Criminal Appeal (SJ) No. 284 OF 1996 In the matter of an appeal under Section 374(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. ************ 1. Jageshwar Paswan, S/o Late Ramashish Paswan. 2. Mantu Paswan. 3. Akalu Paswan. 4. Horil Paswan @ Horil Paswan. 5. Jai Kishun Paswan. All Sons of Jageshwar Paswan. All R/o Village Ataullahpur, P.S.-Lalganj, District-Vaishali. ……(Appellants) Versus THE STATE OF BIHAR-------(Respondent) ************* For the Appellants : Mr. Ramesh Kumar Chaudhary, Adv. For the Informant : Mr. Uma Shankar, Adv. : Mr. Sanjay Kumar Tiwary, Adv. For the State : Mr. Damodar Tiwary, APP. ************** P R E S E N T THE HON'BLE JUSTICE SMT. ANJANA PRAKASH Anjana Prakash, J. 1. The appellant No. 5 has been convicted under Section 307 IPC and sentenced to RI for three years whereas the rest of the appellants have been convicted under Section 307/149 IPC and also sentenced to RI for three years by the District & Sessions Judge, Vaishali at Hiajpur in S.Tr. No. 310 of 1990 by a judgment dated 04.10.1996. 2. The case of the prosecution is that on 03.03.1988 at about 7 A.M. when the informant was going to ease himself the accused, Jageshwar Paswan prevented him and an altercation arose between them over possession of certain land which led to a further assault by them on the informant. 3. The prosecution in all examined seven witnesses out of whom P.W. 5 is the informant whereas P.W. 2 1, P.W. 2, P.W. 3 and P.W. 4 are the alleged eye-witnesses. P.W. 6 is the Doctor who examined the injured and found three injuries on his person all of which were simple in nature. P.W. 7 is the Investigating Officer. 4. On behalf of the defence the counter-case bearing Lalganj P.S. Case No. 22/88 and a judgment Exhibit- A was filed to show that there was long standing enmity between the parties and a Title Suit was pending between them. 5. However, on going through the evidence of the material witnesses, I find that the story of assault in the manner as alleged is fully consistent and the same is corroborated by the evidence of the Doctor who found three injuries on the person of the injured one of which was grievous in nature. However, looking into the manner of assault it is difficult to conclude positively that the appellants had intended to cause the death of the informant. 6. Hence, the conviction of the appellants is converted to one under Section 326/149 IPC and sentence is modified to a period already undergone by them during trial. 7. In the result, the appeal is dismissed with aforesaid modification. (Anjana Prakash, J.) Patna High Court, Patna, Dated, the 16th May, 2011. NAFR/Vikash/-