High Court
Case Details
Crl.A. 105/2012 BEFORE HON’BLE MRS. JUSTICE ANIMA HAZARIKA JUDGMENT AND ORDER The legality and validity of the judgment of conviction and sentence dated 07.06 .2012 have been assailed by the accused Faizul Haque Choudhury, Abdul Suban @ Ab dul Sufan Choudhury and Abdul Kalam Choudhury whereby and whereunder the learned Sessions Judge, Hailakandi convicted the accused persons under section 307 read with Section 34 IPC in Sessions case No. 9 of 2006 sentencing them to undergo R .I. for a period of four (4) years and to pay a fine of Rs. 2000/- each in defau lt to undergo R.I. for a period of six months. 2.
Legal Reasoning
Heard Mr. B Banerjee, learned counsel appearing for the appellants. Also heard Ms. B Bhuyan, learned Addl. PP, Assam for the State respondent. Allegations giving rise to the prosecution case are essentially as follo 3. ws: - On 27.02.2004 around forenoon, four accused persons viz., Abdus Sufan, Abdul Kal am, Faijul Haque Choudhury and Abdul Manik Choudhury in furtherance of their com mon intention brought Abdul Matin son of informant Hazi Mosur Ali from his house situated at Algapur Bazar towards Nabinsurapur and jointly assaulted Abdul Mati n on PWD Road with iron rod on the backside of his head and inflicted injuries w ith a view to kill him. Immediately after the blows inflicted by the accused per sons, the injured fell down on the ground and started bleeding from the ear, nos e and mouth for which the injured was taken to Hospital at Algapur and subsequen tly shifted to Silchar Medical College, Silchar, wherefrom the injured was refer red to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (’GMCH’ for short) and consequently thereupon the first information report (’FIR’ for short) was lodged at Algapur P olice Station. On the FIR so lodged, the police registered a case against all th e four accused persons under Sections 341/307/34 IPC and took up investigation. The accused Faijul Haque was arrested by the police and on completion of investi gation submitted charge sheet against all the four accused persons showing three (3) of them as absconders under Sections 341/325/307/34 IPC. 4. The Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class, Hailakandi committed the case to the court of learned Sessions Judge, Hailakandi since the case is exclusively triab le by the court of Sessions wherein the case was registered as Sessions Case No. 9/2006 under Sections 325/307/34 PC. The charge was read over to the accused per sons, they pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried. 5. During the trial the prosecution has examined 7 (seven) witnesses includ ing the Doctor and the investigating officer. The accused persons were examined under Section 313(1) of the code of Criminal Procedure whereof their plea was to tal denial. However the prosecution has examined one Doctor as CW 1. The learned Sessions Judge has formulated the following points: - 6. (1) Whether the accused persons in furtherance of their common intention vol untarily caused grievous injuries on Abdul Matin Laskar by means of blunt object on 27.02.2004 at about 9.30 AM? (2) Whether the accused persons in furtherance of their common intention inf licted grievous injuries on the person of Abdul Matin Laskar with an intention t o kill him? 7. The prosecution has examined the victim Abdul Matin Laskar as PW 2, who in his evidence has deposed that he knows all the accused persons. The occurrenc e took place on 27.02.2004 at about 9 AM while he was coming from Algapur Market towards his house and on reaching PWD road nearby his house wherein the accused persons came from the western side and asked him to wait on the road. When the victim waited on the road as directed by the accused immediately they came near to him and the accused Abdul Kalam caught hold of his neck followed by filthy la nguage. Then the victim was pulled from the road to the side of the road and the n all the accused persons started assaulting him. The victim stated that Abdul S uban taking an iron rod inflicted a blow on the right side of his head and he fe ll down on the ground. The victim was taken to Algapur PHC in a truck and accord ing to him he sustained injuries on the head and there was bleeding from the inj uries. Thereafter he was shifted to Algapur PHC wherefrom he was shifted to SMCH Silchar and on his way he lost his sense and he regained senses at GNRC Hospita l, Guwahati. In cross-examination, he has specifically stated that he cannot hear by his righ t ear due to the injuries sustained by him which has been caused by the accused Abdul Suban. In cross the victim has implicated the accused Faijul Haque who inf licted him fist and blows. The informant Hazi Mosur Ali Lascar (father of the injured) has been exa 8. mined as PW 1. The witness PW 1 on hearing the hue and cry, rushed to the spot b ut he did not find his son and on a query he was told that the victim was taken to Algapur PHC where he found his son Abdul Matin lying unconscious. The PW 1 ha s further stated that Ali Hussain and Abdul Hussain were present with his son, w ho brought the victim to the Hospital and narrated the story to PW 1 that accuse d Abdul Subhan, Abdul Kalam, Abdul Malik and Faijul attacked his son Abdul Matin and inflicted injuries by iron rod. PW 1 has stated that on release of his son, he told him that the injuries were caused by the accused persons by means of ir on rod. 9. The prosecution has examined Ali Hussain Barbhauiya as PW 3 and Abul Hus sain Mazumdar as PW 4, who themselves claimed to have witnessed the incident. PW 3 has stated that while he was proceeding to his place of work, he saw the accu sed persons attacking PW 2 on the road and pulling him towards the side of the r oad. Witnessing the occurrence he rushed to the place of occurrence and saw accu sed Abdul Sufan giving a blow on the right side of the head of the injured by me ans of an iron rod and the injured fell down and thereafter the accused left the place. In cross-examination, he had stated that the place of occurrence is situated at a distance of 1‰ km from his house but he witnessed the incident from a distance of about 100 meter and he rushed to the spot on seeing the incident. PW 3 has f urther stated that on the date of occurrence, he was doing earth work on a railw ay bridge near the place of occurrence. He has emphatically stated that he witne ssed the incident from a distance of 100 meters and in chief he has stated that he saw the accused persons attacking the injured while he was proceeding to his working place which is situated at a considerable distance. PW 4, Abul Hussain Mazumdar has stated that on the date of occurrence, he got do wn from the bus around 9.30 AM at Chandipur Tri-junction and saw all the accused persons at the place of occurrence and saw the accused persons altercating with Abdul Matin and the accused Abdul Suban struck Abdul Matin with an iron rod and he fell down on the ground and subsequently shifted to the Hospital by a truck. 10. Dr. Bijan Behari Dey has been examined as PW 5, who stated that the vict im Abdul Matin Laskar was admitted in GNRC Hospital, Guwahati on 28.02.2004 and Ext. 2 the discharge certificate would disclose that the injured was presented t o INS with history of head injury following assault on 27.02.2004 at about 8 AM. The history of right ear discharge present. Initially he was treated at SMCH, S ilchar where CT scan of brain was done which showed multiple contusions in right temporal lobe with depressed fracture in right squamo-temporal bone and longitu dinal fracture of right petrous bone. Collection in right middle ear, mastoid ai r cells and right spheroid sinus. Scalp haematoma in right fronto temporo-pariet al regions. However the victim was discharged from the hospital on 07.03.2004. 11. The court in order to confirm the nature of injuries sustained, examined Dr. Nabanil Baruah, Director of Neuro-Surgery, Department of GNRC, Guwahati as CW 1. The witness CW 1 has stated that while he was attached to GNRC, Guwahati, one Abdul Matin Laskar, resident of Kalibari, Hailakandi was admitted into GNRC and he was treated therein as indoor patient with effect from 28.02.2004 to 07.0 3.2004. The patient was under his treatment with head injury caused by alleged a ssault on 27.02.2004 around 9 AM as reported. Initially the patient was treated at SMCH Silchar where CT scan of the brain was done. In his opinion the patient sustained head injuries and the said injuries were grievous in nature. 12. The Investigating Officers have been examined by the prosecution as PW 6 and PW 7. PW 6 Md. Lukman Choudhury stated that while he was working as officer -in-charge at Algapur Police Station, he received the FIR from Haji Mosur Ali La scar on 27.02.2004 and he registered the case being Algapur P.S. case No. 12/200 4 under Sections 341/307/34 IPC and took up the investigation. During the course of investigation, he visited the place of occurrence and recorded the statement of the witnesses including Haji Masur Ali Lascar, the complainant and prepared the sketch map. On 28.02.2004, accused Faizul Haque was taken to Police Station for interrogation. He also examined one more witness namely, Jamaluddin and subs equently examined the injured Abdul Matin. During the course of investigation, t he injured Abdul Matin Laskar was sent to Hailakandi Civil Hospital for treatmen t wherefrom he was sent to SMCH for further treatment. Subsequently he handed ov er the case diary to officer-in-charge of Hailakandi Police Station on 19.08.200 4 on his transfer and subsequently after completing the investigation, S.I. Purn ananda Konwar submitted the charge sheet against all the accused persons viz., F aizul Haque Choudhury, Abdul Subhan, Abdul Kalam and Abdul Manik Choudhury showi ng Abdul Kalam Choudhury and Abdul Manik Choudhury as absconder in the charge sh eet vide Ext. 4 and Ext. 4(1) is his signature. PW 6 has further stated that he did not see the injured Abdul Matin as he was tr eated/admitted in the hospital. The statement of the injured was recorded on 12. 03.2004 at his own residence. PW 1 was not the eye witness of the case as per st atement recorded under section 161 of the Code. The injured Abdul Matin was know n to him prior to the occurrence. He is a school teacher and he has one shop hou se at Algapur Market which is run by him. The place of occurrence is at Nobin So napur which is located at a distance of 3 KM from Algapur market. The place of o ccurrence is a kaccha village road which was under construction at the relevant time. At the time of occurrence, the injured was waiting for a vehicle to procee d to Pachgram. The place of occurrence is located at a distance of one furlong f rom the National High Way and there was no labourer present nearby the place of occurrence. The charge sheet would disclose that Dr. Nabonil Barua of GNRC has b een listed as prosecution witness and he was not aware who collected Ext. 2 Medi cal report from GNRC, Guwahati. PW 1 the informant Moshur Ali Laskar stated befo re him that he came to know about the occurrence from his son Abdul Matin Laskar . PW 1 did not state before him that he came to know about the occurrence from A li Hussain and Abul Hussain. Name of Abul Hussain and Ali Hussain were enlisted in the charge sheet as prosecution witness. In the FIR, the informant stated tha t all the accused persons in a body came to his shop house at Algapur Bazar and forcibly taken him to Nabin Sunapur and he was assaulted there. PW 2 Abdul Matin Laskar did not state before him that just before the occurrence he was coming f rom Algapur market and was proceeding towards his house. PW 2 stated before him that at the time of occurrence he was supervising the construction work of Natio nal Highway just at the back side of the house and then the occurrence took plac e. The said witness did not state before him that the accused persons came from the western side and suddenly attacked him. PW 6 was cross-examined by accused Faijul Haque. PW 6 stated that the house of t he accused Faijul Haque is not located in the nearby area of the place of occurr ence. He could not say where the house of Faijul Haque Choudhury is situated. Fu aijul Haque was arrested from his house at Vatirsangjurai on 28.02.2004. PW 1 di d not state before him that the injured, after his release from Guwahati Hospita l told him that accused Sufan Choudhury inflicted injuries and other accused per sons caught hold the injured at the time of occurrence. PW 2 Abdul Matin Laskar did not state before him that the accused Faijul Haque Choudhury inflicted him s ome fists and blows. 13. Another Investigating Officer has been examined as PW 7 who has stated t hat on transfer of earlier officer-in-charge of Algapur Police Station he receiv ed the case diary. On receipt of the case diary he visited the place of occurren ce and arrested one of the accused persons and took steps for arresting the rema ining accused persons but could not arrest the accused persons since they were a bsconding. He has further stated that he recorded the statement of two more witn esses viz. Ali Husain Barbhuiya and Abul Hussain Mazumdar and collected the inju ry report and after completing the investigation finally submitted the charge sh eet against all the four accused persons under Sections 341/307/34 IPC vide Ext. 4 and Ext 4(1) is his signature. In cross examination for Faijul Haque Choudhury, he has stated that Ali Hussain did not implicate the accused Faijul Haque Choudhury with the alleged offence. W itness Abul Hussain also did not implicate Faijul Haque Choudhury. For the remai ning accused persons, PW 7 has stated that the witness Ali Hussain did not state that he saw Abdul Matin, the injured and all the accused persons were scuffling at a distance of 100 meters from him. The said witness did not state that he sa w accused Abdul Suban standing behind the victim. The said witness did not state that he along with others took the victim to Algapur Police Station. PW 7 has f urther stated that the witness Abul Hussain Mazumdar did not state that accused persons started altercation with the victim but he stated that the accused Abdul Kalam only started altercation with the victim. 14. From the totality of the evidence of all the prosecution witnesses, the learned trial Court has held that the acts of the accused persons in selecting t he head, the vital part of the human body, to strike with an iron rod amply demo nstrate the intention of the accused persons to commit murderous assault which i s sufficient to bring home the offence within the ambit of Section 307 IPC. On p roper scrutiny of the evidence on record, the learned trial court found that the injured has not attributed any overt act to accused Abdul Malik. The evidence o n record reveals that the remaining three accused person not only went in a body but also assaulted PW 2, the injured and took part in giving blows except the a ccused Abdul Malik. Abdul Malik, though present, he did not take any part in giv ing blows to the injured and hence the cannot be tied together with the other ac cused persons for committing the offence with the help of Section 34 IPC. From t he materials on record, inference can be drawn that all the three accused person s shared a common intention with each other to inflict injuries upon Abdul Matin which may have caused his death. 15. Therefore, on the evidence of PW 2, the victim, who has implicated all t he accused persons viz. Abdul Suban, Abdul Kalam and Faijul Haque Choudhury, who have been sharing the common intention inflicted injuries on Abdul Matin which is sufficient under ordinary circumstances to cause death of the person assaulte d, guilty of committing the offence punishable under section 307 read with secti on 34 IPC and accordingly convicted the accuse persons as indicated above acquit ting Abdul Malik Choudhury from the charge for want of evidence against him. The legality of the judgment of conviction and sentence is under challenge in the i nstant appeal under section 374 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. 16. Opening the arguments on behalf of the appellants, Mr. B. Banerjee, lear ned counsel took the court through the evidence of all the prosecution witnesses and the findings arrived at by the learned trial court wherein the learned tria l court in paragraph 18 of the judgment came to a finding that even if the evide nce of PW 3 and PW 4 excluded or ignored the evidence of PW 2, the victim, canno t be discarded on the ground that he has not been supported by these two witness es. However the evidence of PW 1, the informant, who is not the eye witness has stated that his son Abdul Matin sustained only one injury on the head. PW 1 stat ed that the house of Ali Hussain is situated at a distance of one kilometer from the place of occurrence. The house of Abul Hussain is situated half furlong awa y from the place of occurrence. There are no other residential houses around the place of occurrence. In cross-examination, for the accused Faijul Haque, PW 1 stated that the injured , after his release from Guwahati hospital told him that the accused Abdul Suban inflicted his injuries and other accused persons caught hold of the injured at the time of causing alleged injuries and this fact has been stated before the in vestigating officer which contradicts itself before PW 6 and the evidence of PW 1 cannot be relied upon in convicting the accused persons under Section 307 read with Section 34 IPC which require interference by the appellate court. 17. Mr. Banerjee, learned counsel would further contend that the learned tri al court relied on evidence of PW 2, the victim and convicted the appellants wit h the aid of Section 34 IPC where the ingredients of Section 34 IPC are absent. PW 2, the victim has stated that Abdul Kalam Choudhury caught hold of his neck a nd started to rebuke him in filthy language and the said accuse pulled him from the road to the road side and other accused persons assaulted him. PW 2 stated t hat Abdul Subhan taking an iron road inflicted a blow on the right side of the h ead and after sustaining injuries he fell down on the ground. PW 2 has also admi tted that he sustained only one injury on his head in course of occurrence and A bdul Subhan inflicted the blow and in cross-examination PW 2 admitted that he ha d no enmity with accused Faizul. The evidence of PW 2 coupled with the evidence of PWs 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 would show that the prosecution has failed to prove t he charge of Section 34 IPC that the acts have been committed by the accused Abd ul Kalam Choudhury and Faizul Haque Choudhury in furtherance of the common inten tion of all, each of such person is liable for that act in the same manner as if it were done by him alone and hence the judgment of conviction and sentence req uire interference. 18. In the same breadth, Mr. Banerjee has also submitted that the materials relied upon by the prosecution in support of charge under Section 307 IPC, the i ngredients of which are lacking in the instant case. However, the materials pres sed into service by the prosecution would demonstrate that the accused had commi tted the act complained of at least with the knowledge that by such act it was l ikely to cause hurt or grievous hurt to the victim. In the instant case, the acc used Subhan has caused grievous hurt to the victim wherefor the victim had to sh ift to GNRC for treatment and he was there for about seven days. Considering the fact that the accused Subhan had inflicted only single injury, this Court seems it fit that the prosecution had failed to prove the ingredients of Section 307/ 34 IPC for which the Court is inclined to hold that the accused Subhan has cause d grievous hurt with the knowledge that by such act the victim would get the gri evous hurt on the right hand side of the ear, which comes within Section 324 IPC . Therefore, this Court modified the conviction from Section 307 to Section 324 IPC and sentenced the accused to undergo RI for 3 (three) years under Section 32 4 IPC since Section 34 has been held to be inapplicable as discussed hereinabove . 19. Criticizing the arguments advanced by Mr. Banerjee, learned counsel repr esenting the appellants, Ms. Bhuyan, learned Addl. Public Prosecutor, Assam woun d contend that the evidence on record more particularly the evidence of PWs 1, 2 , 3 and 4 would demonstrate that the accused appellants in furtherance of their common intention has caused the injuries on the victim which do not require to b e interfered with the judgment of conviction and sentence. 20. Considered the arguments advanced by the parties. Also perused the evide nce on record. It appears that the learned trial court relied on the evidence of the victim PW 2 wherein the evidence of PWs 3 and 4 have been ignored. The evid ence of PW 2, if accepted, then only Abdul Subhan is the accused who has inflict ed the injuries on the head by an iron rod and there is only one injury on the p erson of the victim. There are contradictions in the evidence of other PWs. More over, with the aid of section 34 IPC the other accused appellants cannot be conv icted. 21. To attract section 34 IPC two ingredients are indispensable (i) the crim inal act (consisting of a series of acts) should have been done not by one perso n but by more than one person, (ii) doing of every such individual act cumulativ ely resulting in the commission of criminal offence should have been in furthera nce of the common intention of all the accused persons. Hence an act, whether ov ert or covert, is indispensable to be done by a co-accused to be fastened with t he liability under the section. But if no such act is done by a person, even if he has a common intention with the others for the accomplishment of the crime, S ection 34 IPC cannot be invoked for convicting that person. In the instant case, the prosecution through the evidence of PWs 1, 2, 3 and 4 has failed to prove t he ingredients of section 34 IPC in respect of common intention of accused Abdul Kalam Coudhury and Faizul Haque Choudhury in causing the injuries on PW 2 in fu rtherance of the common intention of all the accused and hence, the court set as ide the conviction and sentence of Abdul Kalam Choudhury and Faijul Haque Choudh ury holding that there is no overt act by these two appellants in causing injuri es on the victim PW 2 in furtherance of common intention.
Decision
In the result, the conviction and sentence under section 307 read with s 22. ection 34 IPC rendered by the learned Sessions Judge, Hailakandi in Sessions Cas e No.9 of 2006 on 07.06.2012 in respect of Faizul Haque Choudhury and Abdul Kala m Choudhury is set aside and quashed. They are set at liberty and their bail bon ds stand discharged. However, the conviction and sentence under Section 307 IPC in case of Abdus Sufan Choudhury is modified to Section 324 IPC and sentenced to undergo RI for 3 (three) years. Accused Abdus Sufan Choudhury shall surrender b efore the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Hailakandi, for serving out the rem aining part of sentence and the period of detention, if any, shall be set off un der Section 428 IPC against the sentence of imprisonment. 23. Send down the LCR forthwith.