9911796707
TMI Blog1974 (12) TMI 77X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ey have preferred this appeal by special leave of this Court. Appellant Ram Kumar's appeal would also lie under Section 2 (a) of the Supreme Court (Enlargement of Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction) Act, 1970. (2.) THE scope and the power of the High Court in an appeal from the order of acquittal have been enunciated in several decisions of this Court. In a recent decision vice Ram Jag v. THE State of U. P. AIR 1974 SC 606, Chandrachud, J. speaking for the Court has reviewed several such decisions and summarised the law on the point in the following terms: THE principles governing appeals against acquittal are thus firmly established and the issue cannot now be reopened. THE Code of Criminal Procedure by Section 423, has accorded parity to appeals against conviction and appeals against acquittal the Code makes no distinction between the powers of the appellate court in regard to the two categories of appeals and therefore the High Court has powers as full and wide in appeals against acquittal as in appeals against conviction. Whether the High Court is dealing with one class of appeals or the other, it must equally have regard to the fundamental principles of Criminal Juris ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... j Mangal were assaulted with lathi by the other appellants. The genesis of the occurrence is said to be the long standing enmity: The proximate and immediate cause was measurement and demarcation of the fields of appellant Ram Anjore and P.W. Ram Palat in plot Nos. 305/1 and 305/2 in the morning of the date of occurrence. This was preceded by some incident a day previous on the 14th. The disputed land is situated in village Phulwaria adjoining village Mathia. It is on the boundary. In the division of the plot there was difference between appellant Ram Anjore and P.W. Ram Palat. The former is said to have ploughed a portion of the land belonging to the latter in the Asarh of 1957. On 14-10-1967 in the morning, appellant Ram Anjore again ploughed one Gattha of land from the field of Ram Palat who objected to the same. Appellants Ram Anjore and Ram Kumar, threatened P.W. Ram Palat holding the spear in their hands. Vishwanath the deceased and others intervened. They reprimanded the said two appellants and no assault took place that day. Ram Palat lodged a report at the Police Station at 10-25 A.M. on 14-10-1967. Copy of the said report is Ext. Ka-4. Ram Anjore and Ram Kumar were ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... arge Tanda Dispensary, Faizabad did autopsy of dead body of Viswanath on 16-10-1967 at 3-00 p.m. His findings clearly showed that Viswanath died as a result of the spear injury received by him. Dr. S. D. Priyadarshi, P.W. 10, Medical Officer, Dispensary Jahangirganj, Distt. Faizabad, which was situated at a distance of about l2 miles from the Police Station examined the injuries on the person of Ram Palat and Raj Mangal on 16-10-1967 at 10-00 A.M. and 10-30 A.M. respectively. He found 5 contusions of different sizes on the person of Ram Palat, one swelling and 4 contusions on the person of Raj Mangal. The appellants pleaded not guilty and asserted that they had been falsely implicated. They did not admit that any incident had taken place on 14-10-1967. The enmity between the parties was admitted. A suggestion was thrown that Viswanath had been murdered sometime at 3-00 or 4-00 A.M. on the 15th October, 1967 because of his allegedly illicit connection with the wife of P.W. Parasnath. Real culprits were not known and the appellants were implicated out of enmity. The learned Sessions Judge gave several reasons for doubting the prosecution case and recorded an order of acquit ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... flimsy ground. Sub-Inspector Chandrama Singh was going to another village in connection with the investigation of a case under Section 379, Indian Penal Code In the way he had observed the assembly doing the measurement and demarcation work. He had advised them to get the measurement done by the Lekhpal. These matters could not possibly be and were not at all necessary to be mentioned in his report submitted in connection with the investigation of another case. The prosecution version of the occurrence has been disbelieved by the learned Sessions Judge on the grounds as discussed below :- (1) Dr. B. K. Chakravarty deposed that after receiving the spear injury in his abdomen Viswanath could have remained alive for some hours between 2 to 6 hours. (7.) THE High Court has rightly pointed out that the evidence of the doctor read as a whole did not lead to the inference that Viswanath must have remained alive so as to discredit the testimony of the eye-witnesses. (2) Smt. Vidya Devi, P.W. 6 in her cross-examination had said that on the day of murder, she had risen early like other days and that she had been awake for one hour when she learned about the death of her ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ad Constable Sukhdeo Pandey, P.W. 12 for going to Jahangirganj. According to them by the time their statements were recorded by the Investigating Officer it was dark. They, therefore, remained at the Police Station in the night and went to Jahangirganj Hospital on the 16th. THEir story was not fit to be discarded with reference to the evidence of the Head Constable who deposed only on the basis of the entry of the handing over of the injury letters at 5-00 p.m. on 15-10-1967. (10.) MR. C. P. Sharma, learned counsel for the appellants criticised the judgment of the High Court and endeavoured to support that of the trial Court. In our opinion the criticism was misplaced, unjustified and not correct. The High Court has dealt with every relevant matter forming the basis of the order of acquittal passed by the trial Court. Learned counsel characterized the investigation of the case by P.W. 13 as not being fair, with reference to the points already noted above. In our opinion there is nothing in the records of this case to indicate that the Police Officers were favourably disposed towards or partial to the prosecution and adverse to the accused. Learned counsel further submitted that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
