Ram Das vs State Of M.P

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 817 of 2007

RAM DAS ..... APPELLANT

VERSUS

STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH ..... RESPONDENT

O R D E R

1. At about 8:30a.m. on 19th July, 1990 Raju PW-1 and

his father Nand Ram hereinafter referred to as 'the

deceased' were in their field guarding their crop, when

the appellant Ram Das arrived at that place carrying an

axe. He quarreled with the deceased asking him as to

why he had dismantled a part of the mound in his field.

This led to an altercation between them whereupon the

appellant picked up a stone from his field and hit the

deceased on his chest and when he fell down caused him

7/8 injuries with the axe which he was already carrying.

On the cries raised by Raju, PW-1, Ratanlal and Tansi

Pws- 2 and 3 also arrived at the spot whereafter the

appellant ran away towards the village. The trial court

on an examination of the evidence of Pws - 1, 2 and 3

observed that the evidence could not be believed as

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there were discrepancies inter se the witnesses. It

also held that their evidence was not supported by the

medical testimony inasmuch as there were only four

injuries on the dead body whereas the witneses had

stated them to be between 7 and 15 injuries. The trial

court, accordingly, acquitted the accused. An appeal

was thereafter taken by the State of Madhya Pradesh to

the High Court and the High Court relying on the Pws -

1, 2 and 3 as also the medical evidence and finding that

the judgment of the trial court was perverse and not

possible on the evidence that had come before it, has

reversed the judgment of the trial court insofar as the

conviction was concerned but holding that there was no

intention on the part of the appellant to cause death,

as there was no pre-meditation and that it had happened

in the course of a sudden quarrel, convicted him under

Section 304 Part 2 of the IPC and sentenced him to 8

years rigorous imprisonment. This appeal by way of

special leave is before us by the accused Ram Das.

2. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties

and gone through the evidence very carefully. We find

absolutely no reason to doubt the evidence of Pws - 1, 2

and 3. PW -1 Raju was about 10/12 years old and was

also the author of the First Information Report. The

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trial court had put certain questions to him during the

course of his examination in chief which he had answered

very lucidly and logically. We also see that he cannot

be said to be so young that he would not be able to

understand as to what could had happened in his

presence. Likewise, we find that the evidence of P.Ws. 2

and 3, Ratanlal and Tansi, whose fields were adjoining

those of the deceased have fully supported the

prosecution story. Nothing has been brought out on

record as to why these two witnesses would tell a lie

about a person for whom they did not have any ill-will.

We are, therefore, of the opinion that the conviction of

the appellant was fully justified. We are indeed

surprised as to how in the facts of the case this

matter would fall under Section 304 Part 2 of the IPC,

as the medical evidence shows five injuries on the

person of the deceased, all on the head and with all the

bones of the head being fractures which could have been

caused with an axe. We are, however, unable to do

anything in the matter as the State has not chosen to

file an appeal against the judgment of the High Court,

on this score. The appeal is dismissed.

..............................J [HARJIT SINGH BEDI]

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..............................J [CHANDRAMAULI KR. PRASAD]

NEW DELHI APRIL 05, 2011.