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NON-REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL APPEAL  No(s). 1546 OF 2017

SUNNY KHANNA                                       Appellant(s)                                 VERSUS

STATE OF CHHATTISGARH                              Respondent(s)

WITH

CRIMINAL APPEAL No. 1547 OF 2017  

PRADEEP SINGH @ JUGU                               Appellant(s)                                 VERSUS

STATE OF CHHATTISGARH                              Respondent(s)

J U D G M E N T

BANUMATHI, J.:

(1) These appeals arise out of judgment dated 17th November,

2014 passed by the High Court of Chhattisgarh at Bilaspur in

and by which the High Court has affirmed the conviction of the

appellants under Section 302 I.P.C. read with Section 34 I.P.C.

for the death/murder of deceased-Irfan @ Golu.  So far as the

death/murder of Anil Chandrakar, the High Court has altered the

conviction of the appellants from Section 302 I.P.C. to Section

307 I.P.C. read with Section 34 I.P.C. and sentenced them to

undergo imprisonment for seven years.

(2) Case of the prosecution is that on 21st March, 2008 at

about  10.30  pm  deceased-Irfan  @  Golu  and  decased-Anil

Chandrakar were present near Holika dahan.  An altercation took

place between deceased Irfan @ Golu and Chotu which resulted in

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heated arguments.  Thereafter, both the appellants Sunny Khanna

and Pradeep Singh @ Jugu caught hold of the deceased - Irfan @

Golu and the juvenile accused Chotu inflicted stabbed injuries

twice on abdomen and right elbow and Irfan @ Golu fell down.

At that time second deceased-Anil Chandrakar rushed to save

Irfan @ Golu and then both the appellants are alleged to have

caught hold of him and juvenile accused Chotu assaulted him by

knife and caused injuries.  Complainant-Aavez Khan (PW-1) took

the deceased persons to hospital where deceased Irfan @ Golu

was declared dead.  Deceased-Anil Chandrakar also succumbed to

injuries  on  13th April,  2008  i.e.  twenty  days  after  the

incident.  After completion of the investigation, a chargesheet

was filed against the accused under Section 302 I.P.C. read

with Section 34 I.P.C. on two counts.  

(3) Upon consideration of the evidence of Salim Khan (PW-10)

and also Aavez Khan (PW-1), the Trial Court vide judgment dated

24th January,  2009  convicted  the  appellants-accused  under

Section 302 I.P.C. read with Section 34 I.P.C. for causing

murder  of  both  the  deceased  –  Irfan  Khan  @  Golu  and  Anil

Chandrakar, and sentenced them to undergo life imprisonment.

(4) In appeal, the High Court dismissed the appeal filed by

the  appellants  thereby  confirming  the  conviction  of  the

appellants under Section 302 I.P.C. read with Section 34 I.P.C.

and affirmed the sentence of life imprisonment awarded to them

for causing murder of the deceased – Irfan Khan @ Golu.  So far

as the death of the deceased – Anil Chandrakar, as aforesaid in

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para (1) the conviction of the appellants was altered from

Section 302 I.P.C. read with Section 34 I.P.C. to Section 307

I.P.C. read with Section 34 I.P.C.

(5) In his evidence Salim Khan (PW-10) has stated that the

appellants-accused, Sunny Khanna and Pradeep Singh @ Jugu held

the deceased-Irfan @ Golu and juvenile accused, Chotu, stabbed

the deceased Irfan @ Golu with a weapon like butter knife. When

the deceased-Anil Chandrakar ran to save Irfan @ Golu, the

appellants-accused  caught  hold  of  Anil  Chandrakar  and  the

juvenile  accused,  Chotu,  stabbed  him  in  the  abdomen.   On

raising  alarm,  the  accused  fled  away  from  the  scene  of

occurrence.

(6) Mr. S. Nagamuthu, learned senior counsel appearing for the

appellant-Sunny  Khanna,  and  Mr.  Dushyant  Parashar,  learned

counsel  appearing  for  the  appellant-Pradeep  Singh  @  Jugu,

submitted that Salim Khan (PW-10) is related to the deceased

person-Irfan  @  Golu  and,  therefore,  his  solitary  testimony

ought not to have been made the basis for conviction, unless

being corroborated.  The occurrence was at the night time on

the day of Holika Dahan, a day prior to Holi and at that time

it  cannot  be  expected  of  the  prosecution  to  examine  any

independent witnesses.  Further, as pointed out by the Trial

Court as well as the High Court the evidence of Salim Khan (PW-

10) is corroborated by the medical evidence as well as by the

recovery of weapon from juvenile accused – Chotu.  When both

the courts have accepted the evidence of Aavez Khan (PW-1) as

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credible witness, we do not find any good reason to interfere

with the said concurrent findings.

(7) So far as the conviction of the appellants under Section

302  I.P.C.  regarding  the  death  of  Irfan  @  Golu,  from  the

evidence of Salim Khan (PW-10) it emerges that when preparation

was going on to burn Holika and when they were all standing

there, juvenile accused-Chotu was using abusive language and

Irfan @ Golu asked Chotu to stop using abusive language and

there was heated arguments, scuffle and sudden fight between

them.  It is in these circumstances, the juvenile accused,

Chotu, inflicted injuries on deceased-Irfan @ Golu while the

appellants  herein  held  the  deceased-Irfan  @  Golu.   As  the

occurrence took place in the course of sudden fight between the

deceased and the accused party the occurrence would fall under

sub-section (4) of Section 300 I.P.C.  The injuries inflicted

on the deceased-Irfan @ Golu is on the backside piercing the

left lung which shows the intention of the juvenile accused who

inflicted  the  injury.   Keeping  in  view  the  nature  of  the

injuries and considering the fact that the appellants-accused

had not taken undue advantage of the deceased and in the facts

and circumstances of the case, the conviction of the appellants

under  Section  302  I.P.C.  read  with  Section  34  I.P.C.  is

modified as the one under Section 304 Part-I I.P.C.  It is

submitted that both the appellants have undergone imprisonment

for more than ten years.

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(8) In  the  result,  the  conviction  of  the  appellants  under

Section 302 I.P.C. read with Section 34 I.P.C. is modified to

Section 304 Part-I I.P.C. and the sentence of life imprisonment

awarded to the appellants is reduced to the period already

undergone by each of the accused.

(9) The appeals are partly allowed.  The appellants are on

bail.  Their bail bonds shall stand discharged.   

..........................J.                 (R. BANUMATHI)

..........................J.         (INDIRA BANERJEE)

NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 4, 2018.