IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA Cr.A No.222 of 1996 Decided on : November 9, 2009 State of H.P. …Appellant. Versus Ram Chand …Respondent. Coram The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Surjit Singh, Judge. The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Surinder Singh, Judge. Whether approved for reporting?1 For the Appellant : Mr. P.M. Negi, Deputy Advocate General. For the Respondent : M/s Y. Paul & Dinesh Sharma, Advocates. Surjit Singh, J (Oral) State has appealed against the judgment, dated 9th August, 1995, of learned Sessions Judge, Mandi, whereby respondent Ram Chand, who was tried for offence, under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code, has been acquitted. 2. Prosecution’s case, as per evidence on record, is like this. On 8th November, 1992, around 5 or 6 in the evening, when prosecutrix, examined as PW-7, was present on a path near a shed meant for stacking hay, respondent Ram Chand appeared there, gave her beatings with a Danda and fist blows and then threw her on the ground and Whether reporters of the local papers may be allowed to see the judgment? …2… committed rape on her. She raised alarm, hearing which several persons, including Nika Ram, Partap Singh, Nirmala and her own daughter Lata, reached and rescued her. She went to the Office of Superintendent of Police, Mandi, on the next following day, i.e. on 9th November, 1992, and submitted written complaint Ex. PC. The same was forwarded to the SHO, Police Station Aut, on the basis of which case was formally registered, vide FIR Ex. PF. Prosecutrix was got medically examined. No injury on her person was found. Her clothes, i.e. Salwar, underwear and shirt, as also slide of vaginal smear procured during her medical examination, were sent to the Chemical Examiner. Human semen was found on her Salwar and the vaginal smear. Respondent was arrested. He was also got medically examined. His pants was taken into possession and sent to the Chemical Examiner. It was also found to contain some stains of human semen. 3. During the course of trial, prosecutrix stated that on hearing her cries only her daughter Lata reached the spot and that rest of the persons, named in the FIR, reached after some time, when the respondent had already run away. Her daughter Lata appeared as PW-4 and testified that she saw the respondent committing the offence of rape with her mother. 4. Trial Court held that the testimony of the prosecutrix does not inspire confidence, inasmuch as the …3… circumstantial evidence contradicts her testimony and that there has been enmity between the parties, on account of which the prosecutrix has lodged more than ten police reports against the respondent, including another case of rape, report about which was lodged during the pendency of the present case in the Court and the same, on investigation, was found to be false. 5. We have heard the learned Deputy Advocate General as also the learned counsel representing the respondent and gone through the record. 6. Learned trial Court has noticed that the prosecutrix was mother of eight children, at the time when the incident took place. From the record, we find that the respondent was only 20 years old at that time. It has come in evidence that the father of the prosecutrix is blind. He instituted a Civil Suit that one Beli Ram, acting as his power of attorney, had fraudulently transferred his 16 bighas land and out of that land 15 bighas was ultimately sold to one Durga Dass and that the respondent is a relative of Durga Dass and has been employed by him to cultivate the said land. Prosecutrix herself admitted that on the day of occurrence Durga Dass, with the help of the respondent, had forcibly ploughed some land, which she claimed to be in her possession. PW-6 SI Amar Nath, admitted that prosecutrix had lodged 11-12 reports against the respondent at the Police Station, including another report of …4… rape in the year 1994, which, on investigation, was found to be incorrect. 7. Incident took place in the area of Bali Chowki. There is a Police Post at Bali Chowki and Police Station at Aut. Place of incident falls within the area of Police Post Bali Chowki and the Police Station Aut. Prosecutrix did not go either to the Police Post or the Police Station, aforesaid, for lodging the report, but went to Mandi to submit a complaint to the Superintendent of Police, even though both Bali Chowki and Aut fall on the way to Mandi from her village. 8. Prosecutrix claimed that the respondent had torn her clothes, before committing rape on her. Clothes were produced in the Court and the learned trial Court has observed that they were intact. Prosecutrix also alleged that she had been beaten up with a Danda and also given fist blows, before she was raped, but when medically examined no marks of injuries or violence were seen on her person by PW-5 Dr. Tripta. 9. PW-4 Lata, who corroborated the prosecutrix, is her own daughter. She is contradicted in material particulars by her statement to the police, with which she was duly confronted. The said statement is Ex. DB. In the said statement, she got recorded that her mother was rescued by Partap Singh and Nika Ram, but when in the Court she stated that they came to the spot after the respondent had disappeared. …5… 10. Also, we find that the place of occurrence, which the prosecutrix reported to the Superintendent of Police, vide complaint Ex. PC, is different from the place, which she showed to the Investigating Officer, PW-9 SI Sita Ram, during investigation. As per Ex. PC, the incident had taken place on the path, behind the store of grass, but as per site plan the incident took place in a field of chillies. In view of the abovestated position, we do not consider this to be a fit case for interfering with the judgment of acquittal. Hence, the appeal is dismissed. ( Surjit Singh ), J November 9, 2009(sd) ( Surinder Singh ), J