LAW FOR ALL

Section 96 IPC - right of private defence = whether the right of private defence is still available to the appellants when they chased Prabhat near Durga-ki-Dhani and inflicted lathi blows on him? We have already noted the evidence of PWs 7, 8 and 10 which clearly established that Prabhat (since deceased) was not present at the place where Rameshwar was assaulted. It is also seen that after inflicting injuries on the person of Rameshwar, the appellants ran towards Prabhat, who was standing 10 steps away from the place of incident. It is further seen from their evidence that after seeing the incident relating to the death of Rameshwar, Prabhat started running towards Durga-ki-Dhani and he was chased by the accused persons and they inflicted lathi blows on his person. In such a situation, we are of the view that the appellants have no right to invoke the right of self defence by chasing Prabhat and causing fatal injuries on him. In other words, the reasonable apprehension has disappeared when they noticed that Prabhat was running away from the scene in order to escape, in such circumstances though the appellants were entitled to the plea of private defence insofar as the death of Ramehwar is concerned, they are not justified in availing the same for the cause of death of Prabhat. On the other hand, they exceeded their limit and the materials placed by the prosecution clearly show that they chased Prabhat at some distance near Durga-Ki-Dhani, pushed him down and inflicted several blows with lathis due to which he died. In such circumstances, the trial Court was justified in convicting the appellants under Section 302 read with Section 34 of IPC and sentencing them to suffer RI for life. Taking note of all these aspects, we are of the view that the High Court was fully justified in confirming the order of conviction and sentence insofar as the present appellants and dismissing the appeal in respect of them. 15) In the light of the above discussion, we find no merit in the appeal and the same is accordingly dismissed. We wish to record our appreciation for the assistance rendered by Mr. Kanhaiya Priyadarshi, learned amicus curiae in putting forth the case of the appellants.