Case Facts:
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Criminal Appeal (DB) No. 443 of 1989 =========================================================== Tapeshwar Yadav (Mandal) @ Tapeshwari Yadav Mandal, S/o late Lalchand Mandal, Resident of Village Maheshkhor, P.S. Maheshkhor, Dist. Bhagalpur. .... .... Appellant Versus State of Bihar .... .... Respondent With Criminal Appeal (DB) No.437 of 1989 =========================================================== 1. Lutehwar Yadav, son of late Baidyanath Yadav. 2. Bishwanath Yadav, son of Bhopal Yadav. 3. Bilash Yadav, son of Bhopal Yadav. 4. Brahmdeo Yadav, son of Bhopal Yadav. 5. Bhopal Yadav, son of late Dukha Yadav. 6. Prayag Yadav, son of Kamleshwar Yadav. 7. Churaman Yadav, son of Kamleshwar Yadav. 8. Cheddi Yadav, son of Janaki Yadav. 9. Rustam Yadav, son of Cheddi Yadav. 10. Lutan Yadav, son of Hardesh Yadav. 11. Mahendra Yadav, son of Cheddi Yadav. All reidents of Village Mahesh Khore, P.S. Samhaula, Dist. Bhagalpur. .... .... Appellants Versus State of Bihar .... .... Respondent =========================================================== Appearance : (In CR. APP (DB) No. 443 of 1989) For the Appellant/s : Mr. Neeraj Kumar @ Sanidh, Amicus Curiae For the Respondent/s : Ms. Shashi Bala Verma, APP (In CR. APP (DB) No. 437 of 1989) For the Appellant/s : Mr. Neeraj Kumar @ Sanidh, Amicus Curiae For the Respondent/s : Ms. Shashi Bala Verma, A.P.P. =========================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MIHIR KUMAR JHA and HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ADITYA KUMAR TRIVEDI ORAL JUDGMENT (Per: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MIHIR KUMAR JHA) Date: 22-06-2012 These two appeals are directed against the a common judgment of conviction and sentence as against the appellants under [STATUTE] (in short IPC) as also Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.437 of 1989 dt.22-06-2012 2 under [STATUTE] . The appellant Tapeshwar Yadav in Cr. Appeal No. 443 of 1989 has been convicted for offence under [STATUTE] and has been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and rigorous imprisonment for two years respectively. Rest of the appellants in Cr. Appeal No. 437 of 1089 namely Luteshwar Yadav, Bishwanath Yadav, Bilash Yadav, Brahmadeo Yadav, Bhopal Yadav, Prayag Yadav, Churaman Yadav, Chhedi Yadav, Rusatam Yadav, Lutan Yadav and Mahendra Yadav have also been convicted for offence under [STATUTE] and have been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life. Additionally, appellant Bhupal Yadav and Rustam Yadav have been convicted also for offence under [STATUTE] and have been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for five years whereas as appellants Luteshwar Yadav, Bishwanath Yadav and Bhupal Yadav and Tapeshwar Mandal have been further sentenced for offence under [STATUTE] and directed to undergo rigorous imprisonment for two years. All the sentences have been directed to run concurrently. 2. The prosecution case as it emanates on the basis of the First Information Report lodged on a Fardbeyan of P.W.7 Wakil Mandal is that in his statement before the police recorded at 6 PM Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.437 of 1989 dt.22-06-2012 3 on 31.7.1974 he had stated that on the same day in the early morning at 8 AM while he along with his father Basudeo Mandal (not examined) and brother Babulal Mandal (deceased) and his ploughmen Turu Mandal (PW1), Rupchand Mandal (PW4) as well his other labourers Satyanarain Mandal (PW9), Maheshwari Mandal (PW2), Saryu Prasad Singh (not examined), Narain Mandal (PW6), Dinesh Prasad Mandal (PW5) had gone for ploughing and sowing paddy crop in plot no. 870, and his ploughmen were ploughing the field, he had seen sudden emergence of a mob wherein he had identified 22 of them said to have been armed with Bhala, Garasa, Lathi. He has also alleged that all the members of the mob having arrived in his field while shouting “Jai Mahabir Swami Ki Jai” had made criminal trespass by forcibly entering in his field. His further case was that on the orders given by appellant Tapeshwar Mandal, Bhupal Yadav and Luteshwar yadav for causing murder, Luteshwar Yadav had given the first blow on the back portion of his brother Babulal Mandal by Garasa and rest of the appellants with others had encircled him and also assaulted him by Lathi, Bhala and Garasa. The informant in this regard has further stated that seeing the aforesaid assault on his brother Babulal, his father Basudeo Mandal had sought to save him on which appellants Lachmi Mandal, Rustam Yadav, Bhupal Yadav and Sikandar Yadav had also Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.437 of 1989 dt.22-06-2012 4 assaulted his father Basudeo Mandal by Bhala, Garasa and Lathi as a result whereof, his father also fell down on the earth. The informant in this regard has also alleged that after the assault on Babu Lal Mandal and his father Basudeo Mandal, when his cousin Rupchand Mandal (PW4) came to save them, he too was assaulted indiscriminately by Luteshwar Yadav, Tapeshwar Mandal and Sukhai Yadav by Lathi and Bhala. The informant in the F.I.R. had claimed that his brother Babu Lal Mandal having sustained serious injury in his back, head and arms had died at the spot whereas his father Basudeo Mandal and his cousin Rupchand Mandal on account of having serious injury on their person were moved to Bhagalpur hospital. 3. The informant has alleged land dispute as the motive for the aforementioned murder of his brother Babu Lal and assault of his father and brother, inasmuch as, according to him, the plot in question on which the entire occurrence had taken place was in the name of his father but the appellant Tapeshwari Mandal had purchased an adjacent plot on 26.4.1974 whereafter he and his father had filed a preemption case under Ceiling Act and had depositing the requisite amount under the sale deed on 23.7.1974 leading to issuance of notices of preemption ca

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.