JUDGEMENT
RAGHVENDRA SINGH CHAUHAN, C.J. -
(1.)Aggrieved by the judgment dtd. 28/2/2015/10/3/2015, passed by the IIIrd
Additional Sessions Judge/Special Judge (C.B.I.), Dehradun, the appellant,
Praneet Bhati, has filed the present appeal before this Court.
(2.)By the said judgment, the appellant has been convicted for the offences under
Sec. 302 read with Sec. 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (for short "the
IPC"). For offence under Sec. 302/120B IPC, he has been sentenced to life
imprisonment. He has further been directed to pay a fine of Rs.1,00,000.00, and
to further undergo a simple imprisonment of one year in default thereof. He was
further convicted for offences under Sec. 307 read with Sec. 120-B IPC,
and sentenced to undergo ten years' rigorous imprisonment. He was directed to
pay a fine of Rs.10,000.00, and to further undergo six months of simple
imprisonment in default thereof. Furthermore, he has been convicted for the offences
under Sec. 326 read with Sec. 120-B IPC and sentenced to undergo seven
years rigorous imprisonment. He was directed to pay a fine of Rs.5,000.00, and
to undergo one month of additional simple imprisonment in default thereof. All
the sentences were directed to run concurrently.
(3.)Briefly, the facts of the case are that on 13/9/1992, Anil Kumar Bhati (P.W.
39), the nephew of one of the deceased person, namely Mahendra Singh Bhati, lodged a written report (Ex. Ka. 30) with the Police Station Dadri, District
Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, wherein he claimed that on 13/9/1992, around 06:30
PM, Mahendra Singh Bhati, the M.L.A. Dadri Constituency, Ghaziabad, received a
telephonic call from Mool Chand Tiwari, Inspector C.B.C.I.D. Mool Chand Tiwari
informed Mahendra Singh Bhati that his presence is required in order to record
his statement for the murder of Santram. Therefore, he is directed to come to
village Bhangel. Upon this information, Mahendra Singh Bhati left in his Maruti
car, along with his driver, Devendra, and his gunman, Vedram Kaushik (P.W. 31),
for village Bhangel. On the way, his friend, Udai Ram Arya also got into the
car, and sat in the back seat. However, as the Dadri railway crossing gate, on
the way to village Bhangel, was closed, Mahendra Singh Bhati's car stopped at
the railway crossing gate. According to the complainant, he and Dharamveer
Singh also reached the railway crossing gate on their motorcycle. As soon as
the railway crossing gate opened, around 07:00 P.M., and as soon as the driver,
Devendra, started the car, about seven to eight unknown persons fired at the
car. Consequently, both Mahendra Singh Bhati, and Udai Prakash Arya died on the
spot. The gunman, Vedram Kaushik (P.W. 31), was also injured. The driver, Devendra
ran away as soon as the firing was started. Near the car of Mahendra Singh
Bhati, in another car, O.P. Kayal (P.W. 35) was also injured. Moreover,
Dharamveer Singh, who was on his bicycle, and was standing near the railway
crossing gate, he, too, was injured. O.P. Kayal (P.W. 35) was rushed to Yashoda
Hospital; the gunman, Vedram Kaushik (P.W. 31), was taken to the Narendra Mohan
Hospital; the bicyclist, Dharamveer Singh was carried to the District Hospital
for medical treatment. After killing Mahendra Singh Bhati, the killers sat in a
Maruti car, and escaped. When they were fleeing, they shouted "try again
to have Prakash Pehelwan contest the elections". According to the
complainant, Amar Singh, Omveer Singh, Manveer Singh, Prakash, Atar Sigh,
Dharamveer Singh and others, standing at the scene of the crime, have seen the
incident. Although, these eye-witnesses have recognized the assailants, due to
fear that the assailants were armed, they did not try to catch hold of them.