Sheo Shankar Singh vs State Of U.P

4. As the story of the prosecution goes, on 13.06.1979 at 3.30 p.m. at Badhwa Chau Muhanion Kachcha Road, by the side of the godown of the Irrigation Department near the hovel of Vinod, the deceased Lorik was travelling along with P.W.1 Rakesh Kumar his son, in a motorcycle bearing No.UTH 1287 as a pillion rider. The accused Ranjit Singh along with his father Harihar Singh, his brother Sarvajit Singh @ Sobhu and cousin Sheo Shankar Singh alleged to have pounced upon P.W.1 Rakesh Kumar and the deceased Lorik and stopped their motorcycle by catching hold of its carrier. While P.W.1 attempted to drive fast, the accused Harihar Singh exhorted his associates to kill the deceased, whereupon, Ranjit Singh is stated to have fired a shot and the same hit the deceased Lorik on his back. After receiving the injuries, the deceased Lorik stated to have jumped from the motorcycle and ran away shouting for help. As the deceased Lorik jumped from the motorcycle, P.W.1 Rakesh Kumar lost his balance, fell down and got his leg injured. Ranjit Singh armed with a revolver and the remaining three accused with country made pistols, stated to have attacked the deceased Lorik by firing at him with their weapons and on receiving the injuries, Lorik fell down a few paces ahead and when Ranjit Singh fired again, the deceased is stated to have succumbed to the injuries instantaneously. Thereafter, Ranjit Singh and the appellants stated to have fled away from the scene of occurrence in the motorcycle belonging to P.W.1 Rakesh Kumar while Harihar Singh stated to have ran away from the scene of occurrence.

5. On hearing the hue and cry, Ramjit (PW3) and Shyam Raj, uncles of P.W.1 Rakesh Kumar and one Sheo Narain, who stated to have witnessed the incident, reached the spot. P.W.1 lodged the F.I.R. at Kotwali Police Station at 4.00 P.M., on the same day. The police registered a case in the General Diary and the same is marked as Exs.Ka12 and Ka13. The inquest report prepared by the Investigating Officer (P.W.7) was marked as Ex.Ka14. The site plan map was marked as Ex.Ka19. Dr.Virendra Srivastava at the District Hospital, Ghazipur conducted the autopsy on the body of the deceased on 14.06.1979 at 12.45 p.m. Blood stained clothes and earth was sent for Serologist opinion and the blood group was noted as ‘B’ as per Exs.Ka32 and Ka33.

6. P.Ws.1 and 3, Rakesh Kumar and Ramjit son and brother of the deceased, were examined as eyewitnesses. Dr.P.N.Tandon, Medical Officer at Ghazipur District Hospital, was examined as P.W.2. P.W.2 examined P.W.1 at 4.30 p.m. and the injury report was marked as Ex.Ka4. The postmortem report issued by P.W.4 Dr.Virendra Srivastava, was marked as Ex.Ka11. In the Section 313 questioning, while all the other accused pleaded not guilty and claimed to be falsely implicated on account of enmity, accused Sheo Shankar Singh contended that on the date of occurrence, he had gone to attend a marriage in the house of D.W.1 Kanhaiya Singh at Singheri village, falling within the limits of Madganj Police Station, Ghazipur district.

9. The sum and substance of the submissions made on behalf of the appellants was that the non-recovery of the weapons and the motorcycle disproves the case of the prosecution. The non-examination of the so-called other eyewitnesses whose statements were recorded under Section 161 of Cr.P.C., would belie the case of the prosecution. The non-consideration of the evidence of P.W.8 about the motorcycle, also vitiates the case of the prosecution. The serious discrepancies, such as non-mentioning of the crime number and name in the vital documents, as admitted by the Investigating Officer, create serious doubt about the case put-forth by the prosecution. Since, admittedly the deceased Lorik was a history-sheeter and since no independent eyewitnesses were examined who were stated to be present at the time of occurrence, it will have to be held that the prosecution roped in the appellants in a case of blind murder. Therefore, it was contended for all the above discrepancies and the evidence of the prosecution, not been properly appreciated either by the Trial Court or by the High Court, the judgments impugned are liable to be set aside.

13. As far as the motive is concerned, according to the prosecution, one Raja of Ausanganj, a Zamindar, owned huge properties with whom one Mukhchand, father of the deceased Lorik, was employed as a gardener. On being satisfied with the services of the said Mukhchand, the Zamindar gave him a land for raising construction. Further as salary could not be paid to the said Mukhchand by the Zamindar, the Zamindar allowed him to segregate six bighas of land from the forest belonging to the Zamindar for cultivation. The said Mukhchand cleared off six bighas of land from the forest and stated to have started cultivating the same and after his death, his son one Basu, started working with the Zamindar. Since the price of the land increased by metes and bounds, the Zamindar wanted to reclaim the land, which ended in a prolonged litigation and ultimately the deceased and his brother stated to have succeeded in retaining the land. Irked by the above result, the Zamindar who was nurturing a grievance stated to have set up the accused who were local gundas to get rid of the deceased, his brother and his family members from the lands. It is stated that the accused started intimidating the family members of the deceased, which gave rise to frequent confrontation among the accused party and the party of the deceased, who wanted to protect their property.

23. Submissions were made on behalf of the appellants that there were serious lacunae in the registration of the F.I.R. and its dispatch and, therefore, the Courts below should not have accepted the case of the prosecution.

31. Having regard to our above conclusions, we do not find any merit in these appeals. The appeals fail and the same are dismissed.

32. The appellants are on bail. The bail bonds stand cancelled and they shall be taken into custody forthwith to serve out the remaining part of sentence, if any.

July 02, 2013.