JUDGEMENT
-
(1.)In the intervening nights of 26/27th May, 1999, dacoities were committed in a number of houses in Village Harka, within Meenapur Police Station under the district of Muzaffarpur, when miscreants holding lethal weapons having ransacked houses, assaulted house inmates and decamped with the booty which include ornaments, wearing apparel, watches, cash and other articles. Among appellants, who were put on trial, in terms of recitals made in the fardbeyan of Mohan Sah, while Kuldeep Manjhi, Mahabir Manjhi, Nand Kishore Manjhi, Nagendra Manjhi and Dhorai Manjhi were identified by Mohan Sah, Nagendra Manjhi, Sukhdeo Manjhi, Satrughan Manjhi, Upendra Manjhi Baleshwar Manjhi and Kuldeep Manjhi were identified by Shanti Devi. In terms of recitals made in fardbeyan, Panwati Devi claimed identification of Baleshwar Manjhi alias Langra while Jugeshwar Manjhi and Upendra Manjhi were shown to have been identified by Darbi Sah.
(2.)A police case had been registered on behest of Mohan Sah, pursuant to which investigation followed. Investigating Officer visited place of occurrence, recorded statement of witnesses, seized offending articles from houses of Babban Manjhi and Upendra Manjhi, got test identification parade of the articles held during investigation by . Block Development Officer, Meenapur, secured injury reports from the doctor and on conclusion of investigation, laid charge-sheet before the Court. In the trial that followed, while State examined 13 witnesses, defence too examined one witness and those examined by the State also include victims, in houses of some of whom dacoities were committed in the night of incident, and also the Police Officer, who carried out investigation.
(3.)Defence of the appellants both before the Court below and this Court had been that of innocence and they ascribed their false implication due to dispute with regard to payment of wages in respect of work done by them. Appellants, on appreciation of evidences by the trial Judge, suffered conviction under Section 397 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for wnich they were sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for a term of seven years each. Upendra Manjhi suffered conviction also under Section 412, IPC but in view of sentence of seven years awarded to him under Section 397, IPC, no separate sentence was awarded to him on this count.
Click here to view full judgement.
Copyright © Regent Computronics Pvt.Ltd.