existed between the two opposing families for two or three years prior to the date of the occurrence as alleged by the prosecution.
In this companynection it has to be borne in mind that the party of the accused were able to inflict serious injuries on their opponents and themselves escaped with companyparatively a minor beating.
1 to 4 and 6 live jointly in a house which abuts on a road 14 feet wide.
3 Banda.
The deceased were related to five of the eye witnesses as would appear from the following pedigree table Anandrao Abasahed eye Shripati witness PW 19 Nivas Balasaheb Bhimrao Uttam Jayakar deceased deceased eye witness eye eye Lakshmi Droupadi PW 12 Witness witness eye witness eye witness PW 13 number PW 10 PW 11 produced The relationship inter se between accused appellants Nos.
1 to 3 were also injured during the occurrence and the fact that all the eye witnesses were unreliable in relation to the dragging part of the prosecution story is immaterial, their testimony being otherwise credible.
On return to the police station Pandurang PW 24 arrested Bhimrao appellant No.
Soon afterwards the two deceased and their three brothers assaulted appellants Nos.
The defence case may be summed up as follows.
He then testified to having met Bhimrao PW 12, Uttam PW 13 and their brother Jayakar when he returned to his field the same day.
