CR.A/916/2004 1/10 JUDGMENT IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD CRIMINAL APPEAL No. 916 of 2004 With CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION No. 14842 of 2008 In CRIMINAL APPEAL No. 916 of 2004 For Approval and Signature: HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE BHAGWATI PRASAD HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE BANKIM.N.MEHTA ========================================================= 1 Whether Reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? NO 2 To be referred to the Reporter or not ? NO 3 Whether their Lordships wish to see the fair copy of the judgment ? NO 4 Whether this case involves a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the constitution of India, 1950 or any order made thereunder ? NO 5 Whether it is to be circulated to the civil judge ? NO ========================================================= PATEL MAGANBHAI NARSINHBHAI - Appellant(s) Versus STATE OF GUJARAT & 1 - Opponent(s) ========================================================= Appearance : MR KB ANANDJIWALA for Appellant(s) : 1 -10 & 12. Mr. J.P. Bhatt for appellant No. 11 Mr. M.G. Nanavati, APP, for respondent State. ========================================================= CORAM : HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE BHAGWATI PRASAD and HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE BANKIM.N.MEHTA Date : 23/12/2008 CR.A/916/2004 2/10 JUDGMENT ORAL JUDGMENT (Per : HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE BHAGWATI PRASAD) The present appeals are filed against the judgement and order passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court, Dhangdhra on 16.4.2004 in Sessions Case No. 115 of 1998. 2. Briefly stated the facts of the prosecution case are that the incident in question took place on 16.5.1997 near the village gate of Nava Devaliya. The accused persons are residents of Juna Devaliya. In between two villages there is a small river and people of both the villages have their normal visits to each villages. On the date of the incident i.e. 16.5.1997 at about 9.00 a.m. some minor quarrel took place in which motorcycle of one Patel Ishwarlal Ratilal dashed with Harubha Pathubha. At that time Harubha told Ishwar Ratilal to drive the motorcycle properly. Some verbal altercation took place at that time and thereupon Harubha slapped Ishwar Ratilal. Thereafter, Ishwar Ratilal went to his village. 3. It is the prosecution case that at about 11.00 a.m. the first informant Sukhdevsinh Devubha and Anopsinh Jorubha (deceased) were standing near the village gate when all the accused persons including Mavji Narsinh who expired during the trial, came at village gate of Nava Devaliya duly armed with weapons. As alleged they started abusing, at that time Anopsinh told that nothing of this sort had happened. It was a dispute amongst children. At that time it is stated that accused No. 13 Chandu Narsinh inflicted dharia blow on Anopsinh. The CR.A/916/2004 3/10 JUDGMENT first informant Sukhdevsinh intervened and thereupon accused No. 11 Karshan Shiva inflicted a dharia blow by blunt side on the head of Sukhdevsinh. Accused No. 7 – Mitesh Mavji inflicted pipe blow on the shoulder and hand of Sukhdevsinh. 4. On getting information about the said incident, the father of Sukhdevsinh, namely, Devubha and Chanubha Vajrajji, Madhubha Govindsinh and Surubha Gulabsinh also came at the spot. It is stated that Devubha told the accused persons not to beat. At that time accused No. 10 Ghanshym Chhagan inflicted stick blow on the hand which caused fracture. Chanubha was assaulted by accused No. 11 Karshan Shiva with dhariya. At that time Chanubha tried to ward off that blow with his hand due to which he sustained injury on his head as well as on forehead. Thereafter, all the accused started inflicting blows indiscriminately on Anopsinh. Afterwards, all the accused persons fled away from the place. It is stated that accused No. 13 Chandu Narsinh inflicted dharia blow on the head. Accused No. 1 Magan Narsinh who was armed with stick inflicted a blow on the left side chest of Anopsinh. 5. The injured were taken to Halvad Dispensary in chhakada where preliminary treatment was given. Dr. Malampara gave information at Halvad Police Station on telephone which was received by Jafarbhai Mohammadbhai – Head Constable of Halvad Police Station at 12.20 p.m. On the accused side also 5 accused persons sustained injuries. They are the appellant Nos. 2, 3, 11, 12 and late Mavji Narsinh. They had also gone to hospital for treatment. On the strength of information given by the doctor, an entry was made in Station CR.A/916/2004 4/10 JUDGMENT Diary which is Exh. 56 on record. The Head-Constable was deputed to go to the hospital for recording FIR. Though Sukhdevsinh Devubha was treated as outdoor patient and according to his say, he moved around and his first information was recorded at 3.30 p.m. On the strength of his information, offence was registered. On the same date cross FIR was also lodged by Ishwar Ratilal against Darbars. It is in the evidence that PSI Chudasama who was present in the police station learnt about the incident and he straightway went to the village Nava Devaliya, saw the scene of offence and contacted the witnesses in Darbargadh. Thereafter, he took over the charge of investigation and carried out further investigation. Statements of witnesses were recorded after a lapse of about seven to ten days, though they were very much available in the village. 6. After completing investigation, chargesheet was submitted against 13 accused persons. Accused No. 12 Majvi Narsinhbhai expired during trial. Therefore, trial against him abated. 7. The prosecution examined four injured witnesses at the trial and other witnesses were examined. After closure of the case by the learned Public Prosecutor, statements of the accused persons were recorded under Section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The case of the accused is total denial. However, they stated that five injured accused persons, namely, Mavji Narsinh (deceased), Ishwar Ratilal, Ratilal Narsinh, Ghanshyam Chhagan and Karsan Shiva who are the injured accused persons came to Nava Devaliya as there was marriage of the son of their relative Tribhovanbhai Ambabhai CR.A/916/2004 5/10 JUDGMENT for lunch. After lunch they were returning to their village. At that time Darbars were standing inside the village gate and near shop of Narendrasinh Bhikhubha with weapons in their hands and they were surrounded and assaulted by Darbars. On sudden assault on them, the above mentioned five persons started running and they were chased by Darbars, accused in cross-case. When they reached near Sahakari Mandali Godown, all the Darbars started assaulting them. As the said place was very busy locality and number of persons were present there, with a view to saving the accused persons some of the persons standing there pelted stones and assaulted on Darbars. The above mentioned persons who were injured had no weapons in their hands. The accused in their defence examined Amrutlal Ravjibhai, a Sarpanch of village, who was present at the place of incident as an eye witness to the incident. 8 So far as accused Nos. 4 and 7, namely, Hira Narsinh and Mitesh Mavjibhai are concerned, the case was of alibi and according to them they had gone to attend the marriage of their relative in Surendranager. To prove that they examined the defence witness No. 3 Thobhanbhai Haribhai and Jayesh Kantibhai Patel who did video shooting of the marriage. 9. After hearing the arguments, the learned trial Judge convicted the accused under Section 302 r/w. Secs. 143, 147, 148, 149 of IPC and also under Section 325, 324, 323 r/w. Sects. 143, 147, 148, 149 of IPC and also under Section 135 of the Bombay Police Act and sentenced to suffer R.I. for life and to pay fine of Rs. 10,000/-, in default further rigorous imprisonment for 6 months for offence under Section 302 r/w. Secs. 143, 147, 148, 149 of IPC all the accused are also CR.A/916/2004 6/10 JUDGMENT sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 5 years and to pay a fine of Rs. 2,000/-, in default further rigorous imprisonment for 3 months for the offence under Section 325 r/w Secs. 143, 147, 148, 149 of IPC. The learned trial Judge also sentenced the accused to suffer rigorous imprisonment for one year and to pay fine of Rs. 1,000/-, in default, further rigorous imprisonment for one month for the offence under Section 324 r/w. Secs. 143, 147, 148, 149 of IPC. All the accused are also sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 3 months and to pay a fine of Rs. 200/- in default further rigorous imprisonment for 10 days for the offence under Section 323 r/w. Secs. 143, 147, 148, 149 of IPC. No separate sentence was imposed under Sec. 135 of the Bombay Police Act. The learned trial Judge has also ordered to pay a compensation of rs. 50,000/- from the sum recovered by wy of fine, to the family members – legal heirs of Anopsinh Jorubha – the deceased. 10. It is pertinent to note that in this case both sides five accused persons have sustained injuries on the persons. In this case one Anopsinh expired. According to Dr. Malampara, Anopsinh had sustained incise wound on left parietal region 7 to 8 x .5 cm in size deep upto bone with linear scratch on the skull bone with severe bleeding. He gave preliminary treatment. Thereafter, the victim was referred to C.J. Hospital, Surendranagar. Dr. Malampara did not notice any more injury on the person of Anopsinh. Dr. Makwana, Medical Officer of C.J. Hospital found Anopsinh dead. He performed autopsy and he noticed five injuries on his person. Injury No. 2 was swelling on left temporal bone. Injury No. 3 was CLW on right chest above the nipple – size 3” x 1/2”. Injury No. 4 was contusion 3” x3” in size over the outer side of the right chest parallel to right CR.A/916/2004 7/10 JUDGMENT nipple and injury No. 5 was contusion 2.5” x 3” in size over upper 1/3rd region of left leg on back aspect. Injury No. 1 on head is stitched wound. On postmortem examination the doctor found fracture on skull bone. In chief examination he says that this injury was sufficient to cause death. In cross- examination the doctor says that skull bone fracture is normally not serious to cause death. In all cases internal haemorrhage would not cause death. He admitted that injury caused to the brain was having the depth of 1/4” which is called superficial injury and there were chances of survival of a person. He also admitted that out of three layers of brain there was no injury found on any one of them. So as per the medical evidence the injury was not sufficient to cause death. 11. So far as the other injured persons are concerned, as per the evidence of Dr. Malampara and Dr. Chacha, the injuries sustained on the persons of injured namely Chanubha, Devubha Falji were simple in nature. Dr. Chacha has also examined and treated the accused persons. He found four injuries on Mavjibhai Narsinh including one injury of “V” on forehead. Karsan Shivabhai sustained fracture injury on head and he noticed five injuries on the person of Karshan Shiva. Ghanshyam Narsinh sustained CLW on left parietal region and found one abrasion at the root of left index finger with swelling. The doctor also noticed some bruise marks on the person of Ratilal Narsinh. 12. On complainant's side in all four injured persons had sustained 10 injuries as noticed by the doctor whereas on accused side five persons had sustained total 15 injuries. CR.A/916/2004 8/10 JUDGMENT 13. Learned A.P.P. Mr. Maulik Nanavati submitted that looking to the facts and circumstances of the case more particularly on both sides five persons have sustained injuries, it is difficult to come out with a positive case as to which party was the aggressor. In all probability it is a case of free fight and therefore each person who has taken part in assault can be held to be responsible for the part played by him. He also submitted that specific overt act has been attributed to each of the accused persons and the evidence is also getting corroborated from medical evidence so far as the injuries sustained by injured persons are concerned. Therefore, the offence is made out against each of the accused persons. 14. We have gone through the evidence of doctors as well as the injured persons. We have considered the defence witnesses and defence suggestion put to each of the witnesses. It is a fact admitted by the Investigating Officer that the statement of each of the witnesses has been recorded after a lapse of seven to ten days. On facts it becomes clear that which party is the aggressor has not been established by the prosecution beyond reasonable doubt. On both sides there were 12 to 15 accused persons who faced trial. On both sides five persons sustained injuries. Therefore, in all probability it becomes clear that it must be a case of free fight. 15. In case of free fight as the incident happened all of a sudden application of Section 34/149 could not be attracted. Each assailant would be held responsible for the offence committed by him and not for the offence committed by others with the aid of Section 34/149. CR.A/916/2004 9/10 JUDGMENT 16. That considering the evidence it becomes clear that appellant Nos. 1 to 6 and 10 were armed with stick, appellant No. 7 and accused Mavji Narsinh were armed with pipe, appellant Nos. 11 and 12 were armed with dharia. So far as appellant No. 12 is concerned, specific overt act is attributed to him that he inflicted dharia blow on the head of Anopsinh who died on that day. Dr. Malampara has deposed that he had sustained incise wound on the head. Dr. Makwana who performed postmortem examination at C.J. Hospital could not give nature of injuries sustained. However, he has deposed that the person could have survived even though he sustained injury on his head. Looking to these facts and the fact that both sides have sustained injuries, according to us at the best it can be said that appellant No. 12 (org. accused No. 13) is guilty of offence punishable under Section 304 Part I of IPC. His conviction under Section 302/149 of the IPC is altered to Section 304 Part I of IPC. His sentence is reduced to the period already undergone which is about 4 years 8 months.. 17. So far as other accused are concerned, looking to the medical evidence and looking to the manner in which the incident happened, it becomes clear that at the best they have been said to have committed offence under Sections 323/324 of the IPC and not beyond that. Looking to the medical evidence, in our view the conviction and sentence imposed on them by the trial Court under Section 302 of IPC is altered. They are convicted under Section 323 of IPC more particularly when the offence had taken place in the year 1997 and the accused persons are all aged persons. Their sentence is reduced to the period already undergone. CR.A/916/2004 10/10 JUDGMENT 18. The appeal is partly allowed. So far as appellant No. 1 to 11 are concerned, their conviction under Section 302 r/w. Secs. 143, 147, 148, 149 as well as Sections 325 and 324 is set aside. However, their conviction under Section 323 of IPC is confirmed. Their sentence is reduced to the period already undergone. They are ordered to pay fine of Rs. 200/- each. Appellant Nos. 1 to 10 are on bail, their bail bonds stand cancelled. So far as appellant No. 11 is concerned, he is in jail. He is ordered to be released forthwith if not required in any other case. As far as appellant No. 12 (original accused No. 13) – Patel Chandu Narsinh is concerned, his conviction under Section 302 r/w Secs. 143, 147, 148, 149 as well as under Sections 325, 324, 323 is set aside. Instead he is convicted under Section 304 Part I of IPC. His substantive sentence is reduced to the period already undergone and fine of Rs. 10,000/-, in default one month's simple imprisonment. He is ordered to be released forthwith after payment of fine, if not required in any other case. So far as the amount of fine paid by the appellant-accused Nos. 1 to 11 for the offences under Sections 302, 325, 324 r/w. Secs. 143, 147, 148 and 149 of IPC, namely, Rs. 10,000/-, Rs. 2,000/- and Rs. 1,000/- respectively is concerned, it is directed to refund the said amounts to the respective accused. 19. In view of the order passed in the main appeal, no orders are passed on the Criminal Miscellaneous Application. It stands disposed of accordingly. (BHAGWATI PRASAD, J) (BANKIM N. MEHTA, J) (pkn)