TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1986 (4) TMI 360
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....us imprisonment. They have been ordered to be hanged by their necks till they are dead. It may also be mentioned that two persons were also put on trial, namely, Sadique Sain and Sairuddin Sain but they have been acquitted by the trial Court. For the sake of brevity Paramhans Yadav will be mentioned hereinafter as Yadav and Sadanand Tripathi as Tripathi. 3. The prosecution story, in brief, was that on 11th of April, 1983, the Courts were held in the morning and the Collector of Gopalganj, late Sri Maheshwar Prasad Narain Sharma had finished his work in his office. His brother, Paresh Prasad Singh, PW 62, was also sitting in his Chamber. The deceased Collector along with his brother left his office which is on the upper floor of Gopalganj Collectorate and he was coming down to go to his residence and his Car was parked in the portico. The late Collector was descending the stair case followed by his Orderly, Hari Shanker Ram, PW 19, and appellant Yadav was also descending after him. PW 62, brother of the deceased, who was also coming down, was just behind appellant Yadav. The deceased Collector came on the landing ground and after that he came down two or three steps and suddenly ....
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....ant Yadav and prepared a seizure list, Exhibit-7, and the underwear has been marked as material Exhibit-I. PW 66 after taking charge of the investigation from PW 14 immediately cordoned the area and persons who were on the first floor of the Collectorate building were not permitted to come down and all of them were interrogated or searched. He inspected the place of occurrence and it will be relevant to give here the details of the same. The map prepared by him is Exhibit-40. 5. The Collectorate building is a double storied building and faces south. There is a portico in the front and just in front of the portico is the stair case for going to first floor. There is a landing space in the middle of the stair case which is shown as 'C' in the map and here the Jhola of appellant Yadav was found. The place 'B' in the stair case hall is the place where the District Magistrate was hit by bomb and had fallen at the place 'A' and one of his Chappal was found which is 'D/1'. The other Chappal was on the fifth stairs from the bottom at the place 'D'. Blood stains were found on the stairs and has been shown E, E/l, E/2 and E/3. Some blood marks were ....
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....rwarded appellant Yadav to the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate for recording his confession and it was recorded by Magistrate, PW 48, on 13-4-1983 at 7.30 p. m. and it is Exhibit-44. The bomb, which was found in the Jhola, was sent to the expert on requisition, Exhibit-5/7, and report was received after deactivation which is Exhibit-42. Some bombs were also recovered in Bhagwat Parsa Ashram of appellant Tripathi for which a criminal case was registered and the bomb of that case was also deactivised on requisition, Exhibit-5/18, and the report is Exhibit-42/1. He deputed officers to different places in connection with the investigation of the case and supplementary diaries were also submitted by them. On 13-4-1983 he examined PWs 22, 36, 39 and 63 and he made over the charge of this case to PW 65, who is the main Investigating Officer in this case. He visited the place of occurrence at 6.30 p. m. and recorded the statement of PWs 14, 18 and 60 and also the statement of appellant Yadav. On 14-4-1983 he prayed for the recording of statement Under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of PWs 19, 22 and 40. He examined PWs 44, 50, 51 and 63 and examined records of Crime C....
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.... smell of gun powder was coming out. The whole of soft tissues and the underlying ribs were blown off. The lower part of right lung, the diaphragm, the liver, the right kidney and a portion under the wound were extensively lacerated. (II) Lacerated wound over an area 9" X 4" X bone deep over the outer and back part of right arms, the right elbow and upper part of right fore-arm with comminuted fracture at the lower third of right humerus at the level of injury No. 1. The soft tissue were blown off with charred and ragged margins of the wound. It was emitting the smell of gun powder. The cloths over the area of the wounds were blown off. In his opinion, death was due to haemorrhage and shock due to above mentioned injuries caused by bomb and were also sufficient, in the ordinary course of nature, to cause death. He has also stated that bomb was thrown from behind and death was caused within six hours. 7. Dr. Lakhichand Prasad, PW 54, examined appellant Yadav, on the same day at 9.00 p. m. and found the following injuries on his person: (1) Incised wound 1/4" x 1/6" x W on the 'left side eye-lid near eye-brow. (2) Abrasion 1/2" x 1/4" on the left ....
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....the postmortem examination on the deceased Collector and had examined the two injured persons. PWs 18, 25, 31, 38, 41, 43, 47, 49, 50, 51, 58, 59, 60, 61 and 64 are the Police Officers connected with the investigation and had worked under the direction of the Investigating Officers. PWs 41 and 43 are the two Police Officers who were incharge of the dog-squad and the rest of the witnesses are formal and of Gopalganj Jail and they have proved certain exhibits in this case. A number of documents have been filed on behalf of the prosecution and marked as Exhibits besides material Exhibits. 11. Twenty four witnesses have been examined on behalf of the defence. PW 19 is the solitary witness examined on behalf of appellant Yadav and the rest on behalf of appellant Tripathi. DWs 9 to 12 have deposed to the effect that appellant Yadav was not a disciple of appellant Tripathi. DWs 1, 2, 5, 6, 14, 15, 17, 22 and 23 are formal witnesses. DWs 4 and 7 to 12 are the disciples of appellant Tripathi and have been examined on the point that he was a highly respected person with religious background. DW 19 has been examined to deny the prosecution version that the visitors used to meet Tripathi, b....
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....d these documents in order to implicate him. Since, two of the appellants have been acquitted, it is not necessary to deal with their case. The two convicted appellants expressed their inability to engage counsel and, therefore, both of them were given counsel of their choice at the expense of the State. 12. The learned Judge, on a consideration of the evidence, both oral and documentary, recorded the following findings: (I) There was absolutely no delay in recording of the Fardbeyan, Exhibit-3, of the brother of the deceased who was actually present at the time of occurrence. (II) The aforesaid Fardbeyan was immediately despatched to the Police Station which will be clear from Exhibit-36. (III) Appellant Yadav was seen with a Jhola in his hand prior to the occurrence in the upper-storey of the office of the Collector and soon thereafter there was the occurrence. (IV) From the evidence of the eye-witnesses and the other circumstances, it was clear that appellant Yadav had taken out the bomb from his Jhola and threw it on the Collector which hit him. The aforesaid bomb caused the instantaneous death of the Collector. (V) Immediately th....
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....ing the sentence of death passed against them. 14. Mr. K.P. Verma, learned Counsel appearing on behalf of appellant Yadav and Sri S.B.N. Singh, appearing on behalf of appellant Tripathi, have raised a number of contentions in this case and have submitted that the prosecution has failed to prove the charge of conspiracy and also the fact that it was appellant Yadav who had thrown the bomb which killed the Collector. They have submitted that from the background and history of the case it would appear that the deceased Collector had created a terror in the locality and had antagonised a number of persons by filing cases against them and also by detaining a number of persons under the Crime Control Order. Thus, he himself had created number of enemies, some of them might have got him killed and these appellants have been falsely implicated in this case. 15. Mr. Prakash Narain Pandey, appearing on behalf of the State, on the other hand, has submitted that there is overwhelming evidence that appellant Tripathi was very much annoyed with the actions of the Collector who had got his Ashram demolished. This had caused him huge monetary loss besides the loss of reputation and he was ma....
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....on the roof. It had a garden, dairy and flour mill. The Ashram was popularly known as "Arnarpuri Ashram". It owned a station wagon also. He used to initiate his disciples with the belief that they would be able to see God on the terms and conditions that they would have to listen to religious discourses continuously for seven days and had to surrender completely giving "Tan, Man, Dhan'' meaning the-by body, mind and wealth. In this way, a number of persons were initiated in the Ashram including females and all of them used to live together. Soon thereafter he became very powerful in that locality and did not tolerate any of his dicciple going against him. For that it is said that he had employed wrestlers like Hare Ram Chandher, Raraji Verma, Sant Ram (absconders in this case) and Ors. who used to kill those persons whom this appellant wanted to get rid off. Chandramukhi, wife of Anand Mohan and mother of PW 30, also became his close associate and was known in the Ashram as Anandeshwari and Mirdula alias Guddi as Mukteshwari and PW 30 became a Treasurer of the Ashram. Appellant Tripathi is said to have foreworded or written some books. Some of them are known as "Mahatraa Ja....
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....nder Explosive Substance Act and Arms Act was registered. 19-7-1982 Petition before the Collector to consult his lawyers. 26-7-1982 Similar prayer by appellant Tripathi. 27-7-1982 It was the date fixed in the Crime Control Actcase. 16-4-1983 Petition before the C.J.M. alleging high handedness on the part of the Magistracy and the Police, Exhibits-7/1, 7/11. 14-8-1982 Similar petition by the Secretary of the Ashram, Exhibits-J and J/a. 15-3-1983 Criminal Writ Application was filed in the High Court against the order initiating the proceeding under the Crime Control Act which was dismissed....
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....re scattered. This is further supported by the evidence of the Doctor who had held the post-mortem of the deceased, given in detail earlier. Now, the first point for consideration will be whether appellant Yadav was responsible for the same and, in this connection, firstly 1 will refer to the oral evidence in this case starting from the evidence of the informant, PW 62, who is the brother of the deceased. 19. He has stated that on 7-4-1983 his brother had gone to the village home Gangia in the district of Muzaffarpur to attend some meeting and returned to Gopalganj on 10-4-1983 and he also accompanied his brother on the same vehicle. He had gone to meet his brother in his Chamber on 11-4-1983 because a petition had to be filed before the Circle Officer, Katra, and after signing the petition it was handed over to him by the deceased. That letter was seized in course of investigating and is Exhibit-37. At 1.00 p.m. his brother called his Peon, PW 19, and asked him to get his Car parked because he wanted to go home. Both of them came out from the Chamber. The Collector was going ahead followed by PW 19 and there was one more person behind the Peon and he was just behind him. When h....
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....to hold that the person who had come was actually PW 62. Moreover, DW 19 is an interested witness and cannot be relied upon in view of the ovewhelming evidence to the contrary. The presence of this witness has been a uply proved by the evidence of number of witnesses and they are PWs 7, Driver of the Collector, PW 9, Body guard of the Collector, PW 15, the Superintendent of Excise, who had met this witness immediately before the occurrence, PW 19, the Peon of the Collector and PW 46, the wife of the deceased. 20. learned Counsel for the appellants has submitted that there is no mention of Exhibit-37 in the first information report and, therefore, it is a got up document in order to prove the presence of the informant at the time of occurrence. There is no substance in this contention because it was not necessary to mention about this petition in the first information report nor anybody would have thought of telling about it. The importance of the petition was realised only after the occurrence and, therefore, even if it was seized two or three days after the occurrence that would not make the document in any way suspicious. This document bears the signature of the deceased with ....
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....g his glasses and the Prasad which was given by the Naga Faba. The Collector had descended a few steps from the landing ground. Then he saw someone throwing something on his Saheb (Collector; from behind and there was a loud explosion due to which the Collector fell down from the stair case. There was a smoke and he also received some injuries in that explosion. The person, who had thrown bomb, fled away after jumping from the railing. PW 62 and Ors. tried to chase him. The person was caught hold of outside the Collectorate compound and he was brought near the Portico and he identified that apprehended person (appellant Yadav). He also stated that the same person had come with a Jhola some time before the occurrence and enquired from him whether the Collector was in Chamber or not to which he replied in the affirmative. He also enquired at what time the Collector used to go home. He has identified that person in the dock who is appellant Yadav. His wearing apparels, full pant, Material Exhibit-II, and Bush Shirt, Material Exhibit-III, were seized in which there were blood stains. He has identified the Jhola, Material Exhibit-IV, which the appellant Yadav had been carrying. He has p....
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....her eye-witness is PW 40 and he was the office Superintendent of Gopalganj Collectorate during relevant time and his office is located in room No. 10 on the ground floor of the Collectorate building. He got information that the Collector was getting down for going home and he was standing near the portico. While he was coming down he saluted him and the Collector smiled and at that very time there was an explosion with a loud report and smoke was coming out. The Collector fell down from the stairs and was thrown on the verandah then he cried saying that the Collector has been hit by a Bomb. At that very time he saw a person scaling over the railing of the stair case and coming down on the ground and started fleeing away and the person had injuries on fore-head. PW 62 and Ors. were running to chase him. He also ran up to the eastern gate and left chasing and came near the place where the Collector was lying dead. One man was caught after chase and he was brought near the portico and he identified him as the person who had jumped from the railing and he was the man of Baba of Bhagwat Parsa meaning thereby appellant Tripathi. The arrested person was identified by him in the dock. He h....
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....he stair case hall. learned Counsel has submitted that he has not said anything about the presence of PW 62 but that rather adds to the value of his evidence because he did not know PW 62 from before. It is submitted that he did not chase the assailant of the Collector and, therefore, his presence at that place is doubtful and this argument is wholly without any substance. He very well knew that other persons were chasing and probably he might not have joined in the chase and he preferred to be near the deceased at that time and that there is nothing unusual about it. He did not state before the Police or the Magistrate that he had received information that the Collector was getting down but this is a mere omission and was not necessary to be stated before them. His evidence also fully supports the prosecution case and he being the most natural and probable witness and his presence there cannot be doubted. 24. PW 11 has stated that he had gone on 11-4-1983 to the Collector's office to meet the Collector but when he reached there the Collector was coming out of the Chamber and he was descending from the stair case. Then he saw a person taking out bomb from the Jhola and threw....
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....rother-in-law of accused Sadique Mian. He was examined by the Investigating Officer the same day and the purpose of coming to the District Board Office was that he had to draw his T. A. because he was a nominated member of the Board. His statement was also recorded Under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure which is Exhibit-45/1. His attention was drawn to the statement before the Police and he had not stated that the accused, after being apprehended, was brought in the Collectorate. But this is not a contradiction at all because there is overwhelming evidence that the accused, after being apprehended, was actually brought near the portico. Regarding his other statement before the Investigating Officer they are in the nature of omissions and do not show, in any manner, that he is not a truthful witness. In my opinion, he has fully supported the story of chase, arrest and extra-judicial confession made by the appellant Yadav. 27. The next witness is PW 55 who has a hotel close to the place where appellant Yadav was arrested and from the evidence it seems that the appellant Yadav was a regular visitor there. His evidence will be discussed in detail subsequently but he has....
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....f appellant Tripathi and he has gone to the extent of saying that appellant Tripathi has been falsely implicated and the Ashram has been illegally demolished. Though he Is a School teacher he admitted that he had gone to the court without taking permission from the office. He is the same witness who was also present at the Collector's bungalow and from all the circumstances, as I have stated earlier, he is an interested witness and, therefore, does not inspire confidence. 28. From the evidence of the witnesses, discussed above, it is clear that after the bomb was thrown, appellant Yadav tried to run away but he was apprehended and soon thereafter he made a confession in which he admitted to have committed the crime at the instance of Baba. It is also clear from the evidence of the eye-witnesses that PW 14 or the other Police Officers had not arrived at that time and they came there subsequently. That confession before the member of the public, in my opinion, was wholly voluntary, not before any person in authority and without any threat promise or undue influence. It was rather spontaneous and it will not be hit by Section 24 of the Evidence Act. What will be the effect of h....
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....ing is only for the purpose of investigation and not to be used us legal evidence. 1 am supported in my views by a decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Abdul Rajak Murtaja Dafedar v. State of Maharashtra. A.I.R. 1969 (2) S.C. 234. 30. Prior to the occurrence the appellant was seen with a Jhola which is supported by the evidence of PWs 19, 57 and 62 and soon after the occurrence a Jhola was found on the landing ground and a bomb was also recovered from the same. It is submitted by the learned Counsel for this appellant that the appellant cannot be connected with the aforesaid Jhola because that Jhola has not been put in the test identification parade. In my opinion this argument has also to be rejected. This was the solitary Jhola found on the landing ground, and soon after his arrest, appellant Yadav had himself stated that a Jhola had been kept on the landing ground which was immediately recovered from that place. It is also in the evidence that the whole area was cordoned off and persons who were on the upper storey were not allowed to come down and similarly persons were not allowed to go up-stairs. In that view of the matter, there was no question of planting any Jho....
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..... The other circumstance which is against the appellant is that he had sustained bleeding injuries on the bead immediately after the occurrence. He was examined by PW 54 and the injuries have been referred to above. A supplementary opinion was given by the doctor which is Exhibit-33/1 that injury No. 1 could be caused by splinter and injury No. 7 by means of blast. It has been submitted that this report was obtained when the Investigating Officer and the Doctor had full knowledge about the allegation that the appellant bad thrown the bomb. In his statement Under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure this appellant has completely denied about presence of any injury on his person which is absolutely false in view of the evidence of so many witnesses. It may be mentioned that due to blast some portion of the moustache and hairs of the appellant were partly burnt and the Investigating Officer, after cutting a portion of the same, sent it for chemical examination, Exhibits-Y and Y/5. and the report is that it was due to blast. Similarly the shirt, full pant and the sweater worn by this appellant were seized and sent for examination which are Exhibits-Y/1, Y/2 and Y/3 and the res....
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.... possession of the ammunition was not to be allowed in the subsequent trial against the same accused. This is not the position in the instant case. That finding of acquittal of the two accused persons is not being used in a subsequent trial. It is a matter of common knowledge that a number of persons are charged w a case; some are acquitted and some are convicted. That will not necessarily mean that acquittal of some will preclude the court from convicting others because the charges have not been proved against some other accused. By the acquittal of the two accused persons the story of the source of supply or the agency supplying the bombs could not be said to be proved in this case but that does not necessarily mean that appellant Yadav was not in possession of the bomb which he actually threw on the Collector. Therefore, the submission of the learned Counsel for the appellant has to be rejected. 34. From the evidence of eye-witnesses and other materials and circumstance, discussed above, I have come to the conclusion that it was appellant Yadav who had thrown the bomb on the Collector thus causing his instantaneous death at the spot and he has been rightly convicted Under Sec....
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....oved by circumstances and other materials. 36. The first case of its kind in India is the most classic and memorable judgment of the Calcutta High Court in the case of Borendra Kumar Ghosh v. The King Emperor. XIV C.W.N. 1114 hat was a case of waging war sgainst the Queen of the British Empire, who was then ruling the country, and conspiracy was batched by some young educated patriots including Barendra Kumar Ghosh, brother of well known Saint Sri Aurobindo Ghosh, in order to otherthrow the British Government from this country. Bombs were thrown on Government buildings, Treasuries were looted and Europeans were murdered and then the matter came to light and after investigation a number of persons were put on trial, some were sentenced to death, some to transportation for life and some to different terms of imprisonment for waging war against the Queen or for abating such offence Under Section 121 of the Code, which now stands deleted. I may quote some observations of their lordships of the Calcutta High Court which will be useful for the purpose of this case: Though to establish the charge of conspiracy, there must be agreement, there need not be proof of direct meeting....
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....ng these well known principles in my mind, I now propose to consider the submissions of Mr. S. B. N. Singh, learned Counsel appearing on behalf of appellant Tripathi, Mr. Verma for appellant Yadav and Mr. Pandey, learned Counsel appearing for the State. 38. In this connection it has to be kept in mind that there are three main characters, the two appellants in this case and the Collector, who was killed. I have given some detail about the background of appellant Tripathi and I may state, once again, that this appellant was in Jail during the relevant period. The prosecution has led evidence to show that from 10-7-1982 when appellant Tripathi was in jail there was a regular meeting of the two appellants and there they conspired to kill the Collector; Yadav being the trusted man of Tripathi. I have already given the background of Tripathi who came from a very moderate family having a few Bighas of land and had started his life as a Bus Conductor and later he passed law examination and practised in the district court for some time. This will be clear from the evidence of his own brother, Dayanand, PW 2 and PW 2. According to DW 12, who is the brother-in-law of appellant Tripathi ha....
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....in 1981 at Varanasi and Anand Mohan Shrivastava, father of PW 30, was actually killed in his own office on 13-5-1981 and it was suspected that the rourder-squad of appellant Tripathi had hand in the same. The petition filed by P.W. 33 and Ors. Exhibit-21, was endorsed by the Senior Superintendent of Police, Varanasi, to P.W. 47, who submitted a report, Exhibit-20. 'I he Ashram was completely demolished and practically razed to the ground on 15-7-1982 and there was also an obstruction at that time by the inmates of the Ashram for which cases were registered. D.W. 9 was one of those arrested and, according to him, the cash, articles and idols worth about rupees thirty lacs were taken away by the authorities and neither any seizure list was prepared nor any list of articles was given to any inmate of the Ashram. A case was also filed against a number of Government officials. According to the prosecution, the Collector and the Superintendent of Police were also present for some time but this has been completely denied by the defence. J his aspect of the matter will be considered by me separately. After the demolition of the Ashram the lands were distributed among the landless labou....
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.... was residing at Bhagwat Parsa in the Ashram. the prosecution has also led evidence that this appellant has been meeting appellant Tripathi from time to time in the jail, After this occurrence P.W. 61 took list of prisoners who were in jail and were released after 1-4-1953 and examined some of them and also recorded their statement. PW 5, Binda Sah, has got his hotel close to the jail compound and has stated that after the occurrence he saw appellant Yadav under arrest and he knew this man from before. He has further stated that from the time of Holi (that will be March, 1983) this appellant used to come to his shop and carry tea and breakfast for his Baba meaning thereby appellant Tripathi and he himself used to take meal in that hotel. On some occasion he wanted to take articles on credit which was refused but this appellant came with a person named as Pathak and paid the amount. The under wear kept by this appellant in his hotel was also recovered from his shop after the occurrence. There is evidence that prior to August, 1982 the interviews were held in regular manner and entries were also made in the Interview Register but subsequently this appellant became well known to the j....
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.... not accepted the evidence of this witness, P.W. 72, and rather held that there were sufficient materials to show that persons were meeting prisoners in Jail in illegal manner including this appellant Yadav and 1 am also of the opinion that the finding arrived at by the court below is correct. PW 72, being a responsible officer, will never accept the position that things were done in illegal manner at a place of which he was the Superintendent and, therefore, he asserted that rules were not violated. It is true that on some previous occasion there are entries to show in the Jail register that appellant Yadav was granted interview with appellant Tripathi but according to the evidence when he became familiar with the Jail Staff all these rules and procedures were thrown to wind. These lapses are not to be found only in Gopalganj Jail but in other jails also which will be clear from the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Sunil Batra v. Delhi Administration 1980 Cr.LJ 1099. The defence has also led evidence to show that appellant Yadav was not close to appellant Tripathi and D.Ws. 9, 10, 11 and 12 have been examined on this point. But, after going through the evidence it is c....
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.....I.R.. 1984 S.C. 207, where it has been held that the various transactions, namely, the lodging of the first information report, the prompt flashing of the wireless message, posting of guards to stop the car and the stopping of the car soon after the signal and emergence of six or seven persons from the car and chase given to them and the fire shots by those persons and their ultimate arrest were all matters which are but links in the same chain of accusation and, therefore, they are parts of one and the same transaction. The case of Sardul Singh Caveeshar y. State of Bombay , also relates to case of conspiracy and the prosecution relied on a number of circumstances including the statements and the talk which took place between the conspirators. It has been held by their lordships as follows: The admission of such evidence, in proof of conspiracy or of the fact that he was conspirator, is, in its essence, admission not as against himself but against the others who are on the trial. To that extent that such an issue, that is of their being a conspiracy and of his being a conspirator is relevant at the trial, it must be proved by evidence Under Section 10 of the Evi....
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....il premises and he was very much annoyed with the Collector because he had demolished his Ashram and also spoiled his garden. 44. learned Counsel for the appellants have seriously commented on the evidence of this witness and have submitted that this witness is a court bird and has been in Jail on a number of occasion and he has been tutored by the Police to state that there was a talk few hours before the occurrence between the two appellants and soon thereafter he was released from Jail and the case was withdrawn. It has also been submitted on behalf of the appellants that wife of the witness has not been examined and there is nothing to show from the Jail register that the wife of P.W. 4 had been granted interview with P.W. 4. Regarding the interview register it is in the evidence of P.W. 4 himself that the interview was granted on the payment of Rs. 2 which was the usual practice prevailing there according to the evidence of other witnesses discussed above. The examination of the wife was also not at all necessary in this case. The contention of the appellants that he was released from Jail only because he had to depose against this appellant cannot b; accepted because accor....
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.... natural and probable witnesses and simply because that they were under-trial prisoners their evidence cannot be thrown out. In the case Rana Pratap v. State of Haryana it has been held by their lordships that if a murder is committed in a brothel then prostitutes and paramours will be only natural witnesses. Similarly, what happeud inside the jail could only be testified by the prisoners who were in jail at that time and not outside, and on this ground alone their testimony cannot be disbelieved. These circumstances, though minor in nature, have some bearing on the question of conspiracy and cannot be easily brushed aside. 46. The prosecution has been brought on the record to show that the appellant Tripathi was very much annoyed with the Collector because of the cases brought against him and his followers and he actually arrested him on 10-7-1982 and confined him to jail. Seven criminal cases were pending against him and his detention under the Crime Control Order was also ordered by the Collector and bail was not granted to him. This, according to the prosecution, was strong motive for getting the Collector killed and Tripathi, though in jail, was instrumental in this crime. ....
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....hram in illegal manner and for taking away the articles and the name of the Collector and the S. P. do rot figure there. The other circumstance which cannot be lost sight of is that the cases were registered against thirty three persons of the Ashram for obstruction and for keeping illegal arms because bombs were also recovered. Thus, from the evidence it must be held that the Collector was also present at the time of the demolition and the contention of the learned Counsel for the appellants that he was not there cannot be accepted. 48. The other circumstances relevant in this connection is that appellant Tripalhi was detained under the Crime Control Order and on 5-4-1983 a petition for bail was filed on his behalf that he had to attend some religious Seminar at Haridwar on 10-4-1983 and, therefore, he should be enlarged on bail. The Collector passed an order that he will hear the Public Prosecutor on 12-4-1983 though the specific date of the Seminar was given as 10-4-1983. Then appellant Tripathi moved the High Court in Cr. W. J. C. No. 119 of 1983 and an allegation was made that the Collector had deliberately put 12-4-1983 knowing fully well that the bail application will bec....
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....the State, evidence has been led to explain the peculiar nature of the Organisation set up by appellant Tripathi. He having a number of followers including appellant Yadav and this, according to him, gives a clue rdating to the murder. In the case of Mangal Singh v. State of Madhya Bharat it was held that the evidence disclosed certain unpleasant things about accused and was admitted in order to ascertain the motive of the murder and not for determining bad character of the accused. Similarly, in the case of Lakshmandas Chaganlal Bhatia v. State 1968 Cr.LJ 1584 it was held that Section 54 of the Evidence Act could not have any over riding effect but could be used for limited purpose in order to meet the contention of the defence and in this case it was for the purpose to explain and introduce the peculiar Organisation set up by appellant Tripathi. In my opinion, the parties having led evidence on this point no question of prejudice arises. Moreover, there are other materials and even if this evidence is completely excluded that will not in any way weaken the prosecution case. 51. Now, I come to another aspect of the prosecution case regarding the petition said to have been typed....
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.... Circumstantial evidence which may lead to irresistible conclusion that the person in question has written the same. 52. In the case of Mobarik Ali Ahmad v. State of Bombay it has been held that a document could be proved by internal evidence afforded by the contents of the documents. This mode of proof by the contents may be of considerable value where the disputed document purports to be a link in a chain of correspondence, some links which are proved to the satisfaction of the Court. In such a situation the person who is the recipient of the document, be it either a letter or a telegram, would be in a reasonable good position both with reference to his prior knowledge of the writing or the signature of the alleged sender limited though it may be, as also his knowledge of the subject-matter of the chain of correspondence, to speak to its authorship. It has also been held that the Court itself may judge whether the document constitute a genuine link in the chain of correspondence in order to determine authorship. In the case of Muranlal v. State of M. P. 1980 (17) ACC 11 (Sum) it has been held that it is the duty of the Court to examine the document itself and then, after compa....
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.... under the Crime Control Order and bail was not granted to him though the specific prayer was made that he had to attend a Seminar at Haridwar and ultimately appellant Tripathi moved the High Court and got a direction but in the mean time the Collector was killed. All these facts coupled with the background and the facts, mentioned above, clearly indicate that the Collector had become an eye-sore to appellant Tripathi and he, therefore, decided to kill the Collector and a conspiracy was hatched between the two appellants. All these circumstances taken together lead to the irresistible conclusion that the Collector was killed in pursuance of the conspiracy by appellant Yadav. I am tempted to quote a line from Shakespeare which he has written in his famous drama 'Julius Caeser': To mask thy monstrous visage seek none, conspiracy hide it in smiles and affability. This fully applies to the instant case. The circumstances, mentioned above, have been put to the two appellants Under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and have been denied by them but the charges Under Section 120-B of the Code stands fully proved in this case and the two appellants have been rightl....
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....of guidelines have been given and after going through the same, in my opinion, death sentence will be proper sentence in this case. It has to be borne in mind that the head of the district administration, who had to deal with the case of appellant Tripathi, was killed in his own office in a most treacherous manner, thus, shocking the conscience of the community as a whole. If proper sentence is not passed in this case then we shall be also failing in our duty and it may encourage anti-social elements to indulge in such crimes openly and publicly in order to demoralise persons in authority. Such tendencies have rather become common these days and must be nipped in the bud and it can only be done by awarding appropriate sentence to the offenders. 56. Counsel for both the appellants have also submitted that the occurrence took place about three years ago and the sentence of death has been passed in the year 1984 and it has hung over the head of the two appellants for a long time, it should be committed to the imprisonment for life. Mr. Verma has placed reliance on the observation of their lordships in the case of Ediga Anamma v. State of Andhra Pradesh that if the accused has acted....
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....horities. The Ashram became a den of the criminals and this matter came to the knowledge of the authorities and Ashram was also raided and bombs were recovered and a number of persons, including appellant Tripathi, were arrested and lodged in Jail on 10-7-1982. The deceased Collector also initiated a proceeding under the Crime Control Order against Tripathi and inspite of his best efforts bail was not granted to him. He lost his revision before the Commissioner in the encroachment case and the very next day the Ashram was completely demolished and razed to the ground. It is the case of the defence that property worth lacs were lost. A case was also filed against the officers connected with the demolition by an inmate of the Ashram. All these were at the instance of the deceased Collector and from the facts and circumstances it is clear that appellant Tripathi had acquired positive animus against the deceased. While in Jail he had been meeting appellant Yadav regularly and both of them conspired to kill the Collector and in pursuance of conspiratorial plan the Collector was killed in his own office. Some of the actions of the Collector were rather rash and hasty but even then no per....