CR.A/388/2001 1/27 JUDGMENT IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD CRIMINAL APPEAL No. 388 of 2001 For Approval and Signature: HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE R.P.DHOLAKIA HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE KS JHAVERI ========================================================= 1 Whether Reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? 2 To be referred to the Reporter or not ? 3 Whether their Lordships wish to see the fair copy of the judgment ? 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 ? 5 Whether it is to be circulated to the civil judge ? ========================================================= RAJABHAI PURABHAI PATEL & 1 - Appellant(s) Versus STATE OF GUJARAT - Opponent(s) ========================================================= Appearance : MR YOGESH S LAKHANI for Appellant(s) : 1 - 4. MR HL JANI, ADDL PUBLIC PROSECUTOR for Opponent(s) : 1, MR MEHUL H RATHOD for Opponent(s) : 1, ========================================================= CORAM : HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE R.P.DHOLAKIA and HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE KS JHAVERI Date : 19/03/2008 CR.A/388/2001 2/27 JUDGMENT ORAL JUDGMENT (Per : HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE R.P.DHOLAKIA) 1. By way of the present appeal, the present appellants-original accused have challenged the judgement and order of conviction and sentence dated 27.04.2001 passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Banaskantha at Palanpur in Sessions Case No. 128/1994 whereby the original accused-present appellants are held guilty for the offence punishable as under: (i)Accused no. 1 held guilty of having committed offence under section 302 of Indian Penal Code and thereby sentenced to imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 500/- in default to undergo Simple Imprisonment for a period of three months (ii)Accused no. 2 held guilty of having committed offence under section 307 of Indian Penal Code and thereby sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for seven years and to pay a fine of Rs. 500/- in default to undergo Simple Imprisonment for a period of three months and further sentenced to Rigorous Imprisonment for one year and fine of Rs. 50/-, in default to undergo Simple Imprisonment for a period of three months. Both the sentences are directed to run concurrently. (iii)Accused no. 3 held guilty of having committed offence under section 324 of Indian Penal Code and thereby sentenced to rigorous imprisonment CR.A/388/2001 3/27 JUDGMENT for one year and to pay a fine of Rs. 500/- in default to undergo Simple Imprisonment for a period of three months. (iv)Accused no. 4 held guilty of having committed offence under section 325 of Indian Penal Code and thereby sentenced to simple imprisonment for 18 months and to pay a fine of Rs. 500/- in default to undergo Simple Imprisonment for a period of three months. 2. It is required to be noted that the original complaint was filed against five accused. However, during the pendency of the trial, original accused no. 5-Pura Thana expired on 10.02.1998. Therefore the case is abated qua the original accused no.5. It is also required to be noted that the original charge has been framed under sections 147, 148, 149, 302, 307, 324, 323 of Indian Penal Code and under section 135 of the Bombay Police Act. 2.1 The present appellants have also filed cross complaint under section 324 of Indian Penal Code against members of the complainant's side and the same has been registered as C.R. No. I-136 of 1993 wherein the accused have been acquitted by the Sessions Court. As far as C.R. No. I-135 of 1993 filed by the original complainant is concerned, the original accused nos. 1 to 4 have been convicted by the Sessions Court as mentioned above. 2.2 The case of the prosecution is that the incident CR.A/388/2001 4/27 JUDGMENT took place on 06.09.93, at about 07.00 p.m. The complainant was returning from the diary located at Kiyal village after supplying milk to co-operative society when he saw one Patel Chamnaji Bhalaji with his sons Ragaji Chamnaji and Ganeshaji Chamnaji cutting and loading the cart with 'Thuwar' near a field known as Pandardawada. 2.3 The complainant has stated that at that time he saw present appellant no.1-Rajabhai Purabhai Patel armed with axe, present appellant no. 2- Naranbhai Purabhai Patel also armed with axe, present appellant no.3- Shamlabhai Dhiraji Patel who is the maternal uncle of appellant no.1 also armed with axe, present appellant no.4-Gauriben Purabhai Patel armed with a wooden plank and original accused no. 5-Purabhai Thana also armed with a wooden plank approaching the field where Patel Chamnaji Bhalaji and his sons were loading 'Thuwar' and started shouting that the 'naliya' was put by them and that Chamnaji and his sons did not have any right to use it. They started abusing Chamnaji and his sons. Hearing such a scuffle, Paruben-wife of Chamnaji and Madhaji-nephew of Chamnaji came running and they both alongwith the complainant tried to sort out the issue. 2.4 At that time, the present appellant no.1- Rajabhai Purabhai hit the head of Ragaji Chamnaji with the axe that he was carrying as a result of which Ragaji Chamnaji fell on the ground. The present appellant no.2-Naranbhai Purabhai also CR.A/388/2001 5/27 JUDGMENT attacked the other son of Chamnaji i.e. Ganesha Chamnaji with the axe on the rear portion of his head. When the complainant tried to intervene, the present appellant no.3-Shamlaji Purabhai attacked the complainant as a result of which the complainant hurt his left hand wrist. 2.5 In the meantime, the present appellant no.4 Gauriben Purabhai also tried to hit the complainant with the wooden plank she was carrying which hurt the complainant on the right hand wrist. At that time, Paruben and Madhaji also tried to intervene in the entire scuffle, but the original accused no.5- Purabhai Thanaji attacked with his stick on the head and the right hand elbow. Naranbhai tried to attack Madhaji with his axe but as Madhaji tried to obstruct he got hurt on the left hand palm. 2.6 Hearing all this, Patel Dalaji Ukaji and Patel Lakhman Bhalaji as well as Hemaji Bhalaji and other people came running to the place of incident. As a result of the sudden gathering, the accused tried to flee from the spot. The axe of Rajabhai Purabhai which got stuck up in the head of Ragaji could not be removed and therefore the accused left it there itself and ran away towards their field with other weapons. Thereafter, after Patel Chamnaji Bhalaji and other family members reached, they took Ragaji Chamnaji and Ganeshaji Chamnaji in the tractor of one Shri Patel Dalaji Harji to Raah village and from there in the jeeps of Maharaj and one Balvantsinh to CR.A/388/2001 6/27 JUDGMENT Tharad Primary Health Centre. However, in the meanwhile at around 8.00 p.m Ragaji Chamnaji expired. 2.7 Therefore, the complainant alongwith other persons approached Tharad Police Station and registered the complaint being C.R. No. I-135 of 1993 for the offence punishable under sections 147, 148, 149, 302, 307, 323, 324 of Indian Penal Code and section 135 of Bombay Police Act. The PSO has handed over the investigation of the said complaint along with the yadi to PSI Patel. A cross complaint being C.R. No. I- 136 of 1993 was also registered with Tharad Police station against the complainant and other persons, the investigation of which was also handed over to PSI Patel. 2.8 Thereafter, the Investigating Officer has proceeded with the investigation in the matter. He informed the higher authority and prepared the inquest panchnama of the dead body. The I.O then went to the hospital and from there he sent a yadi to the Executive Magistrate, Tharad for preparing the inquest panchnama of Ragaji Chamnaji. Thereafter, he also prepared the yadi and sent the injured person to the hospital alongwith the yadi. Thereafter, he filled the marnottar form and also prepared yadi and sent the dead body alongwith the inquest panchnama, yadi and the marnottar form to Deesa Hospital for post-mortem. 2.9 He then went to the scene of offence and CR.A/388/2001 7/27 JUDGMENT posted some guards for protecting the place. The next day also he went to the scene of offence and in the presence of panchas he has prepared panchnama of scene of offence and seized the muddamal articles including the plain mud and blood stained mud and the same have been sealed as narrated in the panchnama and has been sent to FSL for analysis. 2.10 Thereafter he has recorded the statements of various witnesses and also searched for the accused. Rajabhai Purabhai was found on 07.09.93 at about 10.30 am and he was arrested after preparing arrest panchnama. Thereafter the rest of the accused were also arrested under a panchnama. During the course of investigation, the present appellant no.3 has shown willingness to produce the axe which is alleged to have been used in the crime in question. The axe was hidden by him in a heap of grass and the same after being produced was seized in the front of panchas under a panchnama. 2.11 The accused after being arrested were sent to judicial custody. The investigating officer has also collected the injury certificate, post mortem note, FSL report etc and the same have been kept in the investigation file. At the end of the investigation, he has submitted charge-sheet in the Court of learned JMFC, Tharad against the present appellants and the original accused Purabhai Thana. The Investigating Officer has also simultaneously submitted charge sheet in the cross complaint being C.R. No. I-136/93. CR.A/388/2001 8/27 JUDGMENT 3. As the charges levelled against the accused were exclusively triable by the Sessions Court, they were committed to the Court of Sessions, Banaskantha at Palanpur where they were registered vide Sessions Case No. 128/1993 and qua the cross complaint vide Sessions Case No. 129/1993 which came to be tried by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Banaskantha at Palanpur. After hearing both the sides and after perusing the relevant documents on record in Sessions Case No. 129 of 1993, which was filed by the present appellants, the Sessions Court acquitted the original accused in the said case. 3.1 As far as Sessions Case No. 128 of 1993 is concerned, the present appellants-original accused remained present before the Court and since they did not plead guilty, the charge vide Ex. 3 was framed on 16.06.99 against the appellants for the offences punishable under sections 147, 148, 149, 302, 307, 323, 324 of Indian Penal Code and section 135 of Bombay Police Act. 3.2 To prove the charges against the appellants, the prosecution has examined oral evidences of in all 12 prosecution witnesses viz. Medical Officer at Civil Hospital, Palanpur Dr. Ishwarbhai Ramjibhai Patel(PW1) Ex. 10, Medical Officer at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital Dr. Belaben Amitbhai Patel(PW2) Ex. 22, Medical Officer at General Hospital, Patan Dr. Bhagwatiprasad Ramdas Patel(PW3) Ex. 26, Panch CR.A/388/2001 9/27 JUDGMENT Witness Nanuram Chaturram Trivedi (PW4) Ex. 38, Ganeshaji Udaji(PW5) Ex. 41, Chhaganbhai Ravjibhai Bhil(PW6) Ex. 44, Injured victim Ganeshaji Chamnaji (PW7) Ex.45, Injured Witness Madhaji Hemaji (PW8) Ex. 49, Injured witness Paruben Chamnaji (PW9) Ex. 51, Ankurbhai Manharbhai Mahiwal (PW10) Ex. 64, Khetdan Kishandan Gadhvi(PW11) Ex. 67, Bhailalbhai Jagjivanbhai Patel(PW12) Ex. 71. 3.3 The prosecution vide Ex. 8 has produced documentary evidence like Suchi Patra Ex. 72 complaint Ex. 42, Inquest Panchnama Ex. 57, Panchnama of the scene of offence Ex. 58, Yadi to M.O. for post-mortem Ex. 30, Panchnama of weapon Ex. 39, Panchnama of body condition of Raja Pura Ex. 59, Panchnama of clothes of victim and the stuck axe Ex. 60, Cause of Death certificate issued by General Hospital, Deesa Ex. 29, Panchnama of body condition of witness Ganesha Chamna Ex. 61, Certificate of General Hospital, Deesa for Ganesha Chamna Ex. 11, Certificate of Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad for Ganesha Chamna Ex. 24, Certificate of Civil Hospital, Ahmedbad for Madhaji Hemaji Ex. 12, Certificate of General Hospital, Palanpur for Paruben Chamnaji Ex. 13, Certificate of General Hospital, Deesa for Ganesha Uda Ex. 33, Certificate of General Hospital, Palanpur for Ganesha Uda Ex. 14, Post-Mortem note Ex. 28, Panchnama of body condition of Gauriben Ex. 62, Panchnama of body condition of Pura Thana Ex. 63, FSL Report Ex. 24, Map of scene of offence Ex. 21. CR.A/388/2001 10/27 JUDGMENT 3.4 After hearing both the sides, the learned Sessions court convicted and sentenced the original accused-present appellants as mentioned hereinabove. 4. Heard Mr. Yogesh Lakhani, learned advocate appearing for the appellants and Mr. H.L. Jani, learned APP appearing for the respondent State and perused the materials placed on record. 4.1 Mr. Lakhani has submitted that the judgement and order of conviction and sentence is bad in law, illegal, contrary to the provisions of law and the evidence placed on record. He has submitted that the present appellants are totally innocent and they have been falsely involved in the crime in question. 4.2 Mr. Lakhani has submitted that the incident in question occurred at the spur of the moment without any common intention shared by the appellants. He has submitted that there is no unlawful assembly formed by the present appellants and that the incident has occurred in a manner where it could not be said that the appellants had any intention to cause such injuries which is likely to result into the death of one of the victims. He has submitted that under these circumstances, none of the appellants ought to have been convicted by the Sessions Court in the facts and circumstances of the case and therefore the judgement and order of conviction and sentence is liable to be quashed and set aside. CR.A/388/2001 11/27 JUDGMENT 4.3 Mr. Lakhani has taken this Court to the relevant evidences of four eye witnesses and one other witness along with the FIR and the complaint, cross-complaint filed by the appellants' side, the post-mortem note, evidence of the doctor who performed the post-mortem etc and thereby submitted that though it is true that the appellant no.1 has given an axe blow on the head of the victim and that though the axe got stuck in the head of the victim, the intention behind the entire incident has to be seen. He submitted that therefore the action of the appellant can be said to be falling at the most under section 304-I for which he relies on the following decisions of the Apex court: (i)Bahadur Singh & Anr. vs. State of Punjab And Haryana reported in AIR 1993 SC 70. (ii)Surendra & Anr. vs State of Maharashtra reported in AIR 2006 SC 3063. (iii)Latel vs. State of Chhatisgarh reported in AIR 2001 SC 3747. (iv)Kanwarjeet Singh vs. State of Punjab And Haryana reported in AIR 1992 SC 2199. (v)Thankachan & Anr. vs. State of Kerala reported in AIR 2008 SC 406. 4.4 As far as the case of appellant no. 2 is concerned, Mr. Lakhani has submitted that no witness has stated that the injury alleged to have been caused by appellant no.2 to the said victim was given CR.A/388/2001 12/27 JUDGMENT by the blunt portion of the axe. He has also submitted that during pendency of the present appeal, the appellant no.2 has already undergone sentence and now he should be set at liberty forthwith. 4.5 Mr. Lakhani has submitted that from the evidence on record, including the evidence of the doctor, it is clear that the injury caused by the appellant no.3 on the hand of the victim is a minor one and simple in nature. He has submitted that therefore it cannot be said to be an offence under section 324 qua the appellant no. 3 and that therefore the appellant no.3 should be given benefit of the same. 4.6 As far as the case of the appellant no.4 is concerned, Mr. Lakhani has submitted that the appellant no.4 is an elderly lady aged about 70 years and that her husband has also died during the pendency of the trial. He has submitted that she has suffered a lot due to the entire incident in question and therefore if the court comes to the conclusion that she is also liable for conviction then some sympathy may be shown towards her and she may be made free. In the alternative, he has submitted that the court may also consider his prayer for probation qua the appellant no.4. 4.7 Mr. Lakhani has also taken this Court to the oral evidences of the witnesses in detail along with evidence of the Investigating Officer and it has been argued by him that there are material contradictions, CR.A/388/2001 13/27 JUDGMENT omissions and improvements on the part of the witnesses which reach to the root of the offence and therefore such evidences are not required to be believed as the same are not trustworthy. 4.8 Mr. Lakhani has also drawn the attention of this Court to the injury certificate of two persons of the appellants' side and submitted that the injuries received by them have not been explained by the prosecution and therefore also the appellants are entitled to be acquitted. 5. Mr. H.L. Jani, learned APP has supported the judgement and order of conviction and sentence passed by the Sessions Court and taken this Court to the oral as well as the documentary evidences upon which reliance has been placed by the learned advocate for the appellants. 5.1 Mr Jani has also taken this Court to the map prepared by the Circle Inspector on the basis of the panchnama of the scene of offence and the FSL report and argued that in this case the prosecution has been able to prove the presence of all the witnesses and the accused at the time of incidence along with their active participation in the crime in question. 5.2 Mr. Jani has further submitted that it is also established that the appellants and the victims are from the same village, they are neighbours and therefore are also known to each other. He has CR.A/388/2001 14/27 JUDGMENT submitted that the incidence has taken place in the evening at about 6'o clock and therefore the question of misidentification may not arise at all. 5.3 Mr. Jani has also submitted that talking about the injury which has been received by the victim due to the blow from the appellant no.1's axe, the width of the same is about 12 cm, the depth is about 8 cm and the weapon has entered into the skull upto the entire depth of 8 cms. He has submitted that the blow was so forcefully given that the blade of the axe got stuck in the skull of the victim and it could not be removed till the post-mortem was done. He has submitted that such a forceful blow only shows the vengeance in the mind of the appellant no.1 and the amount of suffering and pain caused to the victim. 5.4 Mr. Jani has submitted that after the post- mortem, the axe was removed and it was given to the Investigating Officer. It has been argued by him that the number of blows given to the victim is not material but the weapon which has been used and the part of the body which has been attacked upon has to be seen. He has submitted that here in this case the weapon which was used for the crime was an axe which is quite dangerous. He has submitted that even the body part selected by the appellant for striking the blow is vital and that the way in which the blow has been given cannot be in any circumstance said to be falling under section 304-I of the Indian Penal Code. He has submitted that therefore this is a fit case CR.A/388/2001 15/27 JUDGMENT wherein the appeal deserves to be dismissed. 5.5 Mr. Jani has drawn the attention of this Court to the omissions, contradictions and improvements in the evidences and argued that from the material point, there is no contradiction, no improvement and no omission. He has submitted that the witnesses are villagers of backward and remote area of the State of Gujarat and when they entered into the witness boxes, there was already a gap of around six and half years and therefore there ought to be some improvement or some omission or some contradiction regarding some minor aspects. He has submitted that however according to him there is no contradiction, omission or improvement from the material point of view or on a major aspect and therefore the appeal is required to be dismissed. 5.6 In support of his submissions, Mr. Jani has placed reliance upon various decisions of the Apex Court in the following cases : (i)Suraj Bhan vs. State of Haryana reported in AIR 2003 SC 785. (ii)Shaikh Majid & Anr. vs. State of Maharashtra & Ors. reported in JT 2008(1) SC 640. (iii)Rajpal & Ors. vs. State of Haryana reported in 2006(9) SCC 678. (iv)Ananta Deb Singha Mahapatra & Ors. vs. State of West Bengal reported in JT 2007(8) SC 633. CR.A/388/2001 16/27 JUDGMENT 6. We have gone through the oral as well as documentary evidences along with the relevant portion of the decisions of the Apex Court cited by the advocates for the respective parties. We have considered the evidence on record on the basis of the principles laid down by the Apex Court in the above mentioned decisions and valued the evidence on that basis. 6.1 It is required to be noted that in the instant case, one Ragaji Chamnaji lost his life and four other persons were injured including a woman. From the appellants' side also, two persons have received injuries from the said incident. The evidence on record indisputably shows the presence of all the persons i.e. injured persons, injured witnesses and the assailants-present appellants without reasonable doubt. The same has not been disputed by either side. Even the injuries sustained by the persons of either side have not been disputed by any party. 6.2 As far as the injuries are concerned the same have been proved by the prosecution by way of injury certificate issued by the hospital authorities, Palanpur vide Ex. 11 to 14. The same has been proved by the prosecution by oral evidence of Dr. Ishwarbhai Patel-PW1 Ex. 10. The injuries sustained by the other side i.e. Purabhai Ex. 18 and to another person at Ex. 36, Ex. 18 has been proved by way of oral evidence of Dr. Ishwarbhai PW1 Ex. 10 and as far as Ex. 36 is concerned the same has been proved by Dr. CR.A/388/2001 17/27 JUDGMENT Bhagwatiprasad PW3 Ex. 26. Dr Bhagwatiprasad has also proved the injury certificate of Smt. Gauriben Ex. 37. Moreover, Dr. Bhagwatiprasad has also performed the post-mortem upon the dead body of the victim Ragaji Chamnaji and also proved the post-mortem note Ex. 28 along with certificate Ex. 29. 6.3 As far as the injuries sustained by Ragaji are concerned, the concerned doctor has proved his external injury marks by way of oral evidence and the same has also been reflected in the post-mortem note more particularly para 17 and the same reads as under: “Incised penetrating wound 12cm x 2 cm Longitudinal bone cut brain tissue deep (8 cm deep) slight oblique starting from middle of right side of frontal region of head crossing the midline at frontoparietal suture to the posterior part of left parietal bone.” 6.4 Simultaneously, the external injury mark is also reflected in column no. 19 of the post-mortem note which reads as under: “Congested surrounding the wound. # skull bone 12 cm x 1 cm slight oblique starting from Rt side of midline on frontal bnone to left side of midline on posterior end of left parietal bone. Meninges congested on around wound site. Brain tissue contused. Lacerated and cut in base of the wound.” CR.A/388/2001 18/27 JUDGMENT 6.5 At the end of the post-mortem note, the cause of death is also mentioned by the doctor at column no. 23 which reads as under: “The cause of death is shock and haemorrhage due to fracture skull.” 6.6 Simultaneously, the doctor has also proved the certificate received by him vide Ex. 29 wherein he has categorically mentioned that the post mortem