Criminal appeal nos. 795, 1141, 1143, 1314, 1320 of 2014
Delhi High Court
BENCH: Hon’ble S. Murlidhar J., Hon’ble I.S. Mehta J.
DATE OF JUDGEMENT: 12 February 2018
RELEVANT SECTIONS:
- Section 304 of IPC (Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder)
- Section 120B of IPC (Punishment for criminal conspiracy)
- Section 395 of IPC (Punishment for dacoity)
- Section 397 of IPC (Robbery, or dacoity, with the attempt to cause death or grievous hurt)
- Section 34 of IPC (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intension)
BACK STORY
Two senior citizens Kamla Devi who was paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair and her husband were at their home. At around 3:10 pm, the fruit seller with a bag of muskmelons rang the bell and her husband opened the door. Along with fruit seller, two boys also entered inside with the intension of dacoity and one of them was carrying a knife in his hand. They pushed her husband to the ground. Two more boys entered the house. They all threatened both husband and wife and said them to stay quiet. They tried to open the locker of the cupboard but they couldn’t open it. Due to hue and cry on the outside, all five ran away with some cash, a mobile phone and two gold bangles. The husband of Kamla Devi was taken to the hospital by their neighbours but he was declared as dead.
All of the accused except Anil were arrested and charged under section 395, 304, 34, 120B of IPC and the maidservant Bimlesh of the same house was alleged for providing all the information to the accused and charged under section 395 and 120B of IPC, but she denied that allegations. Accused Anil was announced as proclaimed offender. The CCTV footage and visuals indicated the presence of the other five accused on the spot.
POSTMORTEM REPORT
The post-mortem examination of the deceased was conducted by Dr. Bhim Singh. He estimated the time since death about 20 hours and also opined that the injuries present on the body of the deceased were ante-mortem and caused by blunt force or surface impact. He concluded a natural cause of death, and death was due to a shock which leads to blockage of coronary arteries, due to pre-existing coronary artery disease.
JUDGEMENT
The court acquitted the accused Bimlesh of the offences under section 395 along with section 120B of IPC.
Accused Kali Charan, Sarvesh Kumar, Chander Bhan and Amit were acquitted from the charges made under section 304 along with section 34 of IPC which included the offence of culpable homicide of the deceased.
The court framed charges against accused Kali Charan, Sarvesh Kumar, Chander Bhan and Amit for committing offences punishable under section 395 of IPC, which included crime of dacoity and thus they were sentenced for rigorous imprisonment of 8 years with fine.
The accused Chander Bhan also charged for offences punishable under section 397 of IPC which included crime of use of a deadly weapon during dacoity and caused the death of deceased and he further sentenced for rigorous imprisonment of 10 years.