9911796707
TMI Blog2003 (12) TMI 624X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 392 IPC and Section 397 IPC read with Section 34 IPC. A-3 (Haroon) was also charged for an offence under section 25 of the Arms Act. The sum and substance of the prosecution case was that on 9.11.1991 at about 7.15 p.m. when PW-3 (Bal Kishan) was witnessing a TV programme in the inner room of his house in the company of his wife, PW-10 (Smt. Raj Rani), the accused persons entered their house and when PW-3 (Bal Kishan) came out of the room and was told by one of the four persons that they were sent by one Mahabir Thekedar for white washing of their house, PW-3 (Bal Kishan) was said to have told one of them that he only had already white washed the house and enquired about the need for it again. As the conversation was said to be going on like that the accused closed the door and one of the boys took out a country-made pistol and other took out their knives and by using such threat with such weapons they pushed PW-3 (Bal Kishan) and PW-10 (Smt. Raj Rani) inside and demanded the keys of the almirah. PW-10 (Smt. Raj Rani) the wife seems to have told them that the keys were with her daughter who resides at a different place. But she was not believed and they started searching all around ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... No. 225/1998. A-4 (Asfaq) filed Crl. Appeal 293/1998 and A-1 (Ikrar) filed Crl. A. 155/1998 before the High Court. The learned Single Judge in the High Court considered the materials on record by undertaking an independent appreciation of the evidence let in and ultimately affirmed the conviction and sentence imposed, as well. Hence, these appeals. Learned counsel appearing for the appellants strenuously contended that the identification of the accused in the Court without holding a proper test identification parade earlier and at the relevant point of time renders the evidence wholly unreliable and completely vitiated the judgments of the Courts below and that no reliance whatsoever could be placed on the testimony of the witnesses in question to indict the appellants. Learned counsel urged further that even according to the PWs it was only one person who was said to be in possession of the country-made pistol and in the absence of any recovery of the same or proof by concrete materials of the role of other individually as against each one of the accused, no conviction under Section 307 with the aid of Section 34 of the Penal Code was permissible and that the necessary ingredie ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on her husband could also be easily considered to have got imprinted in her mind the faces of the accused and that, therefore, the omission to hold the test Identification parade did not affect the credibility or truthfulness of their evidence. The case on hand is akin to the said case dealt with by learned Judges therein, is that among the accused one was already known on account of having white washed their house, that they have entered their house and was for quite some time present there holding them at ransom by directing and using threat to relieve them of the valuables on which they could lay their hands and it is too much to claim, in spite of all these, that the evidence of PWs. 2, 3 and 10 could not be either sufficient to properly identify the accused or relied upon against the accused in the absence of proper test identification parade. In this case it has also further come on record that one whose identity was known was initially traced, that the said trail led the investigating authorities to the others and that the complainant was also said to have been associated even at that stage of investigation to identify the accused and ensure properly the arrest of the real ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... use only when the offender succeeded in committing the robbery. * Thus, what is essential to satisfy the word Uses for the purposes of Section 397 IPC is the robbery being committed by an offender who was armed with a deadly weapon which was within the vision of the victim so as to be capable of creating a terror in the mind of victim and not that it should be further shown to have been actually used for cutting, stabbing, shooting, as the case may be. The further plea that one accused alone, was in any event in possession of the country-made pistol and the others could not have been vicariously held liable under Section 397 IPC with the assistance of section 34 IPC over- looks the other vital facts on record found by the Courts below that the others were also armed with and used their knives and that knife is equally a deadly weapon, for purposes of section 397 IPC. The decision of the Division Bench of the Bombay High Court relied upon turned on the peculiar facts found as to the nature of the weapon held by the accused therein and the nature of injuries caused and the same does not support the stand taken on behalf of the appellants in this case. The provisions of Secti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
