Case Note & Summary
The case arises from an incident on 19th August 2007 in village Pokharni, Parbhani, between two groups belonging to the Wadar community. The dispute began when Uttam Bele instructed labourers working on road construction to do the work properly. Accused Sitaram and Shivaji confronted him at a puncture repair shop, questioning his authority, and assaulted him with kicks and fist blows. The quarrel was pacified by neighbours. Later, between 7:00 and 7:30 pm, the accused persons came to the house of the complainant Uttam Bele and started abusing him in filthy language. When Tukaram, brother of Uttam, intervened and asked the accused not to agitate the issue again, accused Sitaram struck Tukaram on the head with a wooden log, causing severe bleeding and collapse. The other accused also assaulted Tukaram with a stone and stick, and attacked other family members including Uttam, Raosaheb, Bhausaheb, and Kishan with stones and sticks. The injured Tukaram was taken to Civil Hospital, Parbhani, and then referred to a private hospital in Nanded, where he succumbed to the head injury on 20th August 2007 at 3:00 p.m. The Lotus Hospital, Nanded, informed the police about the medico-legal case. The police recorded the statement of Raosaheb, son of the deceased, and conducted inquest and postmortem. The complainant Bhausaheb lodged an FIR at Daithana Police Station at 20:05 hours on 20th August 2007, leading to the registration of Crime No. 72 of 2007. The investigation included spot panchnama, seizure of blood-stained clothes, and arrests. The trial court, in Sessions Trial No. 9 of 2008, convicted accused Sitaram under Section 302 IPC and sentenced him to life imprisonment and a fine. Accused 2 to 4 were convicted under Section 324 read with Section 34 IPC and sentenced to two months simple imprisonment and fine. The remaining accused were acquitted of all charges. Aggrieved, the convicted accused filed Criminal Appeal No. 349 of 2009, the State filed Criminal Appeal No. 602 of 2009, and the original complainant filed Criminal Revision Application No. 209 of 2009. During the High Court proceedings, the prosecution examined several eyewitnesses including PW1 Uttam Bele (injured and brother of the deceased), PW2 Bhausaheb Bele (nephew), PW3 Kishan Bele (brother), PW4 Girjabai Pawar (aunt), and PW6 Raosaheb Bele (son of the deceased). Their testimonies described the assault on the deceased and other victims, attributing the fatal head blow to accused Sitaram. The cross-examination brought out strained relations between the parties, lack of immediate medical treatment for other injured, non-disclosure of assailants’ names to doctors, and some omissions. One witness, PW5, was declared hostile. The judgment excerpt ends mid-sentence during the evidence of PW6, without recording the final decision of the High Court on the appeals and revision.
Issue of Consideration
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.349 OF 2009
Case Details
2011 LawText (BOM) (03) 41
Criminal Appeal No. 349 of 2009 with Criminal Appeal No. 602 of 2009 and Criminal Revision Application No. 209 of 2009
Naresh H. Patil, T.V. Nalawade
Satyajit S. Bora, R.K. Ladda, S.G. Joshi
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Nature of Litigation
Criminal appeals against conviction and sentence for murder and grievous hurt, along with a revision petition by the original complainant.
Remedy Sought
Accused sought acquittal by challenging conviction; the State filed an appeal, possibly for enhancement of sentence or against acquittal of some accused; the complainant filed a revision, likely against acquittal of certain accused or for enhancement of sentence.
Filing Reason
Dissatisfaction with the trial court's judgment convicting some accused and acquitting others.
Previous Decisions
Sessions Trial No. 9 of 2008, Additional Sessions Judge, Parbhani, on 1st July 2009 convicted accused Sitaram under Section 302 IPC and sentenced to life imprisonment; accused 2 to 4 under Section 324/34 IPC with two months simple imprisonment; all acquitted of remaining charges.
Judgment Excerpts
The prosecution case, in substance, is that original accused persons and complainant are resident of the same village Pokharni, Tq Parbhani, DistParbhani.
Uttam Bele went to puncture repair shop at about 5.30 p.m. and asked his son to return home. ... At that time, accused Sitaram and Shivaji came at the shop and asked him as to what right he had got to instruct the labourers to do the work properly.
Tukaram sustained bleeding injuries and collapsed due to the said assault.
The witness further deposed that at Parbhani Civil Hospital, they informed the doctor that Tukaram was assaulted but they did not inform the police out post attached to the Civil Hospital, about the incident.
PW5 is Shaikh Akbar Shaikh Yasin, who was declared hostile.
The witness stated that Police had come to Lotus Hospital, Nanded and recorded statement. At that time he made statement that Sitaram had given blow with stone and Shivaji had given blow with stick on the person of deceased.
Procedural History
On 19th August 2007, the incident took place. On 20th August 2007, Tukaram died at 3:00 p.m. in Nanded hospital. The Lotus Hospital informed the police, who recorded the statement of Raosaheb and conducted inquest. At 20:05 hours on 20th August 2007, complainant Bhausaheb lodged FIR at Daithana Police Station, leading to Crime No. 72 of 2007. Investigation followed with spot panchnama, seizures, and arrests. The charge sheet was filed, and the case was committed to Sessions Court on 11th February 2008. Charges were framed on 20th May 2008. After trial, the judgment was delivered on 1st July 2009. Aggrieved parties filed appeals and revision, which came up for hearing before the High Court on 24th March 2011.
Acts & Sections
- Indian Penal Code: 148, 323, 149, 336, 504, 302, 324, 34
- Bombay Police Act: 135
