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TMI Blog1974 (11) TMI 105X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... yare, Mehtab Singh, Ram Singh, Sukhram, Maniram and Nandram preferred Criminal Appeal No. 672 of 1967 and the State of Madhya Pradesh also preferred Criminal Appeal No. 777 of 1967 against the acquittal of Mehtab Singh, Ram Singh, Sukhram, Maniram and Nandram under Section 302 read with Section 149 and the acquittal of Than Singh and Bhawani under Section 147 as well as Section 302 read with Section 149. The appeal of Pyare was partly allowed and his conviction was altered to one under Section 304, Part II and sentence reduced to a term of seven years rigorous imprisonment, while the appeal of the other accused was rejected. The appeal of the State was accepted and Mehtab Singh, Ham Singh, Sukhram, Maniram, Nandram, Than Singh and Bhawani were convicted under Section 147 and Section 304, Part II read with Section 149 and while maintaining the sentence under Section 147, the High Court directed that Mehtab Singh should be sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for five years, while each of the other accused should suffer rigorous imprisonment for three years. Pyare accepted the judgment of the High Court, but Mehtab Singh, Ram Singh, Sukhram, Maniram, Nandram, Than Singh and Bhawani pre ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... about that incident to the Sub-Inspector of Police at Govindpura Police Station and he had stated that still both parties "are trying to make criminal assault on others and hence action should be taken by the Police".L.S. Rathor, therefore, came down to the village but by the time he arrived, the incident resulting in the attack on Haiku, Nanoo (P.W. 4) and Mithulal (P.W. I) had already taken place and Haiku, Nanoo and Mithulal were lying injured in the court-yard. L.S. Rathor thereupon wrote down a village complaint Ex. P-l as dictated by Prema (P.W. 2) and forwarded it to the Govindpura Police Station where it was recorded as first information report Ex. P-30. L.S. Rathor thereafter sent Haiku, Nanoo, Mithulal, Misri and other injured persons to Hamidia Hospital, Bhopal where Dr. R. C. Joshi examined them and issued reports Exs. P-3 to P-19 noting their injuries. The injuries received by Haiku were serious and he died the next morning. The post-mortem examination of the dead body of Haiku was performed by Dr. C.N. Dafal and he noted the external as well as internal injuries caused to Haiku. The Police thereafter recorded the statements of the witnesses and after the in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ion which would shake their testimony in regard to the role played by Mehtab Singh, Ram Singh, Sukhram, Maniram and Nandram. The evidence of Prema (P.W. 2), Nanoo (P.W. 4) and Misri (P.W. 11) also supports the broad features of the prosecution case against Mehtab Singh, Ram Singh, Sukhram, Maniram and Nandram, though there may be some minor infirmities in their evidence. The version of the prosecution in its essential features also receives support from the village complaint Ex. P-l which was recorded by Sub-Inspector L. S. Rathor within an hour and a half from the commission of the offence. It is possible that when the accused started abusing and pelting stones at the Chamars, their common object was only to cause hurt to the Chamars, but when they went after Haiku and dragged him out of the room and Mehtab Singh struck him with a knife and Pyare picked up a leg of a bed-stead and gave a blow with, it on the head of Haiku and others also gave stick blows to Haiku after he had fallen, there can be no doubt that they developed the common object to kill Haiku or at least to give him a beating with full knowledge that it would be likely to cause death of Haiku and it was in prosecutio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Court laying down this proposition. They were all reviewed in a recent decision in Ram Jag v. State of Uttar Pradesh where one of us (Chandrachud, J.) summarised the 'principles governing appeals against acquittal in the following words: The principles governing appeals against acquittal are thus firmly established and the issue cannot now be re-opened. The Cr.P.C. 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 Jurisprudence that unless the statute provides to the contrary, there is a presumption of innocence in favour of the accused and secondly, that the accused is entitled to the benefit of reasonable doubt. Due regard to the views of the trial Court as to the credibility of witnesses in matters resting on pure appreciation of evidence and the studied ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d acquitted him merely on the ground that the evidence of Dr. C.N. Dafal did not support the prosecution case that after Haiku had been assaulted by Mehtab Singh and Pyare, Than Singh struck a stone on the testicles of Haiku. It may be mentioned that at least three witnesses, namely, Prema (P.W. 2), Prembai (P.W. 3) and Nanoo (P.W. 4) deposed in their evidence that Than Singh had dealt a blow with a stone on the testicles of Haiku, but this evidence was rejected by the Sessions Court on the sole ground that Dr. C.N. Dafal, who performed the post-mortem examination on the dead body of Haiku, did not depose to any injury on the testicles. We may assume with the Sessions Court that in view of the fact that no injury on the testicles was deposed to by Dr. C.N. Dafal, this part of the evidence of Prema (P.W. 2), Prembai (P.W. 3) and Nanoo (P.W. 4) may not be accepted, but that does not mean that the whole of the evidence, in so far as it implicates Than Singh, should be rejected as unworthy of credence. The High Court adopted a critical approach and held, relying on the evidence of the eye-witnesses, that there was sufficient evidence to show that Than Singh "had joined the others ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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