Madhya Pradesh High Court
Vijay Kumar Patel vs The State Of Madhya Pradesh on 21 May, 2024
1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH
AT JABALPUR
CRA No. 2307 of 2015
(VIJAY KUMAR PATEL AND OTHERS Vs THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH)
Dated : 21-05-2024
Shri Vijay Kumar Lakhera - Advocate for the appellants.
Shri S.K. Kashyap - Government Advocate for the respondents/State.
The appellants no.1 and 3 - Vijay Kumar Patel and Sachidanand Patel
respectively, seek suspension of sentence in their second attempt in I.A.
No.28026/2023 during the pendency of this appeal. The appellants have been
convicted and sentenced in the following manner :-
CONVICTION SENTENCE
Section Act Imprisonment Fine if deposited Imprisonment in
details lieu of fine
302 IPC R.I. for life Rs.2,000/-(each) Additional R.I. for
03 months
2 . As per the prosecution story, 25-30 goats belonging to the
appellant/accused Vijay Kumar started eating leaves of mango trees in front of
Kamta Prasad's house. Kamta Prasad started ousting the goats from the place.
On this, the accused Vijay Kumar and his sons namely Ramkripal and
Sachidanand came there while using abusive language. At that time, the son of
Kamta Prasad namely Ashwani Kumar was about to start for doing labour
work. The appellant/accused Vijay Kumar Patel was armed with Gadasa,
accused Ramkripal was armed with Balua and accused Sachidanand was armed
with Barcha. All of them opened attack with their respective weapons on the
person of Kamta Prasad. The occurrence was witnessed by daughter-in-law of
Kamta Prasad namely Guddi (PW-3) and grandson Sonu (PW-4). Ashwani
Kumar (PW-1) returned back and all the three tried to rescue Kamta Prasad, but
the appellants gave them threat, but they raised alarm. On hearing the alarm,
other persons namely Santlal, Rampyare and Ramnath ran towards the spot. On
seeing them, the assailants fled away from the spot. In all, the deceased Kamta
Prasad received ten fractures on different parts of the body.
3. As per the testimony of Sub-Inspector M.L. Verma (PW-13), blood
stained Gadasa was recovered from Vijay Kumar, blood stained Balua was
recovered from the accused Ramkripal and blood stained Barcha was
recovered from the accused Sachidanand. Learned counsel for the appellants,
with reference to the statements of PW-1 Ashwani Kumar, PW-2 Savitri and
PW-3 Smt. Guddi, submits that the weapons of offence have been frequently
changed in the hands of the appellants. According to PW-2 Savitri, the accused
Vijay Kumar was armed with Lathi, accused Ramkripal was armed with Barcha
and the accused Sachidanand was armed with Balua. The aforesaid assertion of
the eye-witness run contrary to the recoveries which have been allegedly
witnessed by PW-9 Kamla Prasad Pal and PW-10 Vivek Dubey. According to
the testimony of Smt. Guddi (PW-3), Vijay Kumar was armed with Balua,
accused Sachidanand was armed with Barcha and accused Ramkripal was
armed with Lathi. The aforesaid statements also run contrary to the alleged
recoveries made from the appellants/accused in the presence of the witness
Kamla Prasad Pal (PW-9). The statements of Kamla Prasad Pal has already
endorsed the recovery from the accused Sachidanand i.e., iron Barcha, which
was seized vide seizure memo exhibit - P/14. No recoveries have been made
from the convicts Ramkripal and Vijay Kumar in the presence of the witness.
On the strength of the statements of PW-9 and PW-10, learned counsel for the
appellants submits that the alleged recoveries from the appellant were farce. The
appellants have already undergone about more than 12 years of actual sentence.
They are in custody from the date of incident.
4. Per contra, learned State counsel opposed the prayer on the basis of
prosecution evidence as noticed in the impugned judgment.
5. At this stage, without meaning anything on the merits of the case, we
intent to grant indulgence in favour of the appellants who have already
undergone more than 12 years of actual sentence. The appeal is of the year
2015 and may take sometime in its adjudication. In view of above, we deem it
appropriate to direct the release of appellants no.1 and 3 - Vijay Kumar Patel
and Sachidanand Patel, on bail by suspending their jail sentence, subject to
their executing adequate bail bonds and surety bonds to the satisfaction of the
Chief Judicial Magistrate concerned with a further direction to appear before the
trial Court concerned on 06.09.2024 and also on such other dates, as may be
fixed by the trial Court in this regard, during the pendency of this appeal.
Accordingly, I.A. No.28026/2023 is allowed.
Certified copy as per rules.
(RAJ MOHAN SINGH) (VIVEK JAIN)
JUDGE JUDGE
Priya.P
