CR.A/322/2007 1/10 JUDGMENT IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD CRIMINAL APPEAL No. 322 of 2007 For Approval and Signature: HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE H.B.ANTANI ========================================================= 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 ? ========================================================= MOTILAL MUNIRAJ SAROJ Versus THE STATE OF GUJARAT ========================================================= Appearance : MR KARTIK V PANDYA for Appellant. MR AJ DESAI, ADDL. PUBLIC PROSECUTOR for Respondent. ========================================================= CORAM : HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE H.B.ANTANI Date : 03/12/2008 ORAL JUDGMENT 1. This appeal preferred under section 374 (2) of CR.A/322/2007 2/10 JUDGMENT Criminal Procedure Code is directed against the judgment and order dated 21.04.06 rendered by the Additional City Sessions Judge, Court No.6, Ahmedabad in Sessions Case No. 266 of 2004 by which the learned Judge convicted the appellant for offence punishable under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code and 135 (1) of the Bombay Police Act and sentenced him to 7 years' rigorous imprisonment. 2. Short facts giving rise to the present appeal are as under:- 3. The present appellant, who was arrested after a lapse of nearly 13 years from the date of the incident, is the principal accused and has been charged for offences punishable under section 307, IPC read with section 135 (1) of the Bombay Police At. Other co-accused arrested earlier were charge sheeted and trial proceedings against them were disposed of somewhere in the year 1993, when the Sessions Court discharged them. It is also pertinent to note that original documents and muddamal were produced in the court in the course of the earlier proceedings of the co-accused which were disposed of in the year 1993 in Sessions Case No. 356 of 1993. Thus, the original documents including the muddamal articles were not available before the learned Sessions Court in the present case. In view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances of the case, the prosecution has banked upon secondary evidence as also oral deposition adduced by the witnesses during the course of the trial However, it is also observed by the learned Judge that the CR.A/322/2007 3/10 JUDGMENT medical evidence on record of the case was salvaged and original case papers pertaining to treatment given to the injured were available for the perusal of the court during the trial of the present proceedings. 4. As per the prosecution case, the victim/complainant Ramprasad C Rajput and the appellant were residents of the same chawl situated at Ohdav, Ahmedabad. As per the prosecution case, son of the complainant had a quarrel with a lady, who is one of the residents of the chawl in connection with storage of drinking water. It appears that the appellant took up the cudgels on behalf of the said lady and involved himself in the quarrel. As per the prosecution case, on account of such enmity, the accused, who was armed with a rampuri knife, came to the residence of the complainant on 21.02.92 around 10.15 PM when the complainant was relaxing in the veranda of his house. As per the prosecution case, the appellant stabbed the complainant on vital part of the body, i.e. on the left portion of chest and on the wrist of the right hand. After inflicting such serious injuries on the complainant, the appellant fled from the scene of incident. The complainant was immediately taken to the hospital for treatment of his injuries which were grave and serious in nature. In pursuance of a yadi forwarded by the constable attached to the Shardaben General Hospital, PSO of Odhav police station directed PSI Mr. Rajaram A Devere to record the complaint of injured Rampratap C. Rajput. He also forwarded a report prepared under section 157 of the Code of CR.A/322/2007 4/10 JUDGMENT Criminal Procedure, with regard to registration of the offence against the appellant. The offence came to be registered vide CR No. I – 308 of 1992 at Odhav Police Station. The Police Officer also called Executive Magistrate to record the dyeing declaration of the complainant. After recording the dyeing declaration and the complaint, further investigation was handed over to P.I. Shri R.M. Chaudhri. He prepared the panchnama of the scene of the incident in the presence of panch witnesses. The other accused persons who were involved in the commission of offence were arrested. However, the present appellant-accused could not be traced out, and, therefore, warrant under section 70 of the Criminal Procedure Code was issued on 14.10.1992 by the investigating officer. Charge sheet came to be filed on 22.12.1992 against the other co-accused persons. Ultimately the co-accused were discharged by the City Sessions Court under section 227 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Code in Sessions Case No. 356 of 1993. The appellant was not traceable for nearly 12 years from the date of incident and he was arrested only on 06.04.04. On completion of investigation against the appellant, a supplementary charge sheet was filed. Accused was thereafter presented before the learned Magistrate, Court No.20 and the learned Magistrate, vide order dated 10.08.04 committed the proceedings to the Sessions Court at Ahmedabad. The charge against the accused was framed for offences punishable under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code read with section 135 of the Bombay Police Act on 16.08.05. The appellant pleaded not guilty to the charge levelled against CR.A/322/2007 5/10 JUDGMENT him and claimed to be tried. The prosecution has examined the following witnesses in order to prove the involvement of the appellant in the commission of offence. PW. No. Name Exh. No. 1 Rurendra Singh V Bayas [Medical expert who attended the complainant] 9 2 R.A. Devere [PSI attached to the Odhav Police Station] 12 3 Sabhajit I. Tomar [Panch witness] 14 4 Pravin N. Limbachiya [Executive Magistrate who recorded the dyeing declaration] 15 5 Hiralal R Yadav [Panch witness] 18 6 Ranchod M Chauhan [Investigating Officer] 19 7 Rampratap C Rajput [injured-complainant] 21 8 Suman L. Bhatt [PSI Odhav Police Station who arrested the accused] 22 9 Chanduji M Bhagora [PSI Gomtipur Police Station who forwarded the muddamal to the FSL] 25 10 Smt. Jaishree A. Shah [FSL Officer] 28 11 Chimanlal L Chouhan, PSI Odhav Police Station 36 5. The prosecution has also produced the following documentary evidence: Sl.No. Particulars Exh. No. 1 Medical case papers of Shardaben Hospital 11 2 Complaint 13 3 Dyeing declaration 17 4 Yadi dated 21.09.92 to the Executive Magistrate 17-A 5 Notification issued by the Commissioner of Police under the Bombay Police Act 20 6 Original forwarding letter to FSL 29 7 Receipt from the FSL 30 CR.A/322/2007 6/10 JUDGMENT 8 Forwarding letter from the FSL 31 9 FSL Report 32 10 Internal correspondence within the FSL 33 11 Extract of Register from the FSL with regard to the receipt of muddamal in connection with the present case. 34 6. At the conclusion of the trial, further statement of the appellant was recorded under section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code and the appellant consistently maintained that he was not involved in the commission of offence and he had not committed any offence, much less an offence with which he was charged, and he also claimed clean acquittal. 7. The learned Judge, on the strength of the evidence on record of the case held that prosecution has proved the case beyond reasonable doubt and the appellant who was armed with a knife inflicted stab injuries on the complainant Rampratap C Rajput on 21.02.92 and the injuries inflicted by the appellant was life threatening. Learned Judge also held that the oral deposition adduced by the complainant, vide Exh.21 is corroborated by the deposition of Rurendra Singh V Bayas, Medical Officer, Exh.9 and held that the prosecution has established involvement of the appellant in the commission of offence. The Doctor, who has treated the injured-complainant had also issued a medical certificate with regard to the injuries sustained by the complainant-injured and he had identified the same during the course of deposition before the Court. The learned Judge held that the prosecution has, on the basis of the oral deposition as well as documentary evidence such as CR.A/322/2007 7/10 JUDGMENT panchnama of the place of incident and FSL report etc., proved inextricable involvement of the appellant in the commission of offence, and, therefore, the learned Judge convicted the appellant for offence punishable under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code and 135 (1) of the Bombay Police Act and sentenced him to 7 years' rigorous imprisonment. 8. Mr. Kartik V. Pandya, learned advocate appearing for the appellant, at the outset, submitted that he does not challenge the conviction of the appellant in the commission of offence under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code read with section 135 of the Bombay Police Act. However, learned advocate submitted that on a bare perusal of section 307, IPC, it becomes clear that section 307 gives discretion to the Court to impose sentence of imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 10 years and also impose fine on the convict. He further submitted that the muddamal article has not be recovered/discovered, and the original documents have not been produced on record. He also submitted that the injured had not succumbed to the injuries but has survived. He also submitted that as per the medical certificate, the stab wound on the chest was only 5 cms long X 2 cms over left 1st intercostal space about 2 cm lat. to sternum. He further submitted that considering these facts, as discretionary power is given to the Court under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code, it is a fit case to impose sentence on the appellant which he has already undergone as on today, i.e. sentence of CR.A/322/2007 8/10 JUDGMENT 4 years and 8 months approximately. 9. On the other hand, Mr. Desai, learned Additional Public Prosecutor submitted that considering the entire gamut of oral deposition and documentary evidence, the prosecution has successfully established each and every link connecting the accused with the commission of offence punishable under section 307 of IPC read with section 135 of the Bombay Police Act, and, therefore, no interference is called for even in the sentence imposed by the learned Judge, which is only for a period of 7 years as against the maximum that could have been awarded, i.e. 10 years. Learned APP placed heavy reliance on the deposition adduced by the complainant, Rampratap C Rajput, PW.7, Exh.21 and the deposition adduced by medical officer, Dr. Rurendra Singh V Bayas, PW.1, Exh.9 and submitted that considering the nature of injuries sustained by the injured, since the injuries were caused on the vital part of the body, no lenient view can be taken in the matter and even the plea for reducing the sentence to one which the appellant has already undergone has no merit, and the appeal deserves to be dismissed and sentence imposed by the learned Judge requires to be confirmed. 10.I have heard learned advocate Mr. Kartik Pandya for the appellant and Mr. A.J. Desai, learned APP for the State. This Court has also undertaken a complete and comprehensive appreciation of all vital facts of the case and the entire evidence on record with regard to the broad and reasonable probabilities of CR.A/322/2007 9/10 JUDGMENT the case. Since the learned advocate for the appellant has, at the outset, submitted that he is not challenging the order of conviction under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code and 135 (1) of the Bombay Police Act, looking to the facts and circumstances of the case, the order of conviction is required to be confirmed. Thus, this Court is now required to consider only whether the sentence awarded is just and proper or not, in the facts and circumstances of the case. 11.I have perused the deposition adduced by the complainant. Rampratap C Rajput, PW.7, Exh.21 as to how he was assaulted by the appellant on 21.02.92 at about 10.15 PM. As per his deposition, the injuries were caused on the vital part of his body, i.e on the left side of the chest. An injury was also inflicted on the right hand. The deposition adduced by Rampratap gets necessary corroboration from the deposition adduced by medical officer, Rurendrasingh V Bayas PW.1 Exh.9. The Doctor has deposed in his testimony about the injuries which were caused to the complainant. He has also issued a certificate vide Exh.10. Considering the nature of injuries sustained by the complainant-injured, the learned trial Judge has come to the conclusion that the injuries which were caused by the appellant to the complainant were life threatening injuries and therefore no lenient view could be taken in the matter and therefore he imposed sentence of rigorous imprisonment for 7 years. 12.In the instant case, it is required to be noticed CR.A/322/2007 10/10 JUDGMENT that the muddamal was not discovered/recovered, ofcourse due to the passage of time. That apart, original documents have not been traceable and, therefore, not produced on the records. It is also required to be noted that injury was only sternum deep and the injured has survived the assault. This Court cannot be oblivious of the aforesaid aspects. Hence, without reiterating the deposition adduced by the prosecution in detail, I am of the view that if the appellant is awarded sentence of rigorous imprisonment for 5 years for offence punishable under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code and 135 (1) of the Bombay Police Act, it would meet the ends of justice. 13.In view of the above, without discussing in detail the evidence on record of the case, order of conviction under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code and 135 (1) of the Bombay Police Act, is confirmed. The order of sentence is, however, modified and the appellant is now sentenced to 5 years' rigorous imprisonment for having committed offences punishable under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code and 135 (1) of the Bombay Police Act. 14.The appeal is partly allowed accordingly. mathew [H.B.ANTANI, J.]