Dadan Dusadh @ Dadan Paswan vs The State Of Bihar
2023 Latest Caselaw 3476 Patna

     IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
                 CRIMINAL APPEAL (DB) No.562 of 2019

     Arising Out of PS. Case No.-179 Year-1996 Thana- NASRIGANJ District- Rohtas
======================================================

Anil Tiwari, Son of Hardeo Tiwari Resident of Ward No.-3, Biseni Kala, Bisunpur, Police Station- Rajpur, Distict- Rohtas at Sasaram.

... ... Appellant/s Versus The State of Bihar

... ... Respondent/s ====================================================== with CRIMINAL APPEAL (DB) No. 498 of 2019

Arising Out of PS. Case No.-179 Year-1996 Thana- NASRIGANJ District- Rohtas ====================================================== Dadan Dusadh @ Dadan Paswan S/o Late Dudh Nath Dusadh R/o village- Baligaon, P.S.- Rajpur, District- Rohtas

... ... Appellant/s Versus The State of Bihar

... ... Respondent/s ====================================================== with CRIMINAL APPEAL (DB) No. 540 of 2019

Arising Out of PS. Case No.-179 Year-1996 Thana- NASRIGANJ District- Rohtas ====================================================== Kapil Singh Yadav Son of Late Mohan Singh Resident of Village- Husenabad, P.S.- Rajpur, District- Rohtas.

Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.562 of 2019 dt.03-08-2023

... ... Appellant/s Versus The State of Bihar

... ... Respondent/s ====================================================== with CRIMINAL APPEAL (DB) No. 707 of 2019

Arising Out of PS. Case No.-179 Year-1996 Thana- NASRIGANJ District- Rohtas ====================================================== Hari Kahar @ Hari Ram S/o Late Moti Kahar R/o village- Barna, P.S.- Rajpur, District- Rohtas at Sasaram

... ... Appellant/s Versus The State of Bihar

... ... Respondent/s ====================================================== with CRIMINAL APPEAL (DB) No. 729 of 2019

Arising Out of PS. Case No.-179 Year-1996 Thana- NASRIGANJ District- Rohtas ====================================================== BABAN KAHAR Son of Moti Kahar Resident of Village - Dhobdiha, P.S.- Nasariganj, Dist.- Rohtas at Sasaram.

... ... Appellant/s Versus The State of Bihar

... ... Respondent/s ====================================================== Appearance :

Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.562 of 2019 dt.03-08-2023

(In CRIMINAL APPEAL (DB) No. 562 of 2019) For the Appellant/s : Mr. Vindhya Keshri Kumar, Sr. Advocate Mr. Dhaneshwar Gupta, Advocate For the Respondent/s : Mr. Abhimanyu Sharma, A.P.P. (In CRIMINAL APPEAL (DB) No. 498 of 2019) For the Appellant/s : Mr. Shailendra Kumar Singh, Advocate Mr. Ajay Kumar Tiwari, Advocate For the Respondent/s : Mr. Abhimanyu Sharma, A.P.P. (In CRIMINAL APPEAL (DB) No. 540 of 2019) For the Appellant/s : Mr. Ram Chandra Singh, Advocate Mr. Shankar Kumar, Advocate For the Respondent/s : Mr. Sujit Kumar Singh, A.P.P. (In CRIMINAL APPEAL (DB) No. 707 of 2019) For the Appellant/s : Mr. Aditya Narayan Singh-1, Advocate For the Respondent/s : Mr. Abhimanyu Sharma, A.P.P. (In CRIMINAL APPEAL (DB) No. 729 of 2019) For the Appellant/s : Mr. Aditya Narayan Singh-1, Advocate For the Respondent/s : Mr. Abhimanyu Sharma, A.P.P. ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ASHUTOSH KUMAR and HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE VIPUL M. PANCHOLI ORAL JUDGMENT (Per: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ASHUTOSH KUMAR) Date : 03-08-2023

All these appeals have been taken up

together and are being disposed of by this common

judgment.

2. Heard Mr. Vindhya Keshri Kumar, learned

Senior Advocate, Mr. Shailendra Kumar Singh, Mr. Ram Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.562 of 2019 dt.03-08-2023

Chandra Singh and Mr. Aditya Narayan Singh-1 for the

appellants and Mr. Abhimanyu Sharma and Mr. Sujit

Kumar Singh, learned A.P.Ps. for the State.

3. All these appeals are directed against the

judgment of conviction and order of sentence both dated

02.04.2019 passed by the learned Fast Track Court-II,

Civil Court, Sasaram, Rohtas in Sessions Trial No. 331

of 2001, arising out of Nasriganj P.S. Case No. 179 of

1996, whereby all the appellants have been convicted

under Section 364A/34 of the I.P.C. and have been

sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life.

4. It is a peculiar case where the victim, who

has been examined as P.W. 3, returned only a day after

he is stated to have been abducted.

5. Three persons have deposed against the

appellants. The F.I.R. has been lodged by the father of

the victim, who has not been examined at the trial.

6. Nonetheless, in order to appreciate the Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.562 of 2019 dt.03-08-2023

story propounded by the prosecution, we have found

that the father of the victim was informed that his son

has been kidnapped while he along with his associates

had gone to the river side for fishing. On such

information, he along with two others, none of whom

have been examined at the trial, went in search of his

son, but on way was informed by somebody else, who

too has not been examined, that, perhaps, the appellants

have taken away the victim. The purpose of abduction

was not known to the informant. Later, on the basis of

the names provided in the F.I.R., investigation

proceeded and all the appellants were charge-sheeted.

7. All of them were put on trial.

8. The Trial Court, after having examined

only three witnesses on behalf of the prosecution,

convicted the appellants as aforesaid.

9. As noted above, P.Ws. 1 and 2, namely,

Ashok Singh and Banke Bihari Tiwary, have not stated

anything against the appellants. They do not claim to Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.562 of 2019 dt.03-08-2023

have seen the occurrence. They are said to have been

informed by unknown persons in the village that,

perhaps, the appellants had abducted the victim.

10. The victim, as we have noted, came back

only a day after.

11. The victim, who has been examined as

P.W. 3, has a very interesting story to narrate. He has,

during the course of trial, stated that he was abducted,

when he along with his nephew and others had fallen

asleep beneath a bridge near the water body where they

had gone fishing. His nephew was assaulted by one of

the miscreants who was carrying a gun with him. The

nephew of P.W. 3 has not been examined at the trial nor

any explanation has been offered for his non-

examination. The victim claims to have been blind-folded

and taken to some distance where he was kept in a

room. He was also offered food in the night and in the

morning thereafter which he did not eat. Later, when he

removed the blinders from his eyes, he saw two of the Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.562 of 2019 dt.03-08-2023

miscreants sleeping. He did not identify any one of

them, but could notice that one of them was keeping a

fire-arm by his side. He valiantly took the fire-arm and

opened the door of the room in which he was confined

and somehow reached Barun village. When he met the

villagers of Barun, he disclosed that he had been

kidnapped and with their help, he reached his village

home.

12. The story narrated by P.W. 3 does not

appear to be acceptable at all for the reason that he

does not name any one of the appellants. He has come

up with two or three reasons for his abduction, none of

which could be proved by the prosecution. He was

ostensibly told by one of his kidnappers that because he

has Rs. 12 to 13 Lakhs stashed in his bank, therefore,

he has been kidnapped. This statement was made by

him under Section 164 Cr.P.C. He further states that the

weapon of the miscreants which he had taken along with

him was not taken by the police officer, who actually Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.562 of 2019 dt.03-08-2023

advised him not to do so for the reason that otherwise

he may be made an accused in a criminal case involving

fire-arms. Apart from this, he has stated before the Trial

Court that there was some Panchayati some times ago in

the village where a P.D.S. dealer had threatened him

that he would be kidnapped within fifteen days and,

ultimately, he was kidnapped.

13. The entire story line is redolent with

doubt and suspicion.

14. Nobody has seen the occurrence. The

P.Ws. 1 and 2 were a little surprised when questioned as

to why the father and the son (P.W. 3) were behind the

appellants who were neither seen by anyone of the

witnesses nor any person who could have really thrown

light on the prosecution version, were examined at the

trial.

15. The story narrated by the father of the

victim as also the victim therefore does not inspire

confidence.

Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.562 of 2019 dt.03-08-2023

16. We also find that prosecution has not

bothered to examine either the informant or the I.O. of

this case.

17. For these reasons, we set aside the

judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated

02.04.2019, passed by Mr. Ravindra Mani Tripathi, the

learned Fast Track Court-II, Civil Court, Sasaram,

Rohtas in Sessions Trial No. 331 of 2001, arising out of

Nasriganj P.S. Case No. 179 of 1996, and acquit the

appellants of the charges levelled against them.

18. All these appeals stand allowed.

19. The appellants, viz., Anil Tiwari [Cr.

Appeal (DB) No. 562 of 2019], Dadan Dusadh @ Dadan

Paswan [Cr. Appeal (DB) No. 498 of 2019] and Kapil

Singh Yadav [Cr. Appeal (DB) No. 540 of 2019] are in

custody. They are directed to be set at liberty forthwith

unless their detention is required in any other case.

20. The appellants, viz., Hari Kahar @ Hari Patna High Court CR. APP (DB) No.562 of 2019 dt.03-08-2023

Ram [Cr. Appeal (DB) No. 707 of 2019] and Baban

Kahar [Cr. Appeal (DB) No. 729 of 2019] are on bail.

Their liabilities under the bail-bonds are cancelled.

21. Let a copy of this judgment be

dispatched to the Superintendent of the concerned Jail

forthwith for compliance and record.

22. The records of these appeals be returned

to the Trial Court forthwith.

23. Interlocutory application/s, if any, also

stand disposed off accordingly.

                                                (Ashutosh Kumar, J)


                                                (Vipul M. Pancholi, J)


K.C.Jha/Praveen
AFR/NAFR                NAFR
CAV DATE                N/A
Uploading Date          08.08.2023
Transmission Date       08.08.2023