Jharkhand High Court
Dinbandhu Besra @ Civil Besra vs The State Of Jharkhand on 24 November, 2021
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
Criminal Appeal (DB) No. 653 of 2020
Dinbandhu Besra @ Civil Besra --- --- Appellant
Versus
The State of Jharkhand --- --- Respondent
.......
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE APARESH KUMAR SINGH
HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE ANUBHA RAWAT CHOUDHARY
For the Appellant : Mr. Gautam Kumar Singh, Advocate
For the State : Mr. Azeemuddin, A.P.P.
07/24.11.2021 Heard learned counsel for the appellant Mr. Gautam Kumar Singh
and learned A.P.P. Mr. Azeemuddin on the prayer for suspension of
sentence made by the appellant through I.A. No. 3693 of 2021.
This appellant along with 4 others have been convicted for the
offence punishable under Sections 302/120(B), 201/120(B), 364A/120(B)
of the I.P.C. by the impugned judgment dated 29.09.2020 passed in
Sessions Trial Case No. 281 of 2018 by the court of learned District &
Additional Sessions Judge IX, East Singhbhum, Jamshedpur and all of
them have been sentenced to undergo R.I. for life with a fine of
Rs.20,000/- each and a default sentence each u/s 302/120B I.P.C; R.I. for
3 years with a fine of Rs.20,000/- each and a default sentence each u/s
201/120B I.P.C. and R.I. for life with a fine of Rs.20,000/- each and a
default sentence each u/s 364A/120B I.P.C by the impugned order of
sentence dated 01.10.2020. All the sentences were ordered to run
concurrently.
Learned counsel for the appellant submits that appellant was the
driver of the Bolero vehicle, which was allegedly used to kidnap and carry
the victim. The confession of this appellant (Ext.13) was recorded at 11.20
a.m. on 21.03.2018 but prior in point of time on the same date at 8.00 a.m.
and 09.10 a.m. confession of other co-accused Vijay @ Vijay Barua and
Chotu Yadav @ Hemant Yadav were respectively recorded. On the
confession of Vijay @ Vijay Barua a Maruti Suzuki Ritz car (Ext.7) was
seized and on the confession of Chotu Yadav @ Hemant Yadav Hero
Honda Motor Cycle was seized (Ext.10) and further ambulance (Ext. 11)
was seized. It is submitted that confession of this appellant was in later
point of time but the Bolero vehicle seized by the Police (Ext. 17) is said
to have been recovered on the confession of the present appellant. After
the confession of the accused Vijay @ Vijay Barua, all the accused
persons including this appellant were taken to the place where
the dead body was kept after murder. Appellant has been convicted on the
basis of the conspiracy theory because he was the driver of the Bolero
vehicle. However, P.W.1 wife of the deceased and informant of this case
has stated that her husband (deceased) had gone with Vijay Barua and
later a ransom call was received. The dead body was found in Tiring in
Odisha. It is submitted that P.W.2 daughter of the deceased has also stated
in like manner that the deceased went with accused Vijay Barua. P.W.5,
nephew of the deceased has also spoken in similar manner like P.W.2 and
P.W.3. P.W.7 has stated that he has two ambulances and one person was
taken in his ambulance to Tiring at Odisha. P.W.10 the first Investigating
Officer has stated that after Vijay Barua was arrested and confession was
recorded, Maruti Suzuki Ritz car was seized. Therefore, the recovery of
the dead body was not at the instance of the appellant because his
confession was recorded in later point of time. It cannot be relied as piece
of evidence under Section 27 of the Evidence Act as information was
already available with the Police on the confession of other accused
persons. It is further submitted that appellant has no criminal antecedent.
This fact has also been verified by the State counsel and a counter
affidavit has been filed to that effect. Appellant is in custody since
22.03.2018 and may be enlarged on bail by suspending his sentence.
Learned A.P.P. has opposed the prayer for bail. He submits that all
the 5 accused persons were involved in the conspiracy to kidnap the
deceased for ransom and later on killed him. The vehicle used for
kidnapping him and the dead body has been recovered on the confession
of the accused persons including this appellant. Therefore the
incriminating material adduced by the prosecution apply to this appellant
also. Learned counsel for the State however has stated on instructions and
on the basis of statements made in the counter affidavit that appellant does
not have any criminal antecedent in the district of Jamshedpur, Jharkhand
or in the district of Mayurbhanj in Odisha to which he belongs. However,
he may not be enlarged on bail by suspending his sentence.
We have considered the submission of learned counsel for the
parties and taken note of the materials relied upon by them from the lower
court record. Having regard to the facts and circumstances noted above
and the statement of P.W.1-informant and wife of the deceased; P.W.2 and
P.W.5 being daughter and nephew of the deceased and also the fact that
confession of accused Vijay Barua, who was named by the informant as
the person with whom the deceased went out on 18.03.2018 at 12 p.m.,
recorded prior in point of time along with other co-accused Chotu Yadav
than this appellant leading to recovery of the vehicle and the dead body
and also taking into account that appellant has no criminal antecedent, we
are inclined to grant the privilege of suspension of sentence to the
appellant.
Accordingly, appellant, named above, during the pendency of this
appeal, shall be enlarged on bail on furnishing bail bonds of Rs.
10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand) with two sureties of the like amount
each, to the satisfaction of learned District & Additional Sessions Judge
IX, East Singhbhum, Jamshedpur in connection with Sessions Trial Case
No. 281 of 2018 with the conditions that bailors should be local resident
of the district of East Singhbhum; appellant and his bailors shall not
change their address or mobile number without permission of the learned
Trial Court and that appellant as well as his bailors would also submit
the Aadhar Card before the court below at the time of furnishing bail
bonds.
I.A. No. 3693 of 2021 is allowed.
(Aparesh Kumar Singh, J.)
(Anubha Rawat Choudhary, J.)
A.Mohanty
