Bal Mukund Sharma @ Balmkund Chaudhry vs The State Of Bihar

2. The case of the prosecution in brief is that while the informant, Meghu Pandit, PW2 was carrying soil that he had dug from a Gairmajarua land lying to the north of his house for the purpose of manufacturing earthen pots along with his wife, the 1 fifteen accused accosted them in a group; hence, PW2 and his wife ran away towards their house out of fear, but were chased even to their house. The accused Brahamdeo Chaudhry also fired three gunshots in the air, and threatened to kill any villager who came forward. The informant, PW2 and his wife hid in their house and closed the doors, whereafter the aforesaid members of the unlawful assembly unsuccessfully tried to enter PW2’s house by breaking the doors and also set part of it on fire. It is further alleged that all the accused caught hold of PW2’s nephew, Ambika Pandit, who was working in his own field nearby, and dragged him away to another field, where the accused Brahamdeo Chaudhry shot Ambika Pandit with a gun, who died on the spot. According to the informant, he had seen the occurrence after coming out of his house. After the deceased was shot, the villagers raised a hue and cry and rushed to his field, upon which the accused Brahamdeo Chaudhry and Kapildeo Chaudhry opened fire, on account of which Shanti Devi, Subhash Sao, Wakil Yadav and Kokai Sao also suffered injuries.

4. PWs 1 to 7 and 9 are the eye­witnesses to the incident in question, out of which PWs 3, 4, 5 and 6 are the injured eye­ witnesses. Among them, PWs 3 and 6 sustained only simple injuries, whereas PWs 4 and 5 sustained both simple and grievous injuries. Though PW2, the informant was chased by the unlawful assembly, leading him to hide along with his wife in his home, no injury was sustained by him or his wife.

We are, therefore, of the view that there exists cogent evidence only as to the role of the accused Brahamdeo Chaudhry, Kapildeo Chaudhry, Mahendra Rai, Babulal Chaudhry, Bhavesh Chaudhry and Anil Chaudhry (hereinafter referred to as “the six accused”) in the incident. All of these six accused participated in the rioting on the scene of the incident, in which the accused Brahamdeo Chaudhry and Kapildeo Chaudhry were the only persons having guns at the time, of whom the accused Brahamdeo suddenly shot at the deceased and the accused Brahamdeo and Kapildeo shot the injured. We agree with the finding of the Courts that it was the accused Brahamdeo who gave the fatal shot to the deceased. Though there was some evidence (i.e. the deposition of PWs 5 and 6) to the effect that the accused Kapildeo shot the deceased as well, the same was not 11 believed by the Courts. We, too, find this evidence insufficient to conclude that the accused Kapildeo shot the deceased.

We do not find any reason to disagree with the reasons assigned and conclusions arrived at by the Courts in convicting the six accused for the offence under Section 436/149, IPC, and other offences for which they have been held guilty, except to the extent stated supra.

9. It is worth noticing that the accused Kapildeo Chaudhry died during the pendency of the appeals.

11. The appeals are allowed in part.

April 16, 2019.