Case Facts:
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Criminal Appeal (SJ) No.333 of 2000 =========================================================== AGAINST THE JUDGMENT OF CONVICTION AND ORDER OF SENTENCE DATED 31.8.2000, PASSED BY THE 2ND ADDITIONAL SESSIONS JUDGE, MADHUBANI IN SESSIONS TRIAL NO. 57/83, ARISING OUT OF RAJ NAGAR P.S. CASE NO. 48/82. =========================================================== 1. Jatadhar Jha, Son of Late Madhu Kant Jha, Resident of Village Chatra, P.S. Arair, District Madhubani. 2. Mahendra Paswan, Son of Late Roop Lal Paswan. 3. Jiya Paswan, Son of Late Jokhan Paswan. 4. Ram Swaroop Khatwe, Son of Late Nathuni Khatwe. Appellant Nos. 2 to 4 are resident of Village Baluwaha Bhatsimar, P.S. Raj Nagar, District Madhubani. .... .... Appellants Versus The State of Bihar .... .... Respondent with Criminal Appeal (SJ) No. 349 of 2000 =========================================================== 1. Rajdeo Paswan, Son of Banwal Paswan. 2. Sitaram Sah, Son of Nathuni Sah. 3. Mahendra Yadav, Son of Dasrath Yadav. 4. Ghuran Mandal, Son of Dhakan Mandal. 5. Singheshwar Mandal, Son of Kari Mandal. 6. Jamun Mandal, Son of Kanchan Mandal. 7. Parmeshwar Mochi, Son of Dilchan Ram. 8. Basudeo Sah, Son of Nathuni Sah. 9. Kamaldeo Mandal, Son of Jugai Mandal. 10. Aghana Tatma, Son of Babulal Das. 11. Shiv Lal Paswan, Son of Rama Paswan. 12. Tulasi Yadav, Son of Mahanti Yadav. 13. Sakhi Chand Paswan, Son of Banwal Paswan. 14. Sahdeo Paswan, Son of Arjun Paswan. 15. Sukhdeo Sah, Son of Niras Sah. 16. Rama Paswan, Son of Sanjan Paswan. 17. Arjun Mandal, Son of Bhular Mandal. 18. Lakshmi Sah, Son of Bilat Sah. 19. Mishri Lal Mandal, Son of Rameshwar Mandal. 20. Pulkit Khatwe, Son of Gudar Mandal. 21. Bhulla Mandal, Son of Rameshwar Mandal. 22. Ram Adhin Mandal, Son of Sube Mandal. All resident of Village Bhatsimar Tola Basuani, Via- Rajnagar, P.S. Rajnagar, District Madhubani. .... .... Appellants Versus The State of Bihar .... .... Respondent Patna High Court CR. APP (SJ) No.333 of 2000 dt.06-11-2012 2 / 9 2 =========================================================== Appearance : (In CR. APP (SJ) No. 333 of 2000) For the Appellants : Mr. Vishwanath Prasad Sinha, Sr. Advocate Mr. Durgesh Kumar Singh, Advocate Mr. Rajesh Kumar, Advocate. (In CR. APP (SJ) No. 349 of 2000) For the Appellants : Mr. Ebrahim Kabir, Advocate For the State in both appeals : Mr. Sujit Kumar Singh, A.P.P. =========================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE JUSTICE SMT. SHEEMA ALI KHAN ORAL JUDGMENT Date: 06-11-2012 S.A. Khan, J. In these two criminal appeals, there are 26 appellants who have been found guilty under Sections 147, 353, 323 and 120(B) of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to undergo R.I. for one year under Sections 353 and 120(B) and six months under [STATUTE] by the 2nd Additional Sessions Judge, Madhubni in Sessions Trial No. 57/83. The appellants in these cases have not recently been in touch with the counsels appearing in these appeals as a result of which they are not in a position to inform this Court as to whether any of the appellants have died during pendency of the appeals. 2. This is a case of rioting in which a mob of 1400- 1500 persons had allegedly surrounded the house of Bhubneshwar Thakur and his brother Parmeshwar Thakur in order to commit loot for political reasons. The cause of the occurrence is that they wanted Comrade Sukhdev Sharma to be the Mukhiya which indicates that the appellants belonged to a particular party. The police when informed Patna High Court CR. APP (SJ) No.333 of 2000 dt.06-11-2012 3 / 9 3 regarding collection of this mob of persons tried to control them by warning them to disperse and on failure resorted to firing which resulted in the death of six persons for which there is a counter case filed by Sakhi Chand Paswan, appellant no. 13 of Cr. Appeal (SJ) No. 349 of 2000. 3. Altogether 29 witnesses have been examined in these cases out of which P.Ws. 4, 5, 8, 9 and 12 have been tendered for cross-examination, whereas P.Ws. 7, 11, 16, 25, 26 and 29 are formal witnesses in these cases. P.Ws. 22, 23 and 27 are the doctors, P.Ws. 15 and 24 are the Investigating Officers and P.W. 18 is the Magistrate. P.W. 22 has conducted the postmortem Ramu Sah, Bouna Devi, Kusum Paswan, Mahendra Mandal and Babu Lal Mandal whereas, P.W. 23 has conducted the postmortem of Kari Sah. P.W. 27 had examined the persons injured during the occurrence. The medical evidence indicates that the injured persons received simple injuries mostly because of brick batting resorted to by the mob. 4. On behalf of the appellants of Cr. Appeal (SJ) No. 333 of 2000, counsel for the appellants submits that appellant no. 1 Jatadhar Jha has been named by P.W. 2 and P.W. 17 as the person who had mobilized the crowd to gather for the purpose of holding a meeting which ultimately resulted in the crowd getting out of hand. It is submitted that he was not named as being present as a member of Patna High Court CR. APP (SJ) No.333 of 2000 dt.06-11-2012 4 / 9 4 the mob in the First Information Report. On behalf of appellant nos. 3 and 4, it is submitted that they have only been identified by one person and as such it is not safe for the Court to convict them. 5. Before reaching the conclusion, it would be proper to give summary of the prosecution case as made out in the First Information Report. Bhubneshwar Thakur has reported that a mob of about 1400-1500 persons armed with lathi, bhala, garasa, arrows, unlicensed gun and torch (MASHAL) surrounded his house. It is submitted that there were some women in the mob as well. They were shouting slogans “Inklab Jindabad, Jo hamse Takrayega, Chur- Chur ho jayega, Mukhiya ka ghar Loot Lo, Jo Uske ghar me mile usko mar do. Comrade Sukhdev Sharma ko Mukhiya wapas karo;” Bhubneshwar Thakur in order to save himself took refuge in the camp of the Magistrate and the police force, which was posted near his house. He has nam

Applicable IPC Section: 147

Statute Text:
Section 147 of the Indian Penal Code. Rioting. Whoever is guilty of rioting, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.