PATNA, India, Sept. 9 -- Patna High Court issued the following judgment on Aug. 12:

Heard learned counsel for the parties.

2. The present criminal appeal is preferred by the appellant, who is the wife of the deceased informant, directed against the judgment dated 09.06.2023 passed by the learned Additional District & Sessions Judge- IX, Saran, Chapra in Sessions Trial No. 304/2005 (Registration No. 1700/2014) arising out of Janta Bazar P.S. Case No. 15/2003 whereby respondent Nos. 2 and 3 have been acquitted under Section 302/34 of the Indian Penal Code.

3. Vide order dated 27.03.2025, notices were issued to the Respondent Nos. 2 to 3, upon which they appeared by filing Vakalatnama through learned Advocate, Mr Brajesh Kumar Singh. Further, vide order dated 13.05.2025, Trial Court Records were called for, which were already received on 01.08.2023 in Cr. Appeal (SJ) No. 2885 of 2023.

4. The prosecution case, in brief, is that on 27.03.2003 at about 9:00 PM, when the deceased informant was sitting in front of his house besides the road along with others, Manoj Sah and Sharda Sah came abusing the informant, and Sharda Sah caught hold of informant's hand and, having instigated his brother Manoj Sah, said "what are you doing, stab the knife". Upon this, Manoj Sah stabbed the knife repeatedly in the stomach of the informant. When informant was trying to save himself, he got injury on his hand and fell down. He raised alarm on which nearby people Mogal Ram, Tasaur Dhobi and others came and then accused persons fled away. With the help of villagers, he was taken to Sadar Hospital's emergency ward where his treatment was undergone.

5. On the basis of fardbeyan of the informant, Janta Bazar P.S. Case No. 15/2003 was initially instituted under Sections 323, 324, 341 and 307/34 of the I.P.C. and subsequently, during investigation, Section 302/34 of the IPC was added by the police. The police, after investigation, submitted charge-sheet against Respondent Nos. 2 to 3 and, accordingly, cognizance was taken. Thereafter the case was committed to the Court of Sessions. Charges were framed against the accused persons, to which they pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried.

6. During the trial, the prosecution examined altogether 11 witnesses i.e. PW1 Ranjit Kumar Manjhi, PW2 Mogal Ram, PW3 Rangi Manjhi, PW4 Rohila Devi, PW5 Bhageshwar Manjhi, PW6 Sakaldev Mahto, PW7 Kuldeep Manjhi, PW8 Raghunath Manjhi, PW9 Susthir Kumar Sinha, PW10 Dr. Ram Naresh Yadav and PW11 Keshav Prasad. The prosecution has also produced certain exhibits, i.e., signature of Tarkeshwar Manjhi identified on Fardbeyan, signature of Kuldeep Manjhi identified on Fardbeyan, signature of the Medical Officer identified on injury report, signature of the Medical Officer identified on supplementary report, signature of medical officer identified on the injury report, signature of I.O. identified on FIR, signature of Upendra Singh/Jha identified on Fardbeyan. The defence has also examined four witnesses viz. DW1 Jyotish Mahto, DW2 Gogeshwar Mahto, DW3 Mithun Sah and DW4 Satyendra Singh. After closure of prosecution evidence, the statements of the accused persons were recorded under Section 313 Cr.P.C. and after conclusion of trial, learned trial court has acquitted the accused persons under Section 302/34 of the IPC and awarded sentence under Section 324/34 of the IPC.

7. The learned counsel for the appellant submitted that the impugned judgment is bad in law as well as on facts. The learned trial court has overlooked the fact that PW1 to PW6 are the eyewitnesses of alleged offence, i.e., stabbing the informant and had also supported the prosecution case during examination-in-chief. The Investigating Officer has not been examined causing great prejudice to the appellant. There was presence of blood stain at the place of occurrence, which was duly established by the prosecution and defence has failed to contradict this fact in any manner.

The rest of the document can be viewed at https://patnahighcourt.gov.in/viewjudgment/NSM4NiMyMDI0IzEjTg==-CTCs1Yn5xdw=

Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.