Badshah & Ors vs State Of U.P

1. Appellants herein are residents of village Salampur, Police Station Kuraoli, district Mainpuri in the State of Uttar Pradesh. They were accused of charges under Section 364 of the Indian Penal Code for commission of the offence of kidnapping and murder of one Suraj Pal Singh on 23.5.1980 at about 10.00 pm. They are resident of a village called Kherioa. The majority of the population of the said village either belongs to Yadav caste, to which the accused persons belong to, or Kumhar caste, to which the prosecution party belongs to.

Two criminal cases were instituted against the prosecution witnesses by the accused. They were, however, acquitted. Suraj Pal Singh son of Jagal Lal, admittedly, was looking after the said cases.

2. A First Information Report was lodged by Pahalvan Singh, PW-1, brother of Suraj Pal Singh at about 5.15 pm on 23.5.1980 alleging that when the said Suraj Pal Singh along with PW-3, Ram Pal, Summer Singh, Khetal Singh and Puttu Lal were sleeping in their field where crops had been harvested and ready for thrashing, the appellants herein as also Buddhi (since acquitted) reached there armed with guns and caught hold of Suraj Pal Singh and bodily lifted him. Puttu Lal, Ram Pal and other persons who were present there, questioned the accused persons as regards their said conduct and being resisted thereto, they resorted to firing thereby creating panic amongst them. Allegedly, they also gave out that Suraj Pal Singh was being abducted for being killed. On hearing the hue and cry as also the sound of firing shots, the informant, Pahalwan Singh, came to the place of occurrence where the other prosecution witnesses narrated the incident to him. An abortive search was made for Suraj Pal.

3. The learned Trial Judge found the appellants guilty of commission of the offence under Section 364 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced them to undergo rigorous imprisonment for seven years. However, accused No.6, Buddhi was acquitted.

4. An appeal preferred by the appellants has been dismissed by the High Court by reason of the impugned judgment.

The learned Trial Judge, however, relied upon the deposition of PW-1 and PW-2 to hold that all the charges for grant of electrical connection having been deposited, user of electrical energy by the prosecution witnesses was permissible. The Investigating Officer, in his deposition, also found existence of electrical connection. The learned Trial Judge consulted an almanac to infer that it was a full moon night and further having regard to the fact that both the parties were known to each other, being residents of the village, the appellants had rightly been identified by the prosecution witnesses as having committed the offence.

14. Although the First Information was lodged on 24.5.1988, the Investigating Officer did not find the appellants in their house. They could not immediately be arrested. Warrant of attachment of sale of their property was issued. Mulaim Singh was arrested only on 28.6.1988. It is also significant that PW-2, in his deposition, categorically stated that the accused No.1, Badshah, had given out that they were taking Suraj Pal Singh away in order to kill him. Similar are the statements of PW-2 and PW-3. PW-2 categorically stated that appellants had furthermore given out that if they wanted to save their lives, they should run away.

12. The fact that the parties were enemically disposed of towards each other is beyond any doubt or dispute. Two criminal cases were instituted against the prosecution witnesses. It has been established that Suraj Pal Singh had been looking after the said criminal cases. The fact that the appellants were present at the place of occurrence also stands established. Appellant, not only picked up Suraj Pal Singh but also bodily lifted him away and when some resistance was put, they also resorted to firing in the air.

20. The fact of the matter together with the precedents as noticed hereinbefore, in our opinion, lead to the conclusion that a different view from that of the High Court is not warranted.

21. This appeal is, therefore, dismissed.