IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.1315 OF 2002

Hetram      ...Appellant(s)

Versus

State of Madhya Pradesh      ...Respondent(s)

With Criminal Appeal No.1321 of 2002

O  R  D  E  R

Heard learned counsel for the parties.

Twenty two persons were put on trial.  Out of them eight persons, namely,  Prakash  (A-8),  Shyam  (A-10),  Ratanlal  (A-13),  Naresh  (A-14),  Bhagirath  (A-15),  

Keshav  (A-20),  Babulal  (A-21)  and  Totaram  (A-22)  were  acquitted  by  the  Trial  Court.   Remaining fourteen persons  were convicted under  Section 302/149 of  the  

Indian Penal Code [for short, `I.P.C.'] and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for  life and to pay fine of Rs.100/-; in default, to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a  

period of three months.  They were further convicted under Section 307/149 I.P.C.  and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of three years and to  

pay fine of  Rs.100/-.   The accused persons were also convicted under Section 148  I.P.C. and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of two years.  

The sentences were ordered to run concurrently.  Against the order  of acquittal of  eight persons, no appeal was preferred

....2/-

- 2 -

by the State of Madhya Pradesh whereas fourteen accused persons filed the appeal.  During the pendency of appeal before the High Court, Barelal (A-5) died and, as such,  

his appeal abated.  Out of the remaining thirteen accused, Mohan (A-1), Amar Singh  (A-2), Kailash (A-4), Sohan (A-6), Babulal (A-9), Nandu (A-12) and Dhaniram (A-17)  

were acquitted and conviction and sentence of six persons were upheld by the High  Court.  Challenging the same, these two appeals have been filed.  Criminal Appeal  

No.1315 of 2002 has been filed by Hetram and Criminal Appeal No.1321 of 2002 has  been filed by the remaining five accused, out of whom, Munna (A-11) and Kishori (A-

18) died during the pendency of the appeal.  Consequently, their appeal abated.   We have gone through the judgments of the trial Court and High Court  

and scrutinized the evidence.  From a bare perusal of post mortem report and the  statements of Dr. R. Gajwani (P.W.15) and Dr. V.K. Mehta (P.W.16), it becomes clear  

that  the  deceased,  Man  Singh  and  injured  Prem  Kumar (P.W.8)  did  not  receive  injury on any vital part of their bodies and none of the injuries found on the person of  

the deceased and P.W.8 was grievous.  In the opinion of the doctors, the injuries could  have been caused by blunt weapons.  This being the position, the appellants could not  

have been convicted under Section 302/149 I.P.C. and Section 307/149 I.P.C..  At the  highest, they could be convicted under Section 325 I.P.C.    

For  the  reason  afore-stated,  the  appellants’  conviction  under  Sections  302/149 I.P.C. and 307/149 I.P.C. is set aside and they are convicted under Section 325  

I.P.C.  The conviction of the appellants under Section 148 I.P.C. is upheld. ....3/-

- 3 -

We have been told that  the  appellants  have  remained in custody for  a  period of more than 22 months.  In our view, ends of justice would be met if  the  

sentence of imprisonment awarded to the appellants under Section 148 is reduced to  the  period  already  undergone  and  for  the  offence  under  Section  325,  they  are  

sentenced to imprisonment for the period already undergone.   The appeals are disposed of in the above terms.  The appellants, who are  

on bail, are discharged of the liability of bail bonds.

......................J.       [B.N. AGRAWAL]

......................J.       [G.S. SINGHVI]

New Delhi, April 22, 2009.