Iftiquar Ahmad vs State of U.P.

M. Chaudhary, J.—This is a criminal appeal filed on behalf of the accused-Appellant from judgment and order dated 4.2.1982 by Sessions Judge, Bulandshahr in Sessions Trial No. 604 of 1980, State v. Iftiquar Ahmad, convicting the accused u/s 302, I.P.C. and sentencing him to imprisonment for life thereunder.

Brief facts giving rise to this appeal are that Sagir Ahmad and Iftiquar Ahmad were real brothers and Mohd. Tahir was son of Sagir Ahmad. Iftiquar Ahmad was younger to Sagir Ahmad and they were not on cordial terms on account of family partition. On 25.7.1980, Iftiquar Ahmad gave bath of his she buffalo in the duwari resulting in slush therein. Sagir Ahmad also used to tether his she buffalo in the same duwari. On returning from the jungle Sagir Ahmad asked Iftiquar Ahmad to clean the duwari and went away. Then Iftiquar Ahmad went inside the house and started abusing his brother''s wife. In the meanwhile Sagir Ahmad came back to his house and then an altercation took place between the two brothers. Immediately Iftiquar Ahmad ran inside the house but Sagir Ahmad caught hold of him and then ladies of the house intervened. Soon thereafter Sagir Ahmad and his son Mohd. Tahir went to the mosque for namaz. After reciting quran Imam of the masjid went inside to place the quran sharif at its proper place. In the meanwhile Iftiquar Ahmad assaulted Sagir Ahmad from back side and gave a knife blow to him hitting him at his ribs. Immediately Sagir Ahmad stood up and caught hold of Iftiquar Ahmad by his waist but Iftiquar Ahmad gave another knife blow to Sagir Ahmad hitting him at his chest, and both of them grappling went in front of the Huzra. Having sustained the fatal injuries Sagir Ahmad fell down there and Iftiquar Ahmad succeeded in making his escape good. Immediately Mohd. Tahir with the help of Islam, Naushad, Hamid and Ilyas took his injured father on a cot to the clinic of Dr. Hasmat, but Sagir Ahmad succumbed to the injuries sustained by him on the way. Then Mohd. Tahir and Ors. took the dead body of Sagir Ahmad to his house. Immediately Mohd. Tahir scribed report of the said incident and went to police station Gulavthhi situate at a distance of some four furlongs from the place of occurrence and handed over written report of the occurrence to the police there at 6.15 p.m. the same evening. The police registered a crime against the accused u/s 302, I.P.C. and made entry regarding registration of the crime in the G.D. S.I. R. S. Pundir to whom investigation of the crime was entrusted recorded statement of Mohd. Tahir and rushed to the scene of occurrence. After drawing inquest proceedings on the dead body of Sagir Ahmad the dead body in a sealed cover alongwith necessary papers was handed over to the constable for being taken to the mortuary for its post mortem.

Autopsy conducted on the dead body of Sagir Ahmad by Dr. M. P. Agrawal Medical Officer District Hospital, Bulandshahr on 26.7.1980 at 1.00 p.m. revealed below noted ante mortem injuries :

(1) Stab wound 3/4" x 1/2" x chest cavity deep left side front of upper chest 4" below outer part of left clavicle, 2" outer to nipple line 6" above left nipple at 12 O''clock position from nipple. Fresh blood coming out. Margins of wound clean out.

(2) Stab wound 1/2" x 1/4" x chest cavity deep. Left side back of chest outer side 7" exterior to left nipple at 3.30 O''clock position and 9" below acromial process of scapula. Fresh blood oozing inside. Margins of wound clean cut.

On an internal examination left lung and pleura were found lacerated. The doctor opined that death was caused due to shock and haemorrhage about 18 hours ago.

The Investigating Officer also recorded statements of the witnesses and took search of the house of Iftiquar Ahmad. He picked up blood stained trousers and shirt of Iftiquar Ahmad from inside his room in presence of his mother and public witnesses Farazuddin and Zahoor Ahmad and prepared the memo (Ext. Ka-4). He also collected blood stained pieces of cemented floor and the blood stained dari from the mosque and prepared its memo (Exts. Ka-15 and Ka-16) and did other necessary things. He got blood stained clothes of the deceased and that of the accused and blood stained dari sent to Scientific Laboratory, Agra for Serologist''s opinion if they contained human blood and if so for classification of blood group.

After completing the investigation he submitted charge-sheet against the accused.

A perusal of the Serologist''s report goes to show that blood stained shirt and trousers of the accused and that of the deceased and the blood stained dari contained human blood. Blood stained clothes of the accused contained blood of blood group ''A''. Blood stains on blood stained cemented floor pieces and vest of the deceased were found disintegrated (Ext. Ka-19).

After framing of charge against the accused the prosecution examined Mohd. Tahir (P.W. 1) and Iliyas (P.W. 3) as eye-witnesses of the occurrence. P.W. 2 Dr. M. P. Agrawal who conducted autopsy on the dead body of Sagir Ahmad proved the post mortem report stating that the ante mortem injuries found on the dead body were sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature. P.W. 4 Zahoor Ahmad who is witness of the alleged recovery of blood stained trousers and shirt of the accused from his room by the Investigating Officer stated the said fact. P.W. 5 H. M. Hari Ram Sharma, who prepared check report on the basis of the written report handed over to him by Mohd. Tahir at the police station and G.D. entry regarding thereto proved these papers (Exts. Ka-5 and Ka-6). Constable Satyavir Singh to whom dead body of Sagir Ahmad in a sealed cover alongwith necessary papers was entrusted by the Investigating Officer for its post mortem filed an affidavit narrating the said fact. P.W. 7 S.I. R. S. Pundir, who investigated the crime and after completing investigation submitted charge-sheet against the accused proved the police papers.

The accused pleaded not guilty denying the alleged occurrence altogether and stating that he was implicated in the case falsely.

On an appraisal of evidence and other material on the record the learned Sessions Judge finding the accused guilty of the charge levelled against him convicted him u/s 302, I.P.C. sentencing him thereunder as stated above.

Feeling aggrieved by the impugned judgment the accused-Appellant preferred this appeal for redress.

We have heard Sri S. P. S. Raghav learned Counsel for the Appellant and learned A.G.A. for the State Respondent and gone through the record.

After going through the impugned judgment and record of the case we find ourselves in full agreement with the findings recorded by the learned trial Judge. Both the eye-witnesses P.W. 1 Mohd. Tahir and P.W. 3 Mohd. Iliyas have consistently and cogently deposed about the murderous assault by accused Iftiquar Ahmad at his elder brother Sagir Ahmad with knife the alleged evening in the mosque. Both the witnesses, were subjected to rambling and gruelling cross-examination but nothing tangible could be elicited therefrom to shake their credibility. Medical evidence leaves no room for doubt as to the factum of the occurrence and the prosecution case with regard to its time and the weapon used in the assault also receives corroboration from it. The place of occurrence is also fixed up by recovery of the pieces of bloodstained cemented floor and bloodstained dari by the Investigating Officer from the mosque. Recovery of bloodstained shirt and trousers of accused Iftiquar Ahmad from inside his room in presence of his mother further lends support to the testimony of the two eye-witnesses that the accused grappled with the victim causing fatal injury to the deceased with knife with the result that the clothes put on by him also got bloodstained. However learned Counsel for the Appellant advanced following arguments and now we shall see if any of them has got any force in it :

Learned Counsel for the Appellant vehemently argued that since no independent witness was examined by the prosecution in its support the trial court committed grave error in placing implicit reliance on the testimony of two eye-witnesses who are closely related to the deceased. No doubt P.W. 1 Mohd. Tahir being son of the deceased was closely related to him and P.W. 3 Iliyas being cousin of the deceased''s wife was also related to him ; but since both eye-witnesses withstood the test cross-examination firmly their sworn testimony cannot be thrown away on the ground of mere relationship. Nothing could be elicited in cross-examination of the two eye-witnesses abovenamed to shake the central core of their assertions in respect of the prosecution version. There is apparently no good reason to doubt their sworn testimony nor the trial court who had an opportunity of watching the demeanour of these two eye-witnesses castigated their testimony in any manner. Moreso, if the eye-witnesses are related to the deceased it would add to the value of their testimony if found reliable because they would naturally be interested in ensuring that the real culprit is punished and not screened. It is a matter of common knowledge that generally the people who witness any incident keep themselves away from the Courts unless it is inevitable as they do not want to invite trouble for themselves. Moreover, in the instant case it was the family matter as the deceased and the accused both were real brothers and it appears that none of the independent witnesses who witnessed the occurrence wanted to incur wrath or unpleasantness of the family members by appearing as a witness against the accused. Thus, the said argument has got no life and is repelled.

Learned Counsel for the Appellant further argued that statements of both the eye-witnesses are inconsistent on some points and therefore their testimony should not be relied upon. As for example, P.W. 1 Mohd. Tahir stated that as Iftiquar Ahmad gave a blow to Sagir Ahmad with knife hitting him at his ribs he got up and caught hold of Iftiquar Ahmad tightly whereas P.W. 3 Iliyas stated that he had not caught the assailant by his waist completely. In the Court''s opinion, it has got no substance as the victim might have caught hold of the assailant tightly at one moment whereas at another moment his grip might be loose and thus both the witnesses might have stated truth as whatever they observed they deposed in their respective statements and thus virtually there was'' no real inconsistency in the statements of two eye-witnesses. Thus, the said argument advanced by the Appellant''s learned Counsel too does not hold water and is rejected.

In the instant case, F.I.R. of the occurrence was lodged by Mohd. Tahir, son of the deceased at the police station so promptly that virtually there was no time for any confabulation or consultation to spin out a false story. Testimony of the two eye-witnesses stands corroborated by the F.I.R. lodged at the police station promptly as the alleged incident took place at about 5.45 p.m. and the F.I.R. was lodged at the police station situated at a distance of some four furlongs at 6.15 p.m. Learned trial Judge has written an elaborate judgment giving sound reasoning for holding the accused guilty of the charge levelled against him.

On a conspectus of the evidence on record and the circumstances attending the case we are of the view that the trial court was perfectly justified in believing the prosecution version and evidence against the accused. The appeal has no merit and is liable to be dismissed.

The appeal is hereby dismissed. Conviction of accused Iftiquar Ahmad u/s 302, I.P.C. and sentence of imprisonment for life awarded thereunder are hereby affirmed. Accused Iftiquar Ahmad is on bail. His bail is hereby cancelled. Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bulandshahr, is directed to get accused-Appellant Iftiquar Ahmad arrested and sent him to jail to serve out the sentence imposed upon him.

Office is directed to send copy of the judgment with the record of the case to the Court concerned immediately for necessary compliance under intimation to this Court within two months from today.