{"id":209235,"date":"2008-07-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-07-14T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/the-state-of-bihar-vs-md-azimuddin-on-15-july-2008"},"modified":"2016-06-26T17:40:06","modified_gmt":"2016-06-26T12:10:06","slug":"the-state-of-bihar-vs-md-azimuddin-on-15-july-2008","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/the-state-of-bihar-vs-md-azimuddin-on-15-july-2008","title":{"rendered":"The State Of Bihar vs Md. Azimuddin on 15 July, 2008"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"docsource_main\">Patna High Court<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_title\">The State Of Bihar vs Md. Azimuddin on 15 July, 2008<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_author\">Author: Shiva Kirti Singh<\/div>\n<pre>                                             DEATH REFERANCE No.11 OF 2006\n\n\n                    THE STATE OF BIHAR----------------------------------------------------------------Appellant.\n                                                           Versus\n                    MD. AZIMUDDIN---------------------------------------------------------------------Respondent.\n                                                            With\n\n                                                CR. APP (DB) No.1225 OF 2006\n\n                    MD.AZIMUDDIN------------------------------------------------------------------------Appellant.\n                                                            Versus\n                    STATE OF BIHAR---------------------------------------------------------------------Respondent.\n\n                                                             ------------\n<\/pre>\n<p>               Reference made by Sri Baleshwar Sharma, Additional Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court<br \/>\n               No.1, Supaul vide Letter No.264 dated 15.12.2006 and appeal against the Judgment and<br \/>\n               Order dated 18th of November, 2006 passed in Sessions Trial No.165 of 1996.<\/p>\n<p>                                                             &#8212;&#8212;&#8211;\n<\/p>\n<pre>               For the Appellant         : M\/s. Arun and Sanjay Kumar @ S.K. Advocates.\n               For the State             : Mr. Ashwani Kumar Sinha, A.P.P.\n\n                                                               --------\n\n\n                                                          PRESENT\n\n                                   THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SHIVA KIRTI SINGH\n                                  THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ABHIJIT SINHA\n\nShiva Kirti Singh &amp;\nAbhijit Sinha,JJ.                  The Death Reference and the Criminal Appeal under consideration arise out\n\n<\/pre>\n<p>               of the same Judgment and Order dated 18th of November, 2006 passed in Sessions Trial<\/p>\n<p>               No.165 of 1996(arising out of Raghopur P.S. Case No.101 of 1995, corresponding to G.R.<\/p>\n<p>               No.509 of 1995) by learned Addditional Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court No.1, Supaul ,<\/p>\n<p>               whereby appellant Md. Azimuddin aged about 52 years was convicted under Section 302<\/p>\n<p>               I.P.C. and sentenced to death.\n<\/p>\n<p>               2.                The substance of the prosecution case as contained in the fardbeyan (Ext.2) of<\/p>\n<p>               P.W.6, Shahnawaz Khan, a son of the deceased, Md. Shamshad, is that on 28.9.1995 at<\/p>\n<p>               about 7.15 P.M. the deceased came to his house and asked the informant to serve him meal as<\/p>\n<p>               his wife had gone to her parent\u201fs house. While the informant, P.W.6 was taking out meal,<\/p>\n<p>               the appellant, Md. Azimuddin along with Nooruddin (absconding accused) came in the house<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                               2<\/span><\/p>\n<p>and questioned Md. Shamshad(deceased) as to why he had got \u201eMadarsa\u201f belonging to Md.<\/p>\n<p>Azimuddin demolished . The appellant was armed with pistol and bhujali (sharp cutting and<\/p>\n<p>penetrating weapon).      Md. Shamshad denied the allegations.      The appellant asked the<\/p>\n<p>deceased to come for talk at the house of Md. Illiyas (P.W.5). The deceased went out with<\/p>\n<p>the accused and the informant (P.W.6) followed them. On reaching near the house of Motiur<\/p>\n<p>Rahman (P.W.2), Md. Azimuddin abused Motiur Rahman in loud voice and also abused Md.<\/p>\n<p>Shamshad(deceased) that he had got his house(Madarsa) demolished . The informant was at<\/p>\n<p>a distance of about 10 yards behind them near the shop of Md. Mannan. Two other accused,<\/p>\n<p>namely, Md. Zamrul and Bhola Mian of same village were also standing near the house of<\/p>\n<p>Md. Illiyas.     While abusing, suddenly Azimuddin cried &#8220;Allah Ho Akbar&#8221; and shot at Md.<\/p>\n<p>Shamshad with a country made pistol causing injuries on chest. Md. Shamshad fell down.<\/p>\n<p>Thereafter Azimuddin further assaulted with bhujali causing injuries in the left hand and on<\/p>\n<p>the left side of the head of the deceased. Md. Shamshad died at the place of occurrence. The<\/p>\n<p>other accused Md. Nooruddin was helping the appellant by flashing torch light on the body<\/p>\n<p>of Md. Shamshad (deceased). When the informant wanted to go near his father, the appellant<\/p>\n<p>rushed towards him and shouted to catch and kill the informant. The informant ran back and<\/p>\n<p>hid in the house of Md. Mannan. The appellant and Nooruddin went there to search the<\/p>\n<p>informant but Anwari Begum (P.W.7), wife of Md. Mannan, came down and hid the<\/p>\n<p>informant in her room and the accused persons went back to the house of Motiur Rahman<\/p>\n<p>where they hurled abuses and tried to break open the door of his house but on being<\/p>\n<p>unsuccessful they went to the house of Md. Illiyas. The house of Md. Illiyas was already<\/p>\n<p>surrounded by Md. Zamrul and Bhola Mian. They wanted to break open the door of the<\/p>\n<p>house of Md. Illiyas but in the mean time they heard the arrival of police party and hence fled<\/p>\n<p>away towards south. The police party was accompanied by Sub-Inspector of Police, R.K.<\/p>\n<p>Singh (P.W.8) who recorded the fardbeyan of the informant (P.W.6) and took up<\/p>\n<p>investigation.\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                               3<\/span><\/p>\n<p>3.             The Investigating Officer (P.W.8) inspected the place of occurrence, prepared<\/p>\n<p>the inquest report of the deceased and sent the dead body for post-mortem examination.<\/p>\n<p>Subsequently, he recorded the statement of witnesses, obtained the post-mortem report and<\/p>\n<p>after completing investigation submitted chargesheet against the appellant and three others<\/p>\n<p>for offences under Sections 302\/34 I.P.C. and Section 27 of the Arms Act. Initially the<\/p>\n<p>appellant and Md. Zamrul and Bhola Mian were shown as absconders in the chargesheet and<\/p>\n<p>the case progressed only in respect of co-accused, Nooruddin. Later the appellant was taken<\/p>\n<p>into custody in connection with another case and then remanded in this case. His case which<\/p>\n<p>had been separated earlier was amalgamated and it appears that later Md. Nooruddin also<\/p>\n<p>absconded and only the appellant could be put on trial. During the trial he denied the charges<\/p>\n<p>framed against him. His defence is only of false implication as appears from suggestion<\/p>\n<p>given to the witnesses. It was also the defence of the appellant that the deceased, Md.<\/p>\n<p>Shamshad was killed by his brothers due to family dispute and the appellant has been<\/p>\n<p>implicated by his enemies by taking the informant in collusion.        The defence has not<\/p>\n<p>examined any witness nor has brought on record any documentary evidence.<\/p>\n<p>4.             The prosecution in order to prove the charge has examined in total 9<\/p>\n<p>witnesses. P.W.1, Moijur Rahman, P.W.2, Motiur Rahman, P.W.3, Md. Mannan, P.W.4,<\/p>\n<p>Abdul Rashid and P.W.5, Md. Illiyas are co-villagers and their houses are in the vicinity of<\/p>\n<p>the place of the occurrence. They have deposed in support of the prosecution case by<\/p>\n<p>claiming to have seen the entire occurrence, or to have seen part of the occurrence after they<\/p>\n<p>heard loud abuses hurled by the accused persons and some of the witnesses saw the later part<\/p>\n<p>of the occurrence after the deceased had been shot. They heard the sound of firing and then<\/p>\n<p>saw the occurrence thereafter in which they saw the appellant inflicting injury on the neck<\/p>\n<p>and other parts of the body of the deceased with a bhujali, a sharp cutting weapon. P.W.6,<\/p>\n<p>Md. Shahnawaz Khan is son of the deceased and informant of this case.      He has claimed to<\/p>\n<p>be an eye witness of the alleged occurrence and has supported the case fully against this<\/p>\n<p>appellant as alleged in the F.I.R. P.W.7, Anwari Begum is wife of P.W.3, Md. Mannan, and<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                                 4<\/span><\/p>\n<p>as claimed by the informant in the fardbeyan, she has supported his case that when he was<\/p>\n<p>chased by the accused persons he was given shelter by P.W.7 who allowed him to enter<\/p>\n<p>into her house and hide himself. P.W.8 is the Investigating Officer of the case, Sub-<\/p>\n<p>inspector of Police, Randhir Kumar Singh and P.W.9 is Dr. Ajay Kumar Manjhi who<\/p>\n<p>conducted autopsy on the dead body of the deceased and found one fire arm injury with<\/p>\n<p>charring margin which in his opinion was from close range and also two incised injuries, one<\/p>\n<p>on the neck and the other on the wrist. Some of the important documents on record are<\/p>\n<p>Ext.2, fardbeyan, Ext.3, the formal F.I.R., Ext.4, the inquest report, Ext.5, the chargesheet<\/p>\n<p>and Ext.6, the post-mortem report.\n<\/p>\n<p>5.             Learned counsel for the appellant has criticized the evidence of P.Ws.1 and 2,<\/p>\n<p>who are co-villagers that they had claimed before the I.O. that they came after hearing the<\/p>\n<p>sound of firing. Against P.W.4, Abdul Rashid, it was submitted that in his earlier statement<\/p>\n<p>to the I.O. to which his attention was drawn during cross examination, this witness had<\/p>\n<p>admitted to be at the Masjid and that he had received information of the occurrence there<\/p>\n<p>and then he came to the P.O. Regarding P.W.6, the informant, it was submitted that he has<\/p>\n<p>made improvement upon his earlier version in the fardbeyan by adding the names of co-<\/p>\n<p>accused, Bhola Mian and Zamrul amongst the names of accused who had come to the house<\/p>\n<p>of the informant and the deceased at the initial stage. The said criticism is correct but it is of<\/p>\n<p>no material consequence so far as prosecution case against this appellant is concerned. The<\/p>\n<p>initial case of the prosecution in the fardbeyan was that this appellant and Nooruddin had<\/p>\n<p>come inside the house of the deceased and Bhola alongwith Zamrul were near the place of<\/p>\n<p>occurrence and guarding the house of Md. Illiyas and Motiur Rahman. The case against<\/p>\n<p>appellant has remained consistent even during deposition of the informant in court.<\/p>\n<p>6.             It is unnecessary to discuss the earlier criticism levelled against particular<\/p>\n<p>witnesses in greater detail because it is clear that the informant had seen the occurrence with<\/p>\n<p>his own eyes and has consistently deposed that it was this appellant who fired due to which<\/p>\n<p>his father fell down and thereafter it was this appellant who caused further injury to his father<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                                5<\/span><\/p>\n<p>with bhujali. This version is supported by another eye witness, P.W.3, Md. Mannan, whose<\/p>\n<p>house stands in close vicinity and who saw the occurrence from the southern window after<\/p>\n<p>hearing the commotion and abuses. P.W.3 has not been cross examined in respect of his<\/p>\n<p>earlier statement before the I.O. and there is nothing in his cross examination to discredit his<\/p>\n<p>testimony as an eye witness. The Investigating Officer (I.O.), P.W.8, has given the details of<\/p>\n<p>the investigation conducted by him. Further,        he has disclosed that there were 13 cases<\/p>\n<p>pending against the appellant who had absconded in some of those cases. He has also stated<\/p>\n<p>in paragraph 27 of his deposition that he had found blood mark on the earth at the place of<\/p>\n<p>occurrence. From the I.O. it has been taken in cross examination that the distance of Supaul<\/p>\n<p>from Raghopur P.S. is about 35 kilometers and both are connected by metalled road. The<\/p>\n<p>time taken to cover the distance by bus and taxi is 1 to 1 \u00bd hours. The medical evidence as<\/p>\n<p>deposed by Dr. A.K. Manjhi, P.W.9, shows the presence of anti mortem injuries on the dead<\/p>\n<p>body of the deceased. The incised wound on the left lateral side of face and extending to the<\/p>\n<p>neck behind the left ear cutting skin, muscles , left mandible bone and other major blood<\/p>\n<p>vessels was of the size of 6&#8243;x 3&#8243;x 3&#8243; . The other incised wound on the left lateral side of the<\/p>\n<p>wrist joint cutting skin vessels tendon etc. was of the size of 1 \u00bd&#8221; x 1&#8243; x 1&#8243; and the third<\/p>\n<p>injury was an oval shaped wound with blackening and charring margin of the size 3\/4&#8243; x 1\/2&#8243;<\/p>\n<p>x thoracic cavity deep over the anterior aspect of the left side of the chest wall above the<\/p>\n<p>mammary gland. In the opinion of the doctor the cause of death was haemorrhage and shock<\/p>\n<p>leading to cardiac respiratory failure due to injury no.1 caused by sharp cutting weapon, may<\/p>\n<p>be by bhujali. Injury No.3 on the left side of the chest was by fire arms. The doctor<\/p>\n<p>recovered 11 pellets from the dead body which were preserved. In the opinion of the doctor<\/p>\n<p>the injuries found on the dead body of the deceased were sufficient to cause death in the<\/p>\n<p>ordinary course of nature. The post- mortem examination was conducted on 29.9.1995 at 8<\/p>\n<p>A.M and the time elapsed since death was estimated to be within 24 hours.<\/p>\n<p>7.             Learned counsel for the appellant has submitted that although the appellant<\/p>\n<p>was charged for the offence under Section 302 read with Section 34 I.P.C. but ultimately he<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                                 6<\/span><\/p>\n<p>has been convicted for the offence under Section 302 simplicitor and hence the conviction is<\/p>\n<p>bad in law.\n<\/p>\n<p>8.             Learned counsel for the State has replied that such irregularity in framing the<\/p>\n<p>charge cannot affect the conviction unless it has caused prejudice to the accused and in the<\/p>\n<p>present case the prosecution is consistent in alleging against the appellant that he fired shot<\/p>\n<p>causing injury to the deceased and further caused serious injury near the neck and other<\/p>\n<p>portions of the body of the deceased. According to the learned counsel for the State Section<\/p>\n<p>464 of the Code of Criminal Procedure takes care of such irregularity in framing of charge.<\/p>\n<p>In the facts of the case, we find merit in the submissions of the learned counsel for the State.<\/p>\n<p>9.             It was next submitted on behalf of the appellant that the F.I.R. was shown to<\/p>\n<p>have been prepared on 28.9.1995 at 21.45 hours and it ought to have been              sent to the<\/p>\n<p>concerned Magistrate at Supaul which was only at a distance of 35 kilometers, on 29.9.1995<\/p>\n<p>but records of the case show that the F.I.R. was perused by the Magistrate on 30.9.1995.<\/p>\n<p>The aforesaid submission is no doubt based on the materials on record but delay of one day<\/p>\n<p>in receiving and perusal of the F.I.R. by the Magistrate itself cannot be sufficient to<\/p>\n<p>disbelieve the prosecution case unless there are other facts and the circumstances to raise<\/p>\n<p>reasonable doubts that the prosecution has taken advantage of such a delay and possibily it<\/p>\n<p>was done deliberately to ante date the fardbeyan and the F.I.R. In the present case it is found<\/p>\n<p>that police reached at the place of occurrence and recorded the fardbeyan within about one<\/p>\n<p>hour of the occurrence. According to the fardbeyan the occurrence took place on 28.9.1995<\/p>\n<p>at 7.15 P.M. (19.15 hours) and the fardbeyan was recorded on the same date at 20.20 hours at<\/p>\n<p>the place of occurrence. The alleged place of occurrence was at a distance of 4 kilometers<\/p>\n<p>from the police station and hence the fardbeyan appears to have been recorded at appropriate<\/p>\n<p>time. The inquest report (Ext.4) was prepared by the I.O. on the same date at 20.45 hours.<\/p>\n<p>According to the evidence of the I.O. the dead body was sent to Supaul for post-mortem<\/p>\n<p>examination and the post-mortem report was received by the I.O. The said report has been<\/p>\n<p>proved by the doctor, P.W.9 (Ext.6). The reading of Ext.6 shows that the dead body of the<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                                7<\/span><\/p>\n<p>deceased was received for post-mortem examination on 29.9.1995 at 7.20 A.M. in<\/p>\n<p>connection with Raghopur P.S. Case No.101 of 1995 dated 28.9.1995. The dead body was<\/p>\n<p>seen by the doctor at 7.35 A.M. and the post-mortem commenced at 8 A.M. on 29.9.1995. It<\/p>\n<p>is further found that in this case there is no scope to raise any doubt regarding identity of the<\/p>\n<p>accused persons including the appellant because they were known to the prosecution<\/p>\n<p>witnesses and the informant from before. The appellant and the prosecution party are co-<\/p>\n<p>villagers. The defence case is only of false implication and not that the occurrence took<\/p>\n<p>place at some other place or at other time. From the cross examination of the witnesses, it is<\/p>\n<p>clear that the defence has not made any serious challenge to the time and place of the<\/p>\n<p>occurrence. In such circumstances, the delay of one day in perusal of the F.I.R. by the<\/p>\n<p>Magistrate has not caused any prejudice to the prosecution case.\n<\/p>\n<p>10.            On the basis of questions put to witnesses during cross examination, it was<\/p>\n<p>submitted that some of the witnesses have indicated that on the date of occurrence the<\/p>\n<p>weather was inclement. On that account it has been submitted that the weather was bad and<\/p>\n<p>visibility must be poor and hence the claim of identification in moon lit night must be<\/p>\n<p>doubted. The occurrence took place towards the end of the month of September and weather<\/p>\n<p>during that time starts turning cold. P.W.7 has explained that the weather was bad in the<\/p>\n<p>sense that strong wind was blowing on that date but so far as conditions of the sky is<\/p>\n<p>concerned, all the witnesses are consistent that it was a moon lit night and it has come in the<\/p>\n<p>F.I.R. also that one of the co-accused was flashing a torch light at the dead body of the victim<\/p>\n<p>in order to facilitate further assault by the accused. Hence the submission that weather was<\/p>\n<p>inclement so as to effect the visibility and chance of identification does not have any<\/p>\n<p>substance. As noticed earlier, the appellant is a co-villager of the informant and witnesses<\/p>\n<p>and being known from before there could be no difficulty in identification of the appellant<\/p>\n<p>particularly when he is shown to have come inside the house of the informant and then the<\/p>\n<p>deceased accompanied him on pressure put by the appellant. In such circumstances, as<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                                 8<\/span><\/p>\n<p>already observed earlier, there is no difficulty in holding that in this case the identification of<\/p>\n<p>the appellant is not at all in doubt.\n<\/p>\n<p>11.             A serious attempt was made to take us through the deposition of the witnesses<\/p>\n<p>to show that at the time of occurrence they were in their houses or standing outside and<\/p>\n<p>hence from such long distance they could not have seen the occurrence. On this issue,<\/p>\n<p>P.W.1 appears to have been questioned about the distance of his house from the house of the<\/p>\n<p>informant to which he has replied that the said distance is 1 and 1\/2 jarib (700 yards). In<\/p>\n<p>paragraphs 1 and 2 of his deposition this witness has claimed that at the time of taking dinner<\/p>\n<p>in his house he heard hulla and came out and heard the voice of the appellant abusing<\/p>\n<p>Shamshad. Then he heard the sound of gun shot and he went there. 2 to 4 persons joined<\/p>\n<p>him. He reached near the coconut tree near the house of Motiur Rahman(P.W.2) . He saw<\/p>\n<p>Shamshad lying on the ground there and the appellant was slitting his throat with a dagger.<\/p>\n<p>However, the I.O., P.W.8, has contradicted this witness and has clarified that P.W.1 had not<\/p>\n<p>stated before him that he saw the appellant slitting the throat of Shamshad rather he had<\/p>\n<p>stated that he went near the place of occurrence after arrival of police there. Hence, P.W.1<\/p>\n<p>can only be treated as a witness corroborating the prosecution case that prior to assault the<\/p>\n<p>appellant was hurling abuses to the deceased. P.W.2 was also cross examined about the<\/p>\n<p>distance of P.O. from his house to which he has given a categorical reply that the said<\/p>\n<p>distance is only 10 to 12 yards. To similar question P.W.3 has replied that the place of<\/p>\n<p>occurrence is at a distance of 50-60 steps from his house and no house exists in between.<\/p>\n<p>P.W.4 has stated before the I.O. that at the time of occurrence he was at the masjid where he<\/p>\n<p>received information about the occurrence. That masjid according to this witness was at a<\/p>\n<p>distance of 50-60 yards from the place of occurrence. This witness claims to have seen part<\/p>\n<p>of the occurrence from the distance of 10-12 yards from near the house of P.W.2, Motihur<\/p>\n<p>Rahman.     P.W.5, Md. Illiyas , has given the distance of his house from the place of<\/p>\n<p>occurrence as only 15 steps and according to the informant, P.W.6, his house is at a distance<\/p>\n<p>of 20-25 steps from the place of occurrence. According to P.W.7, Anwari Begum, her house<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                                 9<\/span><\/p>\n<p>is at a distance of 10-15 steps from the place of occurrence. On a careful perusal of the<\/p>\n<p>distance given by the witnesses, as noticed above, it appears that the houses of these<\/p>\n<p>witnesses except P.W.1 are located very close from the place of occurrence from where they<\/p>\n<p>could have easily heard the noise as well as abuses and on coming out from their houses or<\/p>\n<p>through windows they could have witnessed the occurrence itself.<\/p>\n<p>12.            It is useful to notice that all the witnesses are co-villagers and some of them<\/p>\n<p>have disclosed relationship with this appellant whereas some are related to the deceased also.<\/p>\n<p>P.W.7, Motiur Rahman, has disclosed that he is the brother-in-law of the deceased and own<\/p>\n<p>cousin of the appellant. P.W.3, Md. Mannan, has claimed to be mausera bhai(cousin) of the<\/p>\n<p>deceased. P.W.4, Abdul Rashid, has accepted to be a distant relation of the deceased.<\/p>\n<p>P.W.5, Md. Illiyas, has disclosed that the appellant is cousin of his wife. P.W.7, Anwari<\/p>\n<p>Begum, as noticed earlier, is wife of P.W.3.        The defence failed to bring on record any<\/p>\n<p>documentary evidence to show past litigation or enmity specially with the informant and<\/p>\n<p>hence there is no merit in the argument that the appellant may have been implicated on<\/p>\n<p>account of previous enmity.     On a careful consideration of all the materials on record we<\/p>\n<p>find that the trial court has committed no error in convicting the appellant for the charge<\/p>\n<p>under Section 302 I.P.C.\n<\/p>\n<p>13.            On behalf of the appellant it was submitted that the special reasons given by<\/p>\n<p>the trial court for awarding death sentence to the appellant are not good reasons for awarding<\/p>\n<p>the extreme penalty of death and there are no special circumstances to treat the offence in<\/p>\n<p>question as rarest of rare so as to warrant death penalty to the appellant.<\/p>\n<p>14.            There is no difficulty that the law as held by the Constitution Bench of the<\/p>\n<p>Apex Court in the case of Bachan Singh Vs. State of Punjab, AIR 1980 S.C. 898 requires<\/p>\n<p>special reasons for awarding death penalty. This is also the mandate of Section 354(b) of the<\/p>\n<p>Cr.P.C. It is also well settled in law that the death penalty should be awarded only in the<\/p>\n<p>rarest of the rare cases where the judicial conscience is         convinced that award of life<\/p>\n<p>imprisonment cannot be adequate punishment for the crime in question. Applying the same<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                               10<\/span><\/p>\n<p>settled principles to the facts of the case we find that as per prosecution case itself, the<\/p>\n<p>appellant was in a highly agitated state of mind because he believed that his house (madarsa)<\/p>\n<p>had been forcibly broken down by some co-villagers and the deceased was a party to such an<\/p>\n<p>act. On account of such agitation the appellant has caused the death of one person and such<\/p>\n<p>crime cannot be said to be the rarest of rare cases. The only aggravating circumstance<\/p>\n<p>against the appellant is the manner of assault. After causing a fire arm injury in the chest he<\/p>\n<p>felt dissatisfied and proceeded to inflict serious cut injury near the neck of the deceased and<\/p>\n<p>also on the left wrist. Apparently, he wanted to ensure that there was no chance of survival<\/p>\n<p>of the deceased. It is apparent that on the ground of such cruelty and his attempt to chase the<\/p>\n<p>informant also with a view to assault or kill him, the learned trial court has awarded death<\/p>\n<p>sentence to the appellant. The cruelty in the manner of committing the crime in this case is,<\/p>\n<p>no doubt, some- what shocking to the conscience. But that by itself, in the facts of the case,<\/p>\n<p>should not bring the offence in the category of the rarest of rare cases and hence in our view<\/p>\n<p>it is not a case where death penalty alone can be sufficient for punishment.<\/p>\n<p>15.             Hence, while maintaining the conviction of the appellant, we commute the<\/p>\n<p>death sentence into life imprisonment. With this modification in the sentence, the criminal<\/p>\n<p>appeal preferred by the appellant is dismissed and the Death Reference is answered in<\/p>\n<p>negative.\n<\/p>\n<p>                                                                    (Shiva Kirti Singh,J)<\/p>\n<p>                                                                    (Abhijit Sinha,J)<\/p>\n<p>Patna High Court, Patna.\n<\/p>\n<p>Dated:The 15th of July, 2008.\n<\/p>\n<p>Pradeep Srivastava\/A.F.R.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Patna High Court The State Of Bihar vs Md. Azimuddin on 15 July, 2008 Author: Shiva Kirti Singh DEATH REFERANCE No.11 OF 2006 THE STATE OF BIHAR&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-Appellant. Versus MD. AZIMUDDIN&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;Respondent. With CR. APP (DB) No.1225 OF 2006 MD.AZIMUDDIN&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;Appellant. Versus STATE OF BIHAR&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;Respondent. &#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212; Reference made by Sri Baleshwar Sharma, Additional Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-209235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-high-court","category-patna-high-court"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The State Of Bihar vs Md. 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