Shailesh And 3 Others vs State Of U.P.

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The accused-appellants (Shailesh, Mahadev, Kuldeep, and Raju) were convicted by the Sessions Judge, Hapur, under Sections 302 read with 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, for the murder of Babu Ram. The incident arose on 31.7.2015 when a petty dispute over payment of Rs.150/- for grocery items led to the accused surrounding the deceased and his son, beating and kicking the deceased till he died. The trial court sentenced each of the accused to life imprisonment with a fine of Rs.5,000/-.

On appeal before the Allahabad High Court, the appellants contended that no offence was committed, that there was no motive, that the death resulted from a single blow during a minor dispute, and that the witnesses had deposed falsely due to enmity. The prosecution relied on the ocular testimony of three eyewitnesses including the informant (son of the deceased) and the brother of the informant, corroborated by the post-mortem report, FIR, site plan, and the evidence of the investigating officer.

The High Court examined the prosecution evidence including the testimony of nine witnesses, the documentary exhibits, and the statements of the accused under Section 313 Cr.P.C. The accused failed to produce any defence evidence despite being afforded adequate opportunity. The court considered precedents cited by both sides before arriving at its conclusion on the appeal.

Catchwords: murder common intention eyewitness testimony life imprisonment petty dispute Section 302 IPC Section 34 IPC criminal appeal conviction Sessions Court post-mortem investigating officer