Kapildeo Singh and Ors. v. State of Bihar

DR. ANAND, J. This appeal under Section :i{a) of the Supreme Court (Enlargement of Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction) Act, 1970, is directed against the judgment and order of the High Court of Patna dated 27th March, 198S in Government App_eal No. 28 of 1979, coqvicting and sentencing the appellants, Shatrugan Singh (Al), Kapildeo Singti (A2), Rampriya Yadav (A4), Brij Bihari Singh (A5), Ram Ekbal Singh (A6) and Suresh Singh (A7), (Awadesh Singh (A3) died after the judgment of the High Court) for offences under Sections 302, 302/149, 148, 324 and326 IPC, by reversing an order of acquittal recorded by the Additional Sessions Judge VI, Patna dated 28th April 1979.

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While A 1 and A2 are brothers, A3 is the son of A2, A4 is a ploughman of A 1, AS is the son-in-law of A2, A6 is the brother-in-law of A3 and A 7 is the son of A6.

The prosecution case in brief is that the deceased Shyamdeo Singh was on enimical terms with A 1 and A2 and litigation was going on between the two parties. On the night intervening 12/13 October 1977, at about mid-night at village Malia Gaura, the appellants along with Awadesh Singh A3, variously armed went to the house of the deceased and knocked at the door of the room in which he was sleeping. Rajmani Devi PW 13, the daughter of the deceased alongwith her ailing child was also sleeping in. the same room. On hearing the knocking, she opened the door and found Al, A3 and AS armed with '1i pistols, A2 armed with a gun, ~ A4 and A 7 armed with a grasa each and A6 armed with a dagger present there. As soon as she opened the door Kapildeo Singh A2 fired from his gun at her causing an injury to her person. Rampriya Yadav A4 hurled a grasa b!Ow as a result of which two of her fingers of the left hand were chopped off. Ram Ekbal Singh A6, thereupon, told his companions to spare her and to kill her father, Shyamdeo Singh, for which purpose they had come there. Rajmani Devi PW13 was pushed aside by the accused who entered the room. When her father moved towards her, Al Shatrugan Singh opened fire at him with his pistol aiming it at his chest. Shyamdeo Singh on receipt of the pistol shot fell down in the room and died. Ram Ekabal Singh A6 hurled a dagger below on the deceased. After committing the crime, the accused party opened the entrance door and fled away. While they were retreating, some villagers who were corning towards the house of the deceased on hearing the noise were also attacked and in the process a gun shot injury was caused to Basant Sao PWl I. The villagers, thereafter, made arrangements for a cot to carry Rajmani Devi PWI3 to the Police Station and while going to the Police Station, they stopped at the house of the local Mukhiya, Ram Nandan Singh PW 8, who also accompanied her to the Police Station Naubatpur. Basant Sao PW 11 was also brought to Naubatpur Police Station on a cot by his relations and viIJagers. On the basis of the statement of Rajmani Devi PW13,

~ r· FIR Ex. 7 was drawn up at the Police Station Naubatpur and a case was registered in the early hours of the morning of 13. 10.1977. Inve:;tiga-tion was immediately taken up by Parmeshwar Parshad Singh PW 15 and both the injured Rajmani Devi PW 13 and Basant Sao PW 1 i were sent for treatment to Naubatpur Hosphal where their injuries. were examined by Dr. Ramesh Kumar Rai PW14. Considering the serious nature of the injuries of Basant Sao PWl 1, he was referred to Patna Medical College Hospital. The investigating officer Parmeshwar Prasad Singh PW15 visited' the place of occurrence and prepared the inquest report of the dead body of Shyamdeo Singh and sent the body for post-mortem examination. During the investigation, the investigat-ing officer PW15 seized blood stained earth from the place of occurrence. An empty cartridge was produced before the investigating offi~er by one Ram Rekha Singh. After Basant Sao PW 11 reached PMCH for treatment, infom1ation was sent by the doctor to the focal oolice of Pirbahore Police Station. ASI Ram Lakhan Jha of Pirbahore __... Police Station went to the hospital and ,recorded the statement of

BasantSao PWI 1, Ex. 12on 14.10.1~7Tatabout8 P.M., after Basant Sao P.W I I had regained consciousrress. He sent the same to the officer- .. in-charge of Naubatpur Police Station.

Mr. Udai Sinha, learned senior advocate, appearing for the appellants submitted that the version of the occurrence given by Basant Sao PWl 1 in his statement recorded at PMCH by Ram Lakhan Jha DWI (Ex. 12) was materially different from the statement of Rajmani Devi PWI3 recorded as FIR Ex. 7 at Police Station Naubatpur and gawc!; r

a lie to the prosecution case rendering the prosecution case ·~doubtful. Learned counsel submitted that t_he High Court erroneously ignored the statement of Basant Sao PWI I holding it inadmissible in evidence on the ground that it had been recorded after the investigation in the instant case had started on the FIR being lodged by Rajmani Devi PW 13. According to the learned counsel, statement of Basant Sao, Ex. 12 could not be said to have been recorded during the investigation of the case and should not have been ruled out of consideration. We cannot agree. In our opinion, the High Court was justified in ignoring the statement of Basant Sao, Ex. 12, as it admittedly was recorded during the investigation of the case registered on the basis of FIR Ex. 7 and had_ been sent to the investigating officer PW 15 by Ram Lakhan Jha DWI. The state1nent was, therefore, hit by Section 162Cr. P.C. and could not be read in evidence. Even if it be assumed for the sake of argument, though without accepting it, that Ex. 12 was in the nature of an FIR lodged by Basant Sao PWI I, the same could not have been brought on record as not only Basant Sao PWI 1 denied making any such statement, he was not even confronted with the alJeged statement Ex. 12 nor his signatures got proved on it. Ex. 12 could not, there fore, be read at all in evidence. The trial court not only committed an error in bringing on record Ex. 12 and reading it in evidence but also going furtlier and comparing it with FIR Ex. 7 lodged by Rajmani Devi and finding discrepancies in the two documents.

Learned counsel then submitted that due to the admitted enmity between the parties and the hostility of the Mukhiya of the Gram Panchayat, PW8towardsA1 and A2, it would not be safe to rely upon the testimony of the prosecution witne~ses without looking for inde-pendent corroboration and since none was forth coming in the case, the convicti~n of th~ appellants was not justified .

In view of the hostile relations between the parties and the fact "--. that all the accused are closely related to eac~ o~er and the prosecution witnesses are also closely related or connected with each other, we have scrutinised the evidence on the record with care.

Our independent and careful appraisal of the evidence on the record has convinced us that the version given by the first informant, PW13, about the occurrence in the first FIR Ex. 7, lodged almost within three hours of the occurrence, is a truthful version of the manner in which she had received the injuries as also how her father had been shot at and as to who the assailants were. Rajmani Devi PW13, is the· injured person and as such she would be the last person to spare her real assailants or the assailants of her father and substitute the real assailants by innocent persons. She was the first victim of the assault. Her statement in court corroborates FIR Ex. 7 and the medical evidence and the testimony of other witnesses lends sufficient cor-_4 roboration to her testimony. From the evidence on the record it is

established that Rajmani Devi PW 13 was sleeping along • with her child in the same toom as her father, deceased Shyamdeo Singh, at the time of the occurrence. She knew all the appellants and she had enough time to see them in the light of the burning lantern. It is the consistent case of prosecution witnesses PW9, PWlO and PW12 that a lantern was burning in the room and the mere fact that the investigating officer failed to take the lantern into possession cannot render the testimony of these witnesses doubtful.

Rajmani Devi PW 13 attributed specific acts to Kapildeo Singh Al and Rampriya Yadav A4 in so far as the injuries on her own person were concerned and to Shatrugan Singh Al in so far as the fatal pistol shot on her father was concerned. She, of course, deposed that _the other accused persons variously armed were also present at the time of. occurrence.

Kunti Devi PWIO, the sister of Rajmani Devi PW13, stated that after hearing the sound of gun shot she woke up and went into the room where her sister was sleeping with the child. She then went on to say "I saw that the accused Kapildeo Singh, Shatru&an Singh and Awadesh Singh were coming out from the room of my father. Besides these other ·-1., people were also there but I could not recognize them due to darkness.

A l,antern was litti~g up in the room of my father. I had recognised the ----- '":>

aforesaid three accused persons in t;he lantern light". This witness, therefore, recognized only Al, A2 and A3, though she knew all the accused persons. Varat Devi PW 12, the sister-in-.law of the dec;eased, Shyamdeo Singh, who was also present in the house on the night of the occurrence and was sleeping in another roQm with Kunti PW 10 and the wife of the deceased deposed that at mid flight she heard the shot of a gun and as she got up and opened the door to go out, she saw some persons coming out from ShyarQdeo Singh's room. She went.on to say that "out of them, I recognized Kapildeo Singh, Shatrugan Singh and Awadesh Singh. All the three accused persons are present in the court". This witness also thus .recognized only three accused A 1, A2 and A4, even though accordi.ng tlJ the prosecution case, all the accused were known to her.

Ram .Nandan Singh PW8, who according to the prosecution case, being the Mukhiya of the village went to the police station, stated in his examination that he had told the police that seven persons had their hand in the killing of the deceased but admi.tted in the cross-examina-tion that before the police, he had named only two accused persons, namely, Kapildeo Singh A2 and Shatrugan Singh A 1 as the as'sailants.

Rajeshwar Singh PW5, a neighbour of the deceased, who woke up on hearing the firing of the gun and wentto the house of the deceased stated that he had seen the deceased Shyamdeo Singh lying and Rajmar_ti Devi PW13 sitting near the dead body with injuries on her breast and fingers and that on his inquiry from Rajmani Devi PWl 3 as to what had happened was told by her that Kapildeo Singh had caused her the injury by his gun and that Rampriya Yadav had cut her fingers with a grasa and that Shatrugan Singh had killed her father by the shot of pistol. This witness has also, therefore, supported PW 13 about the manner of assault and the nomination of the actual assailants.

From oo analysis of the evidence referred to above, it is clear that · while Rajmani Devi PWl 3 had named all the seven accused, she had attributed specific acts smly.to Kapildeo Singh A2, Rampriya Yadav. A4, and Shatrugan Singh A 1. Kun ti Devi PW 10 and Varat Devi PW 12, on' thei~ own showing had" recognized only Kapildeo Singh A2, Shatrugan Singh Al and Awadesh Singh A~. They did not recognize and other accused persons even though they were known to them. PW5 also did not state that Rajmani Devi PW 13 had given to him the namei of any other accused, when he had reached her house· soon after the occurrence. In view of the admitted enmity betw,een the parties and the close relationship of the witnesses inter-se and the close relationship I -i of the accused persons with one another, the possibility that alongwith

the actual assailants some other have also been implicated ~annot be ruled out. Prudence therefore requires that this court should look for corroboration of the testimony of PW13 in respect of each of the accused before finding them guilty. Since, the prosecution witnesses referred to above knew each of the accused, the non-identification by any one of them of AS. A6 and A 7 renders the presence of these accused and their participation rather doubtful. It is not possible to say with any amount of certainty that they were actually involved in the commission of crime with the other accused persons. Of course. PW 13 would not leave her own assailants or the assailants of her father, but it is not unknown that in view of the pronounced hostility between the parties, the close relations of Al, A2, A3 andA4, namely, accused AS. A6 and A 7 may have also been roped in.

Though PWlO and PW.12 did not recognize Rampriya Yadav A4 as one of the accused butthe pa'rticipation ofRampriya Yadav A4, who according to Rajmani Devi PW13 had given her the blow with the grasa chopping off her two fingers of the left hand, in our opinion has been conclusively established. The presence ofAwadesh Singh A3, since deceased, is admitted by all the prosecution witnesses. The testimony ofRajmani Devi PW13, is consistent about the participation of Shatrugan Singh A 1 and Kapildep Singh A2 ·alongwith Rampriya Yadav A4 in the crime. Inspite of lengthy cross-examination nothing has been brought out to discredit her testimony in so far as either the occurrence or the actual assault on her and the deceased is concerned. The ocular testimony regarding the participation of the accused in the crirrie as well as the manner of assault and the nature of weapons used by A 1, A2 and A4 for causing injuries has received ample corrobora-tion from the medical evidence and the recovery of the blood stained clothes and earth from the place of occurrence. The FIR lodged by the injured witnesses promptly also lends enough assurance as regards the participation of Al, A2, A3 and A4 in the crime. We have, therefore, no hesitation to hold that the prosecution has established the case against Shatrugan Singh Al, Kapildeo Singh A2, Awadesh Singh A3 (since dead) and Rampriya Yadav A4, beyond any reasonable doubt.

This now takes us to the question of the nature of the offence committed by the aforesaid four appellants. Since, we have doubted the presence of A5, A6 and A 7 and their participation in the crime, they are entitled to the benefit of doubt and giving them the benefit of doubt, j we allow their appeal and setting aside their conviction and sentence acquit them.

With the acquittal of A5, A6 and A 7, it is only the four appellants A 1, A2, A3 and A4 against whom the prosecution can be said to nave established it.<> case beyond a reasonable doubt. Section 148 IPC under the circumstances would have no application. Similarly, Section 149 . IPC would also not be attracted and A2, A3 and A4 cannot be convicted under Section 302 with the aid of Section 149 IPC. From the prosecu-tion evidence, however. it stands amply established that the three appellants, Al, A2 and A4 alongwith A3 (since dead) had come together armed with deadly weapons to the house of the deceased Shyamdeo Singh and while A I Shatrugan Singh had fired pistol shot at Shyamdeo Singh resulting in his death, Kapildeo Singh A2 had fired from his gun at Rajmani Devi PW13, causing her a serious injury on her breast while Rampriya Yadav A4 had caused her grievous injuries with a grasa resulting in the chopping off two of her fingers of the left hand. The crime was committed in the presence of Awadesh Singh A3. Therefore, while A2, A3 and A4 cannot be convicted for the offence under Section 302/149 IPC all of them can be said to have shared the common intention, with Shatrugan Singh Al, for committing the murder of Shyamdeo Singh deceased. The very fact of A I, A2, A3 and A4 came together urmed with deadly weapons, at the night, to the house of the deceased and cause deadly injuries to the deceased and · seriously wounded Rajmani Devi PW 13 and thereafter escaped together would undoubtedly go to show that all of them shared the common intention to murder Shyamdeo Singh. They are, therefore, liable to be convicted with the aid of Section 34 IPC and learned counsel was unable to point out any impediment in the way of convicting them with the aid of Section 34 IPC instead of Section 149 IPC.

The evidence on the record has established beyond any doubt that Shatrugan Singh A 1 committed the murder of Shyamdeo Singh deceased by firing the pistol shot. He has, therefore, rightly been convicted by the High Court for the offence under Section 302 IPC and sentenced to suffer imprisonment for life. His conviction for the offence under Section 27 of the Arms Act and the sentence of two years R l. is also justified. We, maintain his conviction and sentence on both counts. We, however, alter the conviction of, Kapildeo Singh A2, Awadesh Singh A3 and Rampriya Yadav A4, for the offence under Section 3021149 IPC to the one under Section 302/34 IPC and sentence A2 and A4 each to suffer imprisonment for life (A3 being already dead). We maintain the conviction of Kapildeo Singh A2 for the offence under Section 27 of the Arms Act as also the sentence of two years RI. imposed on him for the said offence. His conviction and sentence for an offence under Section 324 IPCas recorded by the High Court is also maintained. Rampriya Yadav A4 has also been convicted for the offence under Section 326 IPC and sentenced to three years RI. We maintain his conviction and sentence for the said offence. The conviction of A 1, A2 and A4 for the offence under Section 148 is, however, set aside. The sentence of imprisonment imposed on A I, A2 and A4 on different counts shall, however, run concurrently.

As a result of the above discussion, the appeal ofBrij Bihari Singh A5, Ram Ekbal . Singh A6 and Suresh Singh A 7 is accepted and allowed. Their conviction and sentence, as recorded by the High Court, ~ are set aside. They are given the benefit of the doubt and acquitted. They are on bail. Their bail bonds shall stand discharged.

The appeal of A 1. A2 and A4 except to the extent of the modification of the judgment under appeal, as indicated above, is dismissed. All the three appellants Shatrugan Singh A I, Kapildeo Singh A2 and Rampriya Yadav A4 are on bail. Their bail bonds shall stand cancelled. They shall be taken into custody to undergo the remaining period of their sentence.

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal No. S40of198S.

From the Judgment and Order dated 27.3.8S & 22.S.8S of the Patna High Court in Govt. Appeal No. 28 of 1979.

Udai Narain Sinha and M.P. Jha for the Appellants .

. D. Goburdhan for the Respondent.

The Judgment of.the Court was delivered by