Hon'ble Judges/Coram:
P.N. Bhagwati and S. Murtaza Fazal Ali JUDGMENT
S. Murtaza Fazal Ali, J.
1. In these criminal appeals Nos. 284 and 285 of 1971 by special leave, seven persons, namely, Lakshmi Singh. Jagdhari Singh. Jagdish Singh. Chhathu Singh, Dasrath Singh, Ramprasad Singh alias Ramprasad Sah and Ramsagar Singh had been put on trial for the murder of two persons, namely, Chulhai and Brahmdeo and were tried by the Sessions Judge, Muzaffarpur, who by his order dated November 30, 1968 convicted the appellant Lakshmi Singh under Section 302, I.P.C. to imprisonment for life. All the other accused were convicted under Section 302/149, I.P.C. and sentenced to imprisonment for life. Accused Jagdhari Singh was convicted under Section 325, I.P.C. and sentenced to six months rigorous imprisonment, while the accused Ramsagar Singh, Lakshmi Singh and Dasrath Singh were convicted under Section 148 I.P.C. and sentenced to one year's rigorous imprisonment. Ramprasad Sah, Jag dhari Singh, Jagdish Singh and Chhathu Singh were further convicted under Section 147, I.P.C. and sentenced to six months rigorous imprisonment. The learned Sessions Judge ordered all the sentences to run concurrently. The appellants filed two separate appeals before the High Court of Patna which dismissed the appeals and affirmed the convictions as also the sentences passed against the appellants. Appellants Lakshmi Singh, Jagdhari Singh, Jagdish Singh, Ramsagar Singh and Dasrath Singh have filed Criminal Appeal No. 284 while Chhathu Singh and Ramprasad Singh alias Ramprasad Sah have filed Appeal No. 285. As however both the appeals arise out of the same judgment, we propose to decide these appeals by one judgment.
2. This is an unfortunate case in which two persons appear to have lost their lives over a very petty and trivial dispute. On a perusal of the evidence and the circumstances of the case, we feel that the prosecution has not come out with the true version and the result is that the murder of the two persons has to go unpunished, and this is yet another misfortune of the case, but if the prosecution does not choose to put forward the true version it is to be itself squarely blamed for the failure of the case.
3. Briefly put. the facts may be summarised as follows:
Appellant Ramsagar Singh and his brother Dasrath Singh were full brothers being sons of Maharaj Singh. They were resident of village Alipur Hatha, police station Mohnar. The deceased Chulhai and one Ramasray were the first cousins of these two persons and the deceased Brahmdeo was a nephew of Chulhai. It appears from the prosecution case that the two families were living together in the same house in different portions having a common courtyard. There was some sort of partition between the two cousins and their children in which portions of the house were allotted to each branch. Jaiwanti daughter of Ram dayal Singh one of the sons of Chulhai Singh was married on April 18, 1968 and Dasain Singh and others had fixed a Marwa (marriage platform) in their common courtyard. The marriage passed off peacefully and the appellants Ramsagar Singh and Dasrath Singh never objected either to the marriage being held in the courtyard or to the construction of the Marwa. Three days later i.e. on April 21, 1966, which according to the <........