Chandrapal vs State of U.P.

K.S. Rakhra and R.K. Rastogi, JJ.—This is an appeal u/s 374(2) Cr.P.C. against the judgment and order dated 26.8.2004 passed by the Sessions Judge, Etah in S.T. No. 582 of 2001, convicting the appellant Chandrapal and sentencing him to life imprisonment for the offence u/s 302 IPC.

The case relates to an incident dated 14.3.2001 which took place in village Dariyaganj within the circle of police station Patiali of district Etah at 6.45 p.m. It is alleged that on the said date, time and place, the appellant Chandrapal under the influence of alcohal started abusing the deceased Dhanpal and when the later objected to this, the appellant who was carrying with him an iron handle of water hand pipe tried to attack on him. The victim ran to save himself but was chased by the appellant and near the house of Babu Ram the appellant fell him on the ground and gave him repeated blows of iron handle causing his instantaneous death. This incident was witnessed by first informant Lala Ram P.W. 1, Madan Pal P.W. 2, Ram Sewak P.W. 3 and others. It is also claimed that at the place of occurrence there was sufficient light of patromax which was lighting at the door of Babu Ram. After committing this assault, the appellant ran away from the place of occurrence.

A report of this incident was lodged on 14.3.2001 at 20.15 hours by Lala Ram at the police-station Patiali which was at a distance of 10 kilometers from the place of occurrence.

On the report of Lala Ram, case crime No. 10035 of 2001 was registered at the police station by head constable Siya Ram P.W. 6 and the investigation of the crime was taken over by Sri Shiv Ratan Singh, SHO, P.W. 8 in whose presence the FIR was lodged. The Investigating Officer recorded the statement of first informant at the police station on the same day and after due formalities, he proceeded to the place of occurrence. He also directed his subordinate Sri Brijesh Kumar Dangar to hold inquest. about the death of the deceased.

It is claimed that on 15.3.2001 at about 4.30 p.m. the appellant was arrested by the police at the railway station where he was waiting for some train. The bloodstained weapon of assault was recovered from him which he was carrying with him with a view to defend himself in case of necessity.

Body of the deceased was sent for autopsy after due formalities and post mortem examination of the body was conducted by Dr. A.K. Saxena P.W. 4 on 15.3.2001 at 12.15 p.m. The doctor found the following ante mortem injuries on the body of the deceased:

Lacerated wound 6 cm x 2 cm x upto bone deep transversely placed just below right eyebrow from nose on left side across upper lid upto right side face, underlying bones fractured.

Lacerated wound 1 cm x 0.5 cm x cavity deep on right side upper lip.

Multiple lacerated wounds on the right side of face and left side of face B/C over both lower jaws, underlying bones fractured.

Lacerated wound 2 cm x 1 cm on chin, bone fractured.

In the internal examination, the bones of scalp and skull both mandible, both maxillary bones and nasal bones were found fractured. In the opinion of the doctor, the death had occurred about 18 hours prior to the time of examination and it had resulted due to shock and haemorrhage arising out of the ante mortem injuries.

The investigating officer had also taken in his possession the patromax which was found lighting on the spot. The bloodstained and plain earth samples were collected from the place of occurrence and shoe, socks of the deceased were also collected by him. The iron handle of water hand pipe along with underwear and socks recovered from the appellant was sent for chemical examination. The report of the chemical examiner was to the effect that there was blood stained found on the iron handle i.e. weapon of assault. The police after investigation submitted charge sheet.

The accused appellant denied the allegations and his stand before the trial court was that one Babu Ram of his village had forcibly administered alcohol to him and he was not in sense and was lying at his home from where he was picked up by the police. He does not know as to how the victim Dhanpal died.

In order to prove the charge against the appellant, eight witnesses have been examined by the prosecution in all. Out of them P.W. 1 Lala Ram is the one who lodged a report of the incident whereas Madan Pal P.W. 2 and Ram Sewak P.W. 3 examined as eye witnesses were declared hostile as they did not depose that they had seen the appellant assaulting the victim. P.W. 2 Madan Pal, however, stated that at about 7 p.m. when he was at his house, he heard noise and later on he found that Dhanpal had been done to death. He stated that he had not seen the occurrence and is not aware as to who had killed him. Similarly P.W. 3 Ram Sewak deposed about the fact that Dhanpal was done to death near the ''Baithka'' of Babu Ram at about 7 p.m. but denied the fact that he had seen the occurrence. He pleaded ignorance about the identity of the culprit.

Rest of the witnesses examined by the prosecution are Dr. A.K. Saxena P.W. 4 who proved the post mortem report and ante mortem injuries suffered by the victim. Anil Kumar P.W. 5 is a formal witness who had carried the dead body to the mortuary for the purpose of autopsy. Siya Ram P.W. 6 is the Head constable who had registered the crime at the written report given by Lala Ram. Brijesh Kumar Dangar P.W. 7 deposed that he under the instruction of the Investigating Officer prepared the inquest report in presence of the witnesses and sent the dead body for autopsy after due formalities. P.W. 8 Shiv Ratan Singh is the Investigating Officer who had found sufficient material against the appellant and submitted charge sheet. He denied the suggestion that the appellant was picked up from his house and the iron handle of water hand pipe was planted on him.

In defence, the appellant examined Rahis Pal Singh D.W.1 who in fact is the scribe of written report Ex.ka-1 lodged by Lala Ram. In an attempt to support the defence, he has stated that about 3 years ago at about 8 p.m. he had come to know that Dhanpal was lying dead. He was first person to reach near him and lateron Lala Ram etc. also reached there. He had not seen any assailant on the spot. The police on getting information also arrived there and called him to the police out post where on the dictation of Babu Ram and SHO, this witness had prepared the written report. The S.I. thereafter obtained thumb impression of Lala Ram which was Ex-ka-1.

On the basis of above evidence, the trial court had found the appellant guilty of committing murder of Dhanpal and sentenced him accordingly.

We have heard Sri Ramesh Sinha, Amicus Curiae for the appellant who is in jail and Sri Kamlesh Kumar Tiwari, AGA appearing on behalf of the State and have gone through the entire evidence on record.

The argument of Sri Sinha is that the appellant has been falsely implicated and that he was picked up from his house on the alleged date of incident itself and weapon of assault was planted on him. For this, he drew the attention of the court on the statement of Lala Ram P.W. 1 who, in paragraph 15 of his statement, has stated that the police arrived at about 8.30 p.m. at the place of occurrence and Chandrapal was in custody of the police. He added that the accused did not accompany him to the police station.

After considering the arguments in the light of evidence on record we are of the view that the above statement in the deposition of Lala Ram P.W. 1 appears to have been given under some confusion because if the police had arrested the appellant in the same night after the incident at about 8 p.m. there was no difficulty in showing his arrest then and there and also showing the recovery of the articles. No useful purpose could have been achieved by showing the arrest of the appellant from the railway station next day morning at 4.30 a.m.

It is true that two witnesses namely Madan Pal P.W. 2 and Ram Sewak P.W. 3 have turned hostile because they did not connect the appellant with the crime but even from their statements, date, time and place of occurrence is being confirmed. The question for consideration would be why Lala Ram who is uncle of Dhanpal would falsely implicate Chandra Pal appellant in this case. It is significant to note that the incident took place at 6.45 p.m. The police station was at a distance of 10 kilometers away and the FIR was registered at the police station at 20.15 hours. Therefore, there was no delay in lodging of the FIR and no time was gained for consultation. The fact that the FIR was registered at the time given by the prosecution is also corroborated by the circumstances. The inquest report was prepared on the same day between 10 and 11.30 p.m. In the inquest report, the particulars of crime number and name of the informant are all mentioned. This along with a copy of FIR was sent to the doctor at the time of autopsy. Anil Kumar P.W. 5 has stated that the dead body was sealed and handed over to them at about 10 p.m. and he along with constable Vinod Kumar left for head quarter at 7 a.m. and reached there at about 9.30 a.m. covering a distance of about 40 to 45 kilometers.

Although the defence has brought on record that the deceased was an accused in the murder of Ram Sewak who was cousin brother of Babu Ram, there is nothing on record to show how Chandra Pal appellant was affected by this. The defence suggestion that at the instigation of Babu Ram, the appellant under the influence of alcohol killed Dhan Pal, in the circumstances of the case, is not believable.

The testimony of Lala Ram P.W. 1 is wholly corroborated by medical evidence. The presence of Lala Ram is also quite probable as he is of the same village. In the circumstances of the case, we are of the view that the trial court rightly believed the prosecution evidence to record conviction.

Sri Sinha has further argued that at the time of incident Chandra Pal was under the influence of Alcohol and as per his statement u/s 313 Cr.P.C. the same was administered by Babu Lal against his will. It was argued that on account of this, the case would fall within general exception.

After considering the submission, we are of the view that no benefit can be given to the appellant on this score. Section 105 of Indian Evidence Act 1872 reads as follows:

Burden of proving that case of accused comes within exception: When a person is accused of any offence, the burden of proving the existence of circumstances bringing the case within any of the General Exceptions in the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), or within any special exception or proviso contained in any other part of the same Code, or in any law defining the offence, is upon him, and the court shall presume the absence of such circumstances.

Section 85 of Indian Penal Code in which exception is being claimed by Sri Sinha reads as follows:

Act of a person incapable of judgment by reason of intoxication caused against his will: Nothing is an offence which is done by a person who, at the time of doing it, is, by reason of intoxication, incapable of knowing the nature of the act, or that he is doing what is either wrong, or contrary to law; provided that the thing which intoxicated him was administered to him without his knowledge or against his will.

A perusal of this section would show that there is a very important proviso added to this section. The benefit of the act having fallen under general exception would be available only when the thing which intoxicated him was administered to him without his knowledge or against his will.

In the instant case mere statement of the appellant u/s 313 Cr.P.C. that Babu Lal administered alcohol to him is not sufficient to discharge the burden of proving the circumstances of administering alcohol to him. The burden could have been discharged by adducing positive and convincing evidence. Although D.W.1 Rahis Pal Singh who was witness of prosecution has been examined as defence witness and he has stated that the appellant was administered alcohol by Babu Lal against his will and the appellant had become unconscious. This sole testimony of D.W.1 Rahis Pal Singh does not inspire confidence.

Further it is not reliable because as per this witness the appellant had become unconscious after consuming too much alcohol. If he had become unconscious there would be no question of his being in position to make assault or to give chase to victim and then give him repeated blows. The fact that repeated blows were given is established by medical evidence as well as ocular version of eye witness Lala Ram P.W. 1. This shows that the testimony of D.W. 1 Ranis Pal Singh in this regard is not reliable.

With the-discussion made above, we find no force in the appeal and the appeal is accordingly dismissed.

Let a copy of this judgment be certified to the trial court for necessary action.

Sri Ramesh Sinha, Amicus Curiae has assisted the court very efficiently. He shall be given Rs. 30007/- as fee for his appearance on behalf of the appellant.