Madhya Pradesh High Court
Krishna Kumar Kesarwani vs The State Of M.P. on 1 December, 2017
Bench: R. S. Jha, Rajeev Kumar Dubey
-:1:-
HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH
PRINCIPAL SEAT AT JABALPUR
Criminal Appeal No.883/2001
Krishna Kumar Kesharwani
Vs.
The State of M.P.
&
Criminal Appeal No.1002/2001
Shriram & another
Vs.
The State of M.P.
=================
Shri Asadulla Usmani, learned counsel for the appellant in
Cr.A.No.883/2001.
Shri Jagat Sher Singh, learned counsel for the appellants in
Cr.A.No.1002/2001.
Shri Ajay Shukla, learned Govt. Advocate for the respondent/State.
=================
PRESENT:
HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE R. S. JHA
HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE RAJEEV KUMAR DUBEY
==================================
JUDGMENT
(01/12/2017) As per :- Rajeev Kumar Dubey, J This common judgment shall govern the disposal of Criminal Appeal Nos. 883/2001 and Criminal Appeal No.1002/2001.
2. These criminal appeals have been filed against the judgment dated 11/06/2001 passed by III Additional Sessions Judge, -:2:- Jabalpur in S.T.No.553/1999, whereby learned III Additional Sessions Judge found appellants guilty and convicted and sentenced as under :-
Appellants Sections Sentence Fine Default
stipulation
Shriram 302 read with Life Rs.2,000/- One year
(In Cr.A.No.1002/01) Section 34 of the imprisonment R.I.
IPC
Shripal 302 read with Life Rs.2,000/- One year
(In Cr.A.No.1002/01) Section 34 of the imprisonment R.I.
IPC
Krishna Kumar 302 read with Life Rs.2,000/- One year
Kesarwani Section 34 of the imprisonment R.I.
(In Cr.A.No.883/01) IPC
3. Although, co-accused Shrinath had filed Cr.A.No.1002/01 against the aforesaid judgment along with appellants Shripal and Shriram but later he withdrew his appeal, so this Court vide order dated 29/06/2013 dismissed his appeal as withdrawn. Thus, this judgment shall only consider the conviction and sentence awarded by the trial Court to Shriram, Shripal (Cr.A.No.1002/01) and Krishna Kumar Kesarwani (Cr.A.No.883/01).
4. Brief facts of the case are that on 13/07/1999 deceased Rajesh Kushwaha was going towards his house along with Vinay Chouhan (PW/17) and Chintu @ Sunil Bhalla (PW/16). On the way, when they reached near "Shriram Pan Bhandar" situated at Niwarganj, near Kamaniya deceased Rajesh told them to wait for two minutes as he wanted to smoke a cigarette. Then he went to Shriram Pan Bhandar, took a cigarette and started smoking it. At that time appellant Shriram who was sitting at the pan bhandar asked Rajesh to pay for cigarette, upon which Rajesh said that he had no money at that time and asked him to take the money by the next day. On that appellant Shriram abused him and they had some altercation between them. At that time co-accused Shrinath Gupta was already standing outside the shop and appellants Shripal and Krishna Kumar Kesharwani also came there. Shrinath Gupta, Shripal and Krishna Kumar Kesharwani caught hold of deceased Rajesh and Shrinath took scissor from his shop and assaulted Rajesh Kushwaha by scissor. He inflicted injury on Rajesh Kushwaha by scissor on his chest and other body parts. Co-accused Shrinath and appellants Shriram -:3:- & Krishna Kumar Kesharwani asked to kill him. On hearing the shouts Vinay Chouhan and Chintu @ Sunil Bhalla came to rescue him, but appellants threatened to kill them also, therefore, they ran away to their own house out of fear. On hearing shouting of deceased Rajesh Kushwaha, Sandesh (PW/9) went to the house of Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8) and told him that something has happened with Rajesh. Thereafter, Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8), Sandesh (PW/9), Naseem (PW/14) and Anupam (PW/7) reached the spot where they saw Rajesh lying in an injured state. They asked Rajesh what had happened and Rajesh told them that appellants had assaulted him by scissor. They took Rajesh to Victoria Hospital, Jabalpur where Rajesh died due to injuries sustained by him in the incident. On that Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8) went to Police Station, Lordganj and lodged the inquest report (Ex.P/15) and F.I.R. (Ex.P/14), which was written by Jitendra Singh Bisen (PW/15), the then SHO, Lordganj and registered Crime No.321/1999 for the offence punishable under Section 302/34 of the IPC and investigated the matter.
5. During investigation Jitendra Singh Bisen (PW/15) went to spot and prepared spot map (Ex.P/16) and also seized clotted blood from the spot and prepared seizure memo (Ex.P/17). Thereafter, he went to Victoria Hospital and prepared inquest memo (Ex.P/2) of the dead body of the deceased Rajesh Kushwaha and sent his dead body through Constable Meersingh (PW/2) to Civil Hospital, Jabalpur for postmortem alongwith an application (Ex.P/27), where on 14/07/1999 Dr. M.S. Kukrele (PW/12) conducted postmortem of the dead body of the deceased Rajesh Kushwaha and gave Postmortem report (Ex.P/25). He also seized blood stained cloths from the dead body of the deceased and gave it in a sealed packet to the concerned Constable, who produced the same at Police Station, Lordganj, which was seized from his possession by Jitendra Singh Bisen (PW/15) on 16/07/1999 and prepared seizure memo (Ex.P/3). During investigation on 14/07/1999 Jitendra Singh Bisen (PW/15) recorded the case diary statement of Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8) and Sandesh (PW/9). He also arrested the co- accused Shrinath and appellants Shripal, Shriram, and Krishna Kumar and prepared arrest memo (Ex.P/24) and seized their cloths, which they were -:4:- wearing at the time of their arrest and prepared seizure memo (Ex.P/20 to Ex.P/23) respectively. On the information of co-accused Shrinath, he also seized one scissor from his possession and prepared information memo (Ex.P/19) and seizure memo (Ex.P/20) and sent all the seized articles to the Forensic Science Laboratory, Sagar for chemical examination. After completion of investigation he filed the charge-sheet before the JMFC, Jabalpur, who committed the case to the Court of Sessions, where S.T.No.553/1999 was registered.
6. Learned III Additional Session Judge, Jabalpur framed the charge against the co-accused Shrinath for an offence punishable under Section 302 of the IPC and charge under Section 302/34 of the IPC against the appellants i.e. Shriram, Shripal and Krishna Kumar Kesarwani. The applicants abjured their guilt and took the defence that they were innocent and have falsely been implicated in the case. However, after trial learned III Additional Sessions Judge found the appellants guilty for the aforesaid offences and sentenced them as aforesaid.
7. Being aggrieved by the impugned judgment, appellants Shriram and Shripal filed Cr.A.No.1002/2001 and appellant Krishna Kumar Kesarwani filed Cr.A.No.883/2001.
8. Learned counsel for the appellants submitted that the learned trial Court without appreciating the prosecution evidence properly, wrongly found the appellants guilty for the offence. The so called eyewitness of the incident Chintu @ Sunil Bhalla (PW/16) did not support the prosecution story and turned hostile. There are several contradiction and omissions in the statement of so called eyewitness Vinay Chouhan (PW/17). He admitted in his statement that he was accused in 22-25 criminal cases, which shows the character of this witness. He also admitted that he knew the deceased Rajesh Kushwaha since last 10 years, even then on seeing that Rajesh Kushwaha is lying in an injured condition, he ran away from the spot and did not report the incident to the Police. This behavior of the witness is highly improbable.
9. Even other witness Anupam (PW/7), admitted in his statement that when he had reached on spot, Vinay Chouhan (PW/17) and Chintu @ Sunil (PW/16) were also present there and Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8) admitted -:5:- in his statement that in the hospital he saw Vinay Chouhan (PW/17) and police personnel were also there at that time. But had Vinay Chouhan (PW/17) seen the incident, he would have told the police regarding incident on the same date. So his statement that he saw the incident can not be believed. Learned trial Court wrongly believed his statement. Regarding dying declaration of the deceased, Anupam (PW/7) and Naseem (PW/16) did not support the statement of Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8) and Sandesh (PW/9) and Anupam (PW/7) deposed that Rajesh was not able to speak. Even according to prosecution Anupam (PW/7), Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8) and Sandesh (PW/9) took deceased Rajesh Kushwaha to Victoria Hospital, where he died, then Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8) went to Police Station, Lordganj to lodge the report, while Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8) in his statement clearly stated that he firstly went to Police Station, Lordganj and informed the Police about the incident and thereafter went to Victoria Hospital and after the doctor declared Rajesh dead, he again went to P.S. Lordgang and lodged the report. But prosecution did not produce earlier report lodged by Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8) at Police Station Lardganj. Even compliance of provisions of Section 157 of Cr.P.C. was also not proved because no such acknowledgment had been submitted along with charge-sheet regarding delivery of copy of the FIR to the Court of Judicial Magistrate concerned. So the FIR (Ex.P/14) lodged by Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8) and the statement of Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8) and Sandesh (PW/9) regarding dying declaration of deceased Rajesh also become doubtful. Learned trial Court wrongly relying on their statement found the appellants guilty. Although, Jitendra Singh Bisen (PW/15) deposed that he seized blood stained clothes of the appellants and also seized one scissor at the instance of appellant Shrinath, but prosecution did not file any FSL report showing that seized clothes of appellants and scissor had blood stain, so the recovery of clothes and scissor has no value. Learned trial Court without appreciating all these facts wrongly found the appellants guilty for the offence.
10. In addition learned counsel for the appellant Krishna Kumar Kesarwani also submitted that in the FIR (Ex.P/15) it is mentioned that firstly Shripal, Shrinath and Shriram assaulted the deceased by scissor, and -:6:- Krishna Kumar also came there at that time and assaulted Rajesh Kushwaha, which shows that the appellant Krishna Kumar Kesarwani has falsely been implicated in the incident. He had no common intention with other accused persons to assault the deceased. Learned trial Court without appreciating these facts, wrongly found the appellant Krishna Kumar guilty of having common intention for murdering of deceased alongwith other co-accused persons. In this regard learned counsel for the appellants also placed reliance on the judgment of Hon'ble Apex Court passed in the case of Harbans Nonia & another Vs. State of Bihar, AIR 1992 SC 125, Din Dayal Vs. Raj Kumar @ Raju & others, AIR 1999 SC 537 and State of Orissa Vs. Babaji Charan Mohanty & another, (2003) 10 SCC 57.
11. On the other hand learned counsel appearing for the respondent/State submitted that there is ample evidence on record to prove the guilt of the appellants. Learned trial Court did not commit any mistake in finding the appellants guilty for the aforesaid offences.
12. Point of determination in this appeal is whether the conviction and sentence awarded by the trial Court to the appellants for the aforesaid offences is liable to be set aside for the reasons stated in the memo of appeal and argued before this Court.
13. On the point that deceased Rajesh Kushwaha died on 13/07/1999 due to injuries sustained by him by sharp edged weapon like scissor and his death was homicidal Jitendra Singh Bisen (PW/15) deposed that on the date of incident on the information of Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8) he went to Victoria Hospital where he prepared inquest report (Ex.P/2) of dead body of deceased Rajesh Kushwah, which was also proved by Sunil Varma (PW/1) and Ashok (PW/10) witness of that report in which it is mentioned that Rajesh died on 13/07/99 due to injuries sustained by him. Jitendra Singh (PW/15) further deposed that he also sent the dead body of deceased Rajesh for postmortem along with the application (Ex.P/27) through Constable Meersingh (PW/2) and Dr. M.S. Kukrele (P.W.12) who conducted the postmortem of deceased Rajesh Kushwaha deposed that on 14/07/1999 he was posted as Chief Medical Officer at Medical Hospital and he conducted autopsy of dead body of deceased Rajesh Kushwaha. He started conducting -:7:- postmortem at 1:00 PM and found following external injuries on the dead body of deceased Rajesh Kushwaha:-
1. Stab injury size 2 ½ x 1 cm x 8 cm left nipple region on chest.
2. Stab injury size 2 ½ x 1 cm x 8 cm right epigastric region below xiphisternum.
3. Stab injury size2 ½ x 1 cm x 8 cm situated 3 cm on the right side of the injury no.2.
4. Stab injury size- 2 ½ x 1 cm x 6 cm at midclavicular line on the 9th rib region.
5. Stab wound size 1 cm x ½ x 6 cm, 2 cm below injury No.4.
6. Stab wound size 2 cm x 1 cm x 6 cm situated 5 cm lateral to right side of umbilicus, .
7. Stab wound size 2 cm x 1 cm x 7 cm situated 2 ½ cm inferior to injury No.6.
8. Incised wound size1 ½ cm x 0.7 x muscle deep mid of left shoulder.
9. Incised wound size 2 ½ cm x 1.2 cm x muscle deep inferior to injury no.8.
10. Incised wound size 2 ½ cm x 1 cm x muscle deep 4 cm inferior to left elbow.
11. Incised wound size 1 cm x ½ cm x muscle deep upper part of right arm anteriorly.
12. Incised wound size 2 ½ cm x 2 cm x muscle deep x ½ cm below injury no.11.
14. He further deposed that in his opinion all the injuries were ante mortem in nature and could be caused by sharp cutting penetrating object and cause of death was hemorrhagic shock resulting from multiple injuries and mode of death is homicidal. Duration of death within 24 hour from the postmortem. In this regard his statement also corroborated from PM report (Ex.P./25).
15. On that point appellants did not challenge the statements of above mentioned prosecution witnesses. There is no infirmity in their -:8:- statements in this regard. So there is no reason to disbelieve their statements in this regard. From their statements it is clearly proved that on 13/07/99 Rajesh Kushwah sustained injuries caused by sharp cutting penetrating object and died due to those injuries and his death was homicidal.
16. On the point whether appellants had common intention of murdering Rajesh Kushwah and in furtherance of their common intention co-accused Shrinath assaulted Rajesh Kushwaha by scissor with intent to kill him and thus they murdered him, Vinay Chouhan (PW/17) deposed that on 13/07/1999 at around 9:30 PM when he and his colleague Chintu @ Sunil Bhalla (PW/16) were standing near his house at Andherdev, at that time deceased Rajesh Kushwaha came there and asked them to drop him to his house. On that they went along with deceased Rajesh Kushwaha to drop him to his house. On the way at Kamania Gate, Niwarganj deceased Rajesh Kushwaha told them to wait for two minutes while he comes after smoking a cigarette and then he went to Shriram Pan Bhandar. He and Chintu @ Sunil Bhalla (PW/16) stood 7 feet away from that shop. At the same time, they heard the conversation between the deceased Rajesh and appellant Shriram in connection with the money transaction. At that time appellant Shriram was sitting on the shop and his brother co-accused Shrinath was standing outside the shop. While the dispute was going on between appellant Shriram and deceased Rajesh, appellant Shripal and Krishna Kumar also came there. Shriram, Shripal and Krishna Kumar caught hold of deceased Rajesh Kushwaha and co-accused Shrinath brought scissor from the shop and inflicted on his chest. At that time appellants Shriram, Shripal and Krishna Kumar were shouting "kill him! He should not escape alive". When he and Chintu @ Sunil Bhalla (PW/16) came to rescue him, appellant Shrinath threatened to kill them also, so he and Chintu @ Sunil Bhalla (PW/16) ran away from the spot. His statement is also corroborated from the statement of Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8), who deposed that at the time of incident he was having food at his house, Sandesh (PW/9) came to his house and told that something had happened with Rajesh, then he went along with Anupam (PW/7) to the spot, where he saw Rajesh Kushwaha lying there in injured state. He asked Rajesh Kushwaha what had happened on which Rajesh -:9:- Kushwaha told them that he had gone to smoke cigarette at appellant Shriram's betel shop, where he clashed with Shriram, Shripal and Shrinath. They assaulted him by scissor and appellant Krishna Kumar also came there and he too assaulted him. Then he took Rajesh on rickshaw to Victoria Hospital, where Doctor declared him dead. Thereafter, he went to Police Station, Lordganj and lodged FIR (Ex.P/14) and also logged inquest report (Ex.P/15). His statement is also supported from FIR (Ex.P/14) and inquest report (Ex.P/15), which was also proved by Jitendra Singh Bisen (PW/15). His statement is also corroborated by the statement of other witness Sandesh (PW/9), who also deposed the same.
17. Prosecution story is also supported from circumstantial evidence collected by the Jitendra Singh Bisen (PW/15) during investigation. He deposed that on 13/07/99 he arrested appellants and prepared arrest memo (Ex.P/24). He also seized blood stained clothes of appellants from their possession and prepared seizure memo (Ex.P/22 & 23) and also seized one scissor from the possession of appellant Shrinath on his information and prepared information memo (Ex.P/19) and seizure memo (Ex.P/20). That also strengthens the prosecution story.
18. Although Anupam (PW/7) deposed that Chintu @ Sunil Bhalla (PW/16) and Vinay Chauhan (PW/17) also came on spot and inquired what had happened to Rajesh but both Chintu @ Sunil Bhalla (PW/16) and Vinay Chauhan (PW/17) denied from the fact that they had reached on spot after the incident. Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8) and Sandesh (PW/9) also deposed that they did not see Vinay Chauhan (PW/17) on the spot. So in this regard statement of Anupam (PW/7) who also turned hostile, is not believable. Likewise according to Vinay Chouhan (PW/17) at the time of incident Chintu @ Sunil Bhalla (PW/16) was also with him while Chintu @ Sunil Bhalla (PW/16) in his statement clearly denied from the fact that at the time of incident he was on the spot along with the deceased and Vinay Chouhan (PW/17) and saw the incident. But only on the ground that Chintu @ Sunil Bhalla (PW/16) turned hostile and did not support the prosecution story, the statement of Vinay Chouhan (PW/17) can not be discarded. Although Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8) deposed in his cross-examination that he saw Vinay -:10:- Chouhan (PW/17) and Sunil Verma (PW/1) in the Victoria Hospital, but this witness could have been confused regarding the presence of Chintu @ Sunil Bhalla (PW/16) and Vinay Chauhan (PW/17) in the Hospital, after the incident as they in their statements had clearly denied from the fact that they went to hospital after the incident and Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8) also admitted that he did not talk to them in the hospital.
19. Likewise Vinay Chauhan (PW/17) admitted in his statement that some criminal cases were also registered against him but criminal background would not be of much relevance, criminal past by itself would not be sufficient to throw out evidence of witness as held by the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Murli and another vs. State of Rajasthan, (2009) 9 SCC 417.
20. Although the reaction of Vinay Chouhan (PW/17) after the incident seems quite unnatural as when he saw the deceased Rajesh Kushwaha lying in an injured state he did not even try to rescue him and ran away from the spot to his house and did not inform the police and other persons regarding incident on the date of incident. But, he stated that he was scared after seeing the incident, so he did not tell about the incident to any body. It may be possible that keeping in view of his criminal antecedents, this witness might have got afraid thinking that the police might implicate him in this case if he informed them. So he did not inform any one about the incident.
21. Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Bachhitar Singh & Anr vs. State Of Punjab, (2002) 8 SCC 125 observed that "Human behaviour vary from man to man. Different people behave and react differently in different situations. Human behaviour depends upon the facts and circumstances of each given case. How a man would behave in a particular situation, can never be predicted".
22. Hon'ble the Apex Court in the case of Rana Pratap and Ors vs. State of Haryana, AIR 1983 SC 680 held that "every person who witnesses a murder reacts in his own way. Some are stunned, become speechless and stand rooted to the spot. Some become hysteric and start wailing. Some start shouting for help. Others run away to keep themselves as far removed from -:11:- the spot as possible. Yet others rush to the rescue of the victim, even going to the extent of counter-attacking the assailants. Every one reacts in his own special way. There is no set rule of natural reaction. To discard the evidence of witnessed on the ground that he did not react in any particular manner is to appreciate evidence in a wholly unrealistic and unimaginative way."
23. So the statement of Vinay Chouhan (PW/17) can not be discarded only on the ground that he did not rescue deceased Rajesh Kushwaha even after seeing him lying in an injured state and ran away from the spot to his house and did not inform the Police and other persons regarding incident. The judgments of Hon'ble Apex Court relied by the learned counsel of the appellants viz Din Dayal vs. Raj Kumar @ Raju & others, AIR 1999 SC 537 and State of Orissa vs. Babaji Charan Mohanty & another, (2003) 10 SCC 57 (supra) do not help the appellants much because in these cases Hon'ble Apex Court in the light of the facts and circumstances of these cases after appreciating the evidence of prosecution witnesses did not find the statement of prosecution witness to be reliable and did not lay down any principle regarding appreciation of evidence. On the other hand Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Punjab National Bank Vs R.L. Vaid and others, (2004) 7 SCC 698 held that "it is to be remembered that judicial utterances are made in the setting of the facts of a particular case. Circumstantial flexibility, one additional or different fact may make a difference between conclusions in two cases". Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Pandurang, Tukia & Bhillia vs. The State Of Hyderabad, AIR 1955 SC 216 observed that the similarity of the facts in one case cannot be used to determine a conclusion of fact in another case. Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Rudrappa Ramappa Jainpur and others vs. State of Karnataka, (2004) 7 SCC 422 also held that each case must rest on its own facts and the mere similarity of the facts in one case cannot be used to determine a conclusion of fact in another.
24. Which shows that veracity of statement of a witnesses can be tested on the fact and circumstances of that particular case only and not by some other case. Whether the statement of a witness is true or false or half truth, the conclusions in this regard should be drawn after appreciation of the -:12:- statement of the witnesses in the light of facts and circumstances of that case only not by other case.
25. In this case there is no contradiction in the cross-examination of Vinay Chouhan (PW/17) regarding incident. His statement is also supported from medical evidence and other evidence. There is no evidence on record showing that this witness had any enmity with the appellants so there seems no reason for him to falsely implicate them in the case. Police recorded his case diary statement on the very next day of incident, so the learned trial Court did not commit any mistake in believing his statement.
26. Likewise, as far as the veracity of statements of Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8) is concerned, although he deposed in his cross-examination that he first went to Police Station, Lordganj and informed about the incident to Police and thereafter went to Victoria Hospital along with Rajesh Kushwaha and totally denied from the fact of first going to Victoria Hospital and then to Police Station, Lordganj after Rajesh Kushwaha was declared dead by the Doctors. He also denied from the fact that he had mentioned about taking Rajesh Kushwaha first to Victoria Hospital and then going to Police Station, Lordganj in his report (Ex.P/14) which shows that Police only after Rajesh Kushwaha was declared dead by the doctor at Victoria Hospital lodged the report and not when Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8) reached Police Station, Lordganj for the first time. But his statement cannot be doubted only on the ground that Police did not lodge his report when he reached the Police Station, Lordganj for the first time. It was a mistake on the part of the Investigation Officer.
27. Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Karnel Singh vs. The State of M.P., 1995 AIR 2472 held that "in the cases of defective investigation the Court has to be circumspect in evaluating the evidence, but it would not be right in acquitting an accused person solely on account of the defect; to do so would tantamount to playing into the hands of the investigating officer if the investigation is designedly defective."
28. In the case of State of west Bengal vs. Mir Mohammad Omar and others (2008 (8) SCC 382 the Supreme Court observed as under :-
"In our perception it is almost impossible to come across a single case wherein the investigation was conducted completely -:13:- flawless or absolutely foolproof. The function of the criminal courts should not be wasted in picking out the lapses in investigation and by expressing unsavoury criticism against investigating officers. If offenders are acquitted only on account of flaws or defects in investigation, the cause of criminal justice becomes the victim. Effort should be made by courts to see that criminal justice is salvaged despite such defects in investigation. Courts should bear in mind the time constraints of the police officers in the present system, the ill- equipped machinery they have to cope with, and the traditional apathy of respectable persons to come forward for giving evidence in criminal cases which are realities the police force have to confront with while conducting investigation in almost every case".
29. In the instant case prosecution case is fully established by the direct testimony of the eyewitness which is also corroborated by the medical evidence, so any failure or omission of the investigating officer cannot render the prosecution case doubtful or unworthy of belief. Regarding the fact that deceased Rajesh Kushwaha narrated the incident to Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8) and Sandesh (PW/9) on the spot that appellants had assaulted him, there is no contradiction in their cross-examination. There is no evidence on record showing that these witnesses had any enmity with the appellants, so there seems no reason for them to falsely implicate appellants in the case.
30. Although Anupam (PW/7), who also reached the spot along with Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8) and Sandesh (PW/9), clearly denied from the fact that Rajesh Kushwaha narrated the incident to him, Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8) and Sandesh (PW/9) and deposed that deceased Rajesh was not able to speak, but only on the basis of the statement of Anupam (PW/7) who also turned hostile the statements of Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8) and Sandesh (PW/9) that deceased Rajesh Kushwaha narrated the incident to them on the spot when they reached the spot, cannot be doubted.
31. There is no significant difference between the statement of Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8), Sandesh (PW/9) and Vinay Chouhan (PW/17) regarding the incident. Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8) deposed that deceased Rajesh Kushwaha told him that he had gone to smoke cigarette at appellant Shriram's betel shop where he clashed with Shriram, Shripal and Shrinath. They assaulted him by scissor and appellant Krishna Kumar also came there and he too assaulted him. Sandesh (PW/9) stated that deceased Rajesh -:14:- Kushwaha told him that he had gone to appellant Shriram's betel shop for having betel, where he clashed with Shriram, Shripal and Shrinath and after some time Krishna Kumar Kesarwani also came there and they all assaulted him by scissor. Vinay Chouhan (PW/17) stated that when altercation between Shrinath & Shriram and deceased Rajesh Kushwaha was going on appellants Shripal and Krishna Kumar Kesharwani also came on the spot. Thereafter, co-accused Shripal and appellants Shriram and Krishna Kumar Kesharwani caught hold of the deceased Rajesh Kushwaha and co-accused Shrinath took out a scissor from his shop and assaulted Rajesh Kushwaha by scissor. So there is not much difference between the statements of Ajay Kachwaha (PW/8), Sandesh (PW/9) and Vinay Chouhan (PW/17) regarding incident and involvement of all appellants in the incident.
32. Constable Bhopal Singh (PW/5) clearly deposed that on 14/07/1999 he took copy of FIR from Police Station, Lordganj to the Court of concerned Judicial Magistrate, where he handed over that report to the Court munshi Mahesh Tiwari and got receipt (Ex.P/4) from him. Appellants did not challenge his statement in his cross-examination, so there is no reason to disbelieve his statement in this regard.
33. Although prosecution did not produced FSL report of seized articles for proving the fact of presence of blood stains either on the scissor or on clothes of appellants. In these circumstances there is no value of seizure of clothes and scissor, because scissor is commonly found in a betel shop. But, this evidence is a corroborative piece of evidence. Where incident is proved from direct evidence, there is no adverse inference of not proving the circumstantial evidence which is only corroborative piece of evidence.
34. Vinay Chouhan (PW/17) clearly stated that at that time appellant Shriram was sitting on the shop and his brother co-accused Shrinath was standing outside the shop. While Rajesh Kushwah went to Shriram's shop, some dispute occurred between Shriram and Rajesh, meanwhile appellant Shripal and Krishna Kumar also came there. Shrinath, Shripal and Krishna Kumar caught hold the deceased Rajesh Kushwaha and Shrinath brought scissor from the shop and inflicted on his chest. At that time Shriram Shripal and Krishna Kumar were shouting "kill him! He -:15:- should not escape alive". From the above statement of Vinay Chouhan (PW/17) it appears that at the time of incident, Shriram, Shripal and Krishna Kumar caught hold of deceased Rajesh Kushwaha and co-accused Shrinath assaulted him by scissor. At that time appellants Shriram Shripal and Krishna Kumar were shouting "kill him! He should not escape alive". Which shows their common intention with co-accused Shrinath.
35. From the statement of Dr. MS. Kukrele (PW/12) it appears that the deceased Rajesh Kushwaha sustained as many as 12 injuries by sharp and penetrating object. He also deposed that in internal examination of the dead body of deceased Rajesh Kushwaha he found injuries on his right lung, which is vital part of the body. Which also shows that the co-accused Shrinath knowingly that deceased Rajesh Kushwaha could die from the injury inflicted by him assaulted Rajesh Kushwaha, which shows his intention to kill him.
36. Learned counsel for the appellant Krishna Kumar Kesarwani also submitted that in the FIR (Ex.P/15) it is mentioned that firstly Shripal, Shrinath and Shriram assaulted the deceased by scissor and later Krishna Kumar Kesarwani also came there and assaulted the deceased Rajesh Kushwaha, which shows that the appellant Krishna Kumar Kesarwani has falsely been implicated in the offence. He had no common intention with other accused persons to assault the deceased. In this regard he also placed reliance on a judgment of Hon'ble Apex Court passed in the case of Harbans Nonia & another vs. State of Bihar, AIR 1992 SC 125. But the facts of that case differ from this case. In that case co-accused inflicted only one stab injury, while in the present case appellants inflicted as many as 12 injuries on the deceased. Hence, this judgment does not help the appellants much.
37. Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Nand Kishore vs. State of Madhya Pradesh, AIR 2011 SC 2775 held that Section 34 also deals with constructive criminal liability. It provides that where a criminal act is done by several persons in furtherance of the common intention of all, each of such person is liable for that act in the same manner as if it was done by him alone. If the common intention leads to the commission of the criminal -:16:- offence charged, each one of the persons sharing the common intention is constructively liable for the criminal act done by one of them. Apex Court also held that the common intention or state of mind and the physical act, both may be arrived at the spot and essentially may not be the result of any pre-determined plan to commit such an offence. This will always depend on the facts and circumstances of the case.
38. In the present case also altercation first occurred between Shriram and deceased Rajesh Kushwaha for payment of money and co- accused Shrinath was standing there. Shriram and Shripal caught hold of the deceased Rajesh and thereafter co-accused Shrinath inflicted blow on him by scissor and appellant Krishna Kumar Kesarwani also came there at that time and took part in the incident. It is also evident from the statement of Vinay Chouhan (PW/17), which is also corroborated by the medical evidence that the co-accused Shrinath went to the extent of stabbing him over and over again at most vital parts of the body puncturing his right lung also and inflicted as many as 12 injuries of sharp penetrating object, which shows the participation of all the appellants and a clear frame of mind to kill the deceased Rajesh Kushwaha. The role attributable to each one of them, thus clearly demonstrates common intention and common participation to achieve the object of killing the deceased Rajesh Kushwaha. In other words the criminal act was done with the common intention to kill the deceased Rajesh Kushwaha, so we are of the considered opinion that the learned trial Court has rightly noticed in its judgment that all the appellants alongwith co- accused Shrinath had common intention to murder deceased Rajesh Kushwaha and in furtherance of their common intention co-accused Shrinath assaulted Rajesh Kushwaha by scissor with intent to kill him. Thus, they murdered Rajesh Kushwaha.
39. Accordingly, we are of the considered opinion that the learned trial Court did not commit any mistake in finding the appellants guilty for the aforesaid offences. Hence, the finding of conviction and sentence of Trial Court is hereby upheld. Resultantly, both the appeals have no merits and the same are hereby dismissed.
-:17:-40. The period already undergone by the appellants shall be set off from the period of substantive jail sentence.
41. Appellants Shriram, Shripal and Krishna Kumar Kesarwani are on bail. They are directed to surrender before the trial Court on 15/12/2017 and the trial Court is directed to send them to jail for serving the remaining part of jail sentence. If the appellants Shriram, Shripal and Krishna Kumar Kesarwani do not surrender as directed above, the trial Court shall take action according to law for the arrest of appellants Shriram, Shripal and Krishna Kumar Kesarwani .
42. A copy of this judgment be placed in the record of Criminal Appeal No.1002/2001.
(R. S. Jha) (Rajeev Kumar Dubey) JUDGE JUDGE as/- Digitally signed by ANURAG SONI Date: 2017.12.01 17:03:02 +05'30'