Reversing Acquittal, Allahabad High Court Sentences 2 Men To Life Imprisonment In 1978 Murder Case

A bench of Justice Rajiv Gupta and Justice Shiv Shanker Prasad concluded that the prosecution had fully established the guilt of the 2 accused based on the evidence presented at the trial stage. Hence, they were liable to be convicted.

The Court made these observations while dealing with a government appeal filed against the Gorakhpur court's order of January 1981. In that order, the trial court convicted five accused (Ayodhya, Sanhu, Chhangur, Lakhan, and Ram Ji) and sentenced them to life imprisonment.

However, the two accused (Pyare Singh and Chhotkoo) were given the benefit of the doubt, resulting in their acquittal.

Following their acquittal, the government filed an appeal challenging the Trial Court's decision. Simultaneously, the convicts filed an appeal against the judgment against their conviction. Both the appeals were heard together.

The case in brief

As per the prosecution's case, the incident took place on the night of September 22, 1978, when accused Ayodhya and his associates (Pyare Singh, Chhotku, Ramjeet, Lakhan, Sanhu and Chhangur), armed with sticks and spears, confronted the deceased (Ganga) at his father Naik's doorstep, accusing him of enticing Ayodhya's sister away.

The accused persons were enraged by an alleged false rumour regarding the alleged illicit affair of Ayodhya's sister with the deceased (Ganga).

Despite Naik's attempts to intervene, Ganga was brutally beaten with sticks (lathi) and spears, due to which deceased Ganga sustained injuries and fell down and died instantly.

With the help of witnesses, the accused Ayodhya was caught on the spot, whereas the other accused persons succeeded in running away. The dead body of the deceased was lying at the doorstep of the accused Ayodhya throughout the night. The FIR in the case was lodged on the next day.

The victim's post-mortem report indicated the cause of death to be shock and haemorrhage as a result of certain antemortem injuries.

After the conclusion of the statutory investigation, a charge sheet was filed against all the accused persons, namely, Ayodhya, Chhotkoo, Pyare, Ramji, Sanhu, Lakhan and Chhangur in October 1978.

In their Section 313 CrPC statements, the accused persons denied the prosecution's evidence and stated they had been falsely implicated because they harboured grudges. 

While convicting the five accused (Ayodhya, Ramji, Sanhu, Lakhan, and Chhangur) under Section 302 IPC, the trial court acquitted Chhotkoo and Pyare as it noted that the testimonies of the witnesses did not strongly suggest that both were involved in committing the alleged crime.

High Court's observations

At the outset, the High Court noted that both the star prosecution witnesses, P.W.-1 and P.W.-2, had specifically stated in their testimonies, i.e., in their examination-in-chiefs and cross-examinations, that all seven accused (including the two acquitted accused) were involved in the crime and that there was no contradiction or inconsistencies in their testimonies.

The Court also noted that in the first information report, as well as in his testimony, P.W.-1 was consistent in stating that all seven accused persons had murdered his son Ganga.

In view of this, the Court firmly opinion that the finding of the Court below-concerning accused-appellants Ayodhya, Sanhu, Chhangur, Lakhan and Ram Ji was correct.

The Court, however, found that the trial court did not examine the evidence led by the prosecution in the correct perspective regarding the two acquitted accused, and hence, their acquittal was liable to be reversed.

Consequently, both the accused-respondents, Pyare Singh and Chhoktu, were accordingly convicted for the offence under Sections 30 147 and 302/149 I.P.C. and sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment for the offence under Section 147 I.P.C. and life imprisonment for the offence under Section 302/149 IPC, like the accused-appellants, who were convicted and sentenced by the trial court under the impugned judgment.

Since the appellants nos. 1 to 4, namely, Ayodhya, Ram Ji, Lakhan, and Sandhu, had died, the present criminal appeal, at their behest, had already abated. Appellant No. 5 is presently in jail and has been directed to serve his remaining sentence.

Case title - Ayodhya And Ors. vs. State of U.P. 2024 LiveLaw (AB) 305

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (AB) 305

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