ijllilll CF0000058587 iii 2HB ar&H souBa; or mj)HZ& l'SAD3glKA2 JABA.ZiPUB Oruaiaal AppeaL Ifo.j^-^rf 1995«; ^n^ ^^ ^ Aiaolals: gaSixi s/o 3yi Baa Prasad Satet, aged abon.'fc 52' years, Hesident o"-f Magas-load, 'EIian.a Magarload, ^is'fcrict pAlpur (MoS) '— AB-pellaa.'fc 7grs-i.ls tate of I-Iadliya Pradesli Sespoadeu.'fc A&PS&I, IMD3S SEO'CIOH 574(;2) OB' 2HB 0032 Gi? GRIMISa.I, PSOGBDHR3 A&AlSJSI; 2BB -CSEHciR OP OOOTia2ION £ASSBS IH S?3CIAZi ORIMIH&l GAS3 I£i^l^ZiL£LJSLS£2££.&£J22G£i-.--M^£55- RAJESH KUMAR SONTEKE Digitally signed by RAJESH KUMAR SONTEKE Date: 2025.02.07 12:33:14 +0530 flff --S HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR (Hon. Mr. Justice Pritinker Diwaker) Criminal Appeal No. 326 of 1993 APPELLANT Amolak Sahu s/o Sri Ram Prasad Sahu VERSUS RESPONDENT State of Madhya Pradesh. Shri A.N. Pandey and Shri R.P. Singh counsel for appellant. Shri Pankaj Shrivastava PL for respondent/State. CRIIVIINAL APPEAL UNDER SECTION 374 (2) OF THE CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE. JUDGMENT (15.03.2010) This appeal is directed against the judgment dated 22.3.1993 passed by Special Judge, Raipur, in Special Case No. 149/1991 convicting the accused/appellant for the offence punishable under Section 3 (1) (v) of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and sentencing him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for six months and pay fine of Rs. 200, in default of payment offine to further undergo simple imprisonment for one month. 2. Case of the prosecution in brief is that on the basis of report lodged by Shukwaro (PW-1) an entry was made in Rojnamcha Sanha Ex. P-1 to the effect that on 6.1.1991 at about 5 p.m. the present appellant and his family members had assaulted her on account of some property dispute. On the basis of the report of Shukwaro and Ramadhar, entrieswere made at S. No. 165 and 163 respectively whereas on the report lodged by Gandhiram son of the present appellant the entry has been made at S.No. 164. Based on the complaint of Shukwaro made on 8.4.1991 FIR Ex. P-2 was registered against the present appellant and his son Gandhiram. 3. So as to hold the accused/appellant guilty, prosecution has examined 07 witnesses in support of its case. Statement of the accused/appellant was also recorded under section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in which he denied the charges levelled / :^":€\ y %^ ^ against him and pleaded his innocence and false implication in the case. This apart, two witnesses namely Umrao and Hiraram (DW-1 and DW-2 respectively) were also examined by the defence in support of its case. 4. After hearing the parties the trial Court has convicted and sentenced the accused/appellant for the offence as mentioned above. However, accused Gandhiram has been acquitted of the charge under Section 3 (1) (5) of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention ofAtrocities) Act. 5. Heard counsel for the parties and perused the material available on record including thejudgment impugned. 6. Counsel for the appellant submits that the incident had occurred on account of some land dispute which belongs to complainant Shukwaro and an agreement for sale was entered into between the appellant and the son-in-law of the complainant. However, when the accused/appellant had gone to take possession ofthe newly purchased house, complainant had protested thesame and some dispute between them had arisen. 7. On the other hand counsel for the respondenVState supports thejudgment impugned. 8. Shukwaro (PW-1) has stated that the accused/appellant had come to her along with his son to take possession of the house but she had told him that she had never spoken about sale of the house. She has sated that her son-in-law Umrao had sold the land to the present appellant as a result of which there was some dispute in which accused/appellant had assaulted her with a stick. She has stated that she was not interested to sell her ancestral property. In cross examination, this witness has stated that her son-in-law never informed her that her land had been sold. She has stated that she does not know Makhanlal and that he was the power of attorney holder on behalf of the appellant. She has stated that wall of her house is adjacent to that of the appellant. .^€3^ '"""•"•.'^'? s'S^ ^'.'.aff-^ ,4F '•'asaa^' ^ 9. Tijiya (PW-2) has stated that she saw the accused/appellant and other accused beating her son Ramadhar. She has stated that tiles of the roof of complainant Shukwaro were removed by the appellant and labourers hired by him. She has admitted that roof of the complainant and that of the appellant are joint. Swaraji (PW-4) has stated that he had seen the appellant and other accused beating Ramadhar, son of brother-in-law of complainant Shukwaro and also removing tiles of the roof. R.K. Singh (PW-5) is the person who has prepared Nazri Naksha. Dr. S.K. Binjwar (PW-7) who had medically examined Ramadhar has stated that there were simple injuries on his body. Umrao (DW-1) has stated in his evidence that he had sold the land to the present appellant for a consideration of Rs. 4,001. Hira Ram (DW-2) has stated in his evidence that he had told the present appellant about purchase of the house from complainant Shukwaro. 10. The record thus shows that the house of complainant Shukwkaro was sold to the present appellant and therefore possibility of some dispute between the parties and resultant false implication of the appellant who being bona fide purchaser of the land might have approached the complainant party to take possession thereof, cannot be ruled out. The prosecution has utterly failed to collect any material to show that the appellant has wrongfully dispossessed the complainant from her land and therefore the ingredients of Section 3 (1) (v) of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act are not attracted tothe case in hand. 11. In view of above, the appeal is allowed. Judgment impugned dated 22.3.1993 is hereby set aside. Accused/appellant is acquitted of the charge levelled against him. Appellant is reported to be on bail. His bail bonds stand discharged. "^Sd/- Pritinker Diwaker Judge