Allahabad High Court
Emperor vs Gutali on 14 December, 1908
Equivalent citations: 1IND. CAS.765
JUDGMENT
1. The appellant Gutali alias Ajudhiya has been convicted of an offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to transportation for life. He has also been convicted of an offence punishable under Section 328 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment. The sentences have been ordered to run concurrently. We have read through the whole of the evidence and we see no reason whatever to doubt the prisoner's guilt. On the 29th of May last ho attached himself to an old man Arjun and his grandson Ram Nath, who had gone to Mahaban to purchase an ox. He was previously unknown to them. He said that he was a Thakur of Chilikpurwa and that he too had come to buy an ox. He remained in their company from 2 or 3 gharis after sunrise until after noon. Both Arjun and his grandson partook of the food which the accused had procured. The accused pressed them to go to the village Karahra where he said he had seen some bullocks for sale. After going a short distance Arjun became ill and fell to the ground unconscious. He and his grandson were seen lying on the road that same evening. The grandson was dead. Arjun and the grandson were seen by the Hospital Assistant, who found in each case the pupils of the eyes dilated. When Arjun was found, he was seen to be plucking at the ground with his hands. The brain of Ram Nath was congested and in the opinion of the Hospital Assistant the congestion was probably caused by poison. Although no poison was found by the Chemical Examiner in the portion of the viscera of Ram Nath sent to him, we think that there can be little doubt that dhatura had been administered. When Arjun came to himself, he found that he had been robbed of his money and his grandson's ear-rings had been taken away.
2. The dhotis of both had also been taken away. At that time no trace was found of the person who had been in the company of Arjun and the deceased.
3. On the 19th of June two more men, Girdhari and Hallia, were joined by an utter stranger, who pursuaded them to partake of food which he gave them. They both became unconscious. Before the accused could make off, some residents of Nathupura came up and had their suspicions aroused by what they saw. They arrested the accused as he was attempting to make off and he was taken to the police station and sent to the Hamirpur jail. There on the 1st of July he was picked out by Arjun from amongst a number of under-trial prisoners as the man who had been in his company for several hours on the 29th of May and had given him the food, after eating which he became unconscious and his grandson died. No reason is assigned to account for Arjun or the other witnesses falsely identifying the accused. The evidence of the Hospital Assistant and of the Chemical Examiner clearly proves that Girdhari and Hallia were drugged with dhatura. The prisoner called evidence to prove an alibi which we agree with the learned Judge in considering quite insufficient to shake the strong case for the prosecution. We see no reason to interfere with either conviction. Although death does not always follow from dhatura poisoning, yet it does follow in a considerable proportion of cases. Here the accused must have given dhatura to Ram Nath in such a large quantity as to result in his death within 3 or 4 hours. We consider, therefore, that although he may not have intended to kill Ram Nath he must be held to have known that his act in giving a dangerous substance in such a quantity was at least likely to cause death. We find no reason for interference and dismiss the appeal.