Balkar Singh & Another, Shamsher Singh and Others Vs. The State of Punjab
EmailAppeal: Criminal Appeal No.181 of 1982 ETC
(From the Judgment and Order dated 6.10.81 of the Punjab & Haryana High Court in Crl. A.No.218-DB of 1981)
(From the Judgment and Order dated 6.10.81 of the Punjab & Haryana High Court in Crl. A.No.218-DB of 1981)
(With Criminal Appeal Nos.298-99 of 1982)
Petitioner: Balkar Singh & Another, Shamsher Singh and Others
Respondent: The State of Punjab
Apeal: Criminal Appeal No.181 of 1982 ETC
(From the Judgment and Order dated 6.10.81 of the Punjab & Haryana High Court in Crl. A.No.218-DB of 1981)
(From the Judgment and Order dated 6.10.81 of the Punjab & Haryana High Court in Crl. A.No.218-DB of 1981)
(With Criminal Appeal Nos.298-99 of 1982)
Judges: K. JAYACHANDRA REDDY & YOGESHWAR DAYAL, JJ.
Date of Judgment: Apr 05, 1994
Appearances:
Mr. P.C. Jain, Mr. Sushil Kumar, Senior Advocates, Mr. S.K. Mehta, Mr. R.P. Wadhwani, Advocates with them for the Appellants.
Mr. A.S. Sohal, Advocate for Mr. R.S. Suri, Advocate for the Respondent.
Head Note:
CRIMINAL LAW
Indian Penal Code, 1860:
Sections 148, 449, 302, 302/149 and 326 – Murder – Injuries caused by sharp-edged weapons – Eye witness evidence corrobo rated by medical evidence – Plea of self defence rejected – Decision of High Court up
Held:
Appeals dismissed.
Held –
JUDGEMENT:
K.JAYACHANDRA REDDY, J. :
1. These appeals arise out of the judgment of the High Court of Punjab & Haryana and they are filed by original accused nos. 1 to 5. All of them were convicted by the trial court under Sections 148, 449, 302, 302/149, 326 and 326/149 I.P.C. The appeals preferred by them were dismissed by the High Court.
2. The prosecution case is as follows:
A-1, Shamsher Singh is the father of A-2, Narinder Singh and A-3 Palvinder Singh and they are residents of Village Balia Manjpur. A-4, Balkar Singh and his brother A-5, Avtar Singh are residents of Village Bhangwan and their father was the brother-in-law of A-1. One Piara Singh, P.W.4 and A-1 were living in the adjoining houses. The marriages of two daughters of Piara Singh, P.W.4 were performed in his house on 9.12.1979. The brides were sent off with the marriage parties at about 4 P.M. Thereafter the ladies in the house of P.W.4 started singing and dancing as customary at about 9 P.M. At that time P.W.4, his brothers, Pritam Kaur, his wife and others were present in the house. At about 11.30 P.M.,A-2 to A-5 who were present in the adjoining house of A-1 also sang a filthy folk song to the hearing of the ladies. P.W.4 called A-1 and asked him to check his sons as the ladies of every house in the village have to be equally respected by all. A-1 retortedsaying that his sons were in his own house. Simultaneously A-2 armed with a kirpan and A-3 armed with a spike dang scaled over the intervening wall which is just four feet high and entered the house of P.W.4 and A-2 inflicted a blow on the cheek of P.W.4 with the kirpan. A-3 also inflicted some injuries. At that time P.W.3, Suba Singh and others were present there. They raised alarm and the accused left the place. P.Ws. then arranged a cart and took Piara Singh, P.W.4 in an injured condition to the hospital at Mannawala. Gurdip Singh, the son of P.W.4 was at that time at the bahak in the fields. Suba Singh went and informed Gurdip Singh about Piara Singh being injured. Gurdip Singh accompanied by P.W.3 came to his house at about 2 A.M. on the same night. Gurdip Singh thereupon asked A-2 saying that they have created unhappy incident on the day of the marriages of his sisters for which A-2 retorted saying that they have already taught a lesson to his father. Then all the accused came inside the house of Piara Singh armed with sharp-edged weapons scaling over the intervening wall and they inflicted some injuries and the deceased Gurdip Singh fell down and when P.W.3 tried to intervene, he was also beaten up. Thereupon they carried the fallen Gurdip Singh into their compound and then all of them inflicted a number of injuries on him as a result of which he died. P.W.3, Suba Singh reached Police Station, Jandiala and gave an F.I.R. and the case was registered. The Police Officer reached the place of occurrence, held the inquest over the dead body and sent the same for post-mortem. The accused were arrested and blood-stained weapons were seized. Dr. Paramjit Kaur P.W.1, who conducted the post-mortem on the dead body of Gurdip Singh, found as many as 24 incised injuries all over the body which were caused by sharp-edged weapons. Dr. Satish Chander P.W.2, who examined Piara Singh, found on him three incised wounds and an abrasion. Likewise on Suba Singh, P.W.3, the same doctor found an incised wound on the outer aspect of the right wrist. The prosecution relied on the evidence of P.Ws. 3, 4, and 5 who are the eye-witnesses to prove its case. In respect of earlier incident the evidence of Piara Singh, P.W.4 was corroborated by other evidence. The plea of the accused was one of denial. A-1, however, took the plea that on the alleged day of occurrence at about midnight, P.W.3 armed with a dang and the deceased armed with a kirpan entered his house and started abusing him saying that his son Narinder Singh has caused injuries to Piara Singh, the father of the deceased. According to him, P.W.3 and deceased started inflicting injuries on him, his wife and his daughter and to defend themselves, he took up a kirpan and his wife took up a gandasi and both of them used the same in self-defence and caused injuries to Suba Singh, P.W.3 and Gurdip Singh deceased. The other accused pleaded that they are innocent and they were not at the scene of occurrence. The defence examined D.Ws. 1 and 2 who spoke about certain aspects.
3. The evidence of P.Ws. 3, 4 and 5 is to the effect that because A-2 and other accused sang filthy song, Piara Singh objected to the same and he was attacked by the accused who inflicted injuries on him. Then about the second part of the occurrence, their evidence is to the effect that all the accused came andattacked P.W.3 and the deceased in the first instance and then took the fallen deceased to their compound and then again all the accused inflicted a number of injuries whereupon the deceased died instantaneously.
4. Both the courts have discussed the evidence of these
eye-witnesses in detail and have accepted the same.
5. Learned counsel for the appellants, however, submitted that the plea set up by Shamsher Singh, A-1 is probable and the same should have been accepted. We see no force in this submission. A-1, as a matter of fact, was examined one week later by the doctor for his injuries and the doctor found one infected incised wound on the right elbow and one lacerated wound on back of left elbow and one abrasion on the right knee and one superficial abrasion on the forehead. There is not even a single injury which could have been caused by kirpan and the injuries on his wife and daughter also are superficial. Therefore the plea that P.W.3 and the deceased entered the house of A-1 and inflicted injuries with kirpan and dang on the face of it appears to be untrustworthy. On the other hand the fact that there are so many injuries on the deceased person would show that a number of persons inflicted the injuries and the medical evidence corroborates the evidence of P.Ws. 3, 4 and 5 amply. In respect of the first occurrence also there was a trial and conviction and all the appeals were disposed of by the High Court by a common judgment. The High Court has given cogent and convincing reasons for dismissing the appeals. We see no grounds to interfere. Accordingly all these appeals are dismissed.
1. These appeals arise out of the judgment of the High Court of Punjab & Haryana and they are filed by original accused nos. 1 to 5. All of them were convicted by the trial court under Sections 148, 449, 302, 302/149, 326 and 326/149 I.P.C. The appeals preferred by them were dismissed by the High Court.
2. The prosecution case is as follows:
A-1, Shamsher Singh is the father of A-2, Narinder Singh and A-3 Palvinder Singh and they are residents of Village Balia Manjpur. A-4, Balkar Singh and his brother A-5, Avtar Singh are residents of Village Bhangwan and their father was the brother-in-law of A-1. One Piara Singh, P.W.4 and A-1 were living in the adjoining houses. The marriages of two daughters of Piara Singh, P.W.4 were performed in his house on 9.12.1979. The brides were sent off with the marriage parties at about 4 P.M. Thereafter the ladies in the house of P.W.4 started singing and dancing as customary at about 9 P.M. At that time P.W.4, his brothers, Pritam Kaur, his wife and others were present in the house. At about 11.30 P.M.,A-2 to A-5 who were present in the adjoining house of A-1 also sang a filthy folk song to the hearing of the ladies. P.W.4 called A-1 and asked him to check his sons as the ladies of every house in the village have to be equally respected by all. A-1 retortedsaying that his sons were in his own house. Simultaneously A-2 armed with a kirpan and A-3 armed with a spike dang scaled over the intervening wall which is just four feet high and entered the house of P.W.4 and A-2 inflicted a blow on the cheek of P.W.4 with the kirpan. A-3 also inflicted some injuries. At that time P.W.3, Suba Singh and others were present there. They raised alarm and the accused left the place. P.Ws. then arranged a cart and took Piara Singh, P.W.4 in an injured condition to the hospital at Mannawala. Gurdip Singh, the son of P.W.4 was at that time at the bahak in the fields. Suba Singh went and informed Gurdip Singh about Piara Singh being injured. Gurdip Singh accompanied by P.W.3 came to his house at about 2 A.M. on the same night. Gurdip Singh thereupon asked A-2 saying that they have created unhappy incident on the day of the marriages of his sisters for which A-2 retorted saying that they have already taught a lesson to his father. Then all the accused came inside the house of Piara Singh armed with sharp-edged weapons scaling over the intervening wall and they inflicted some injuries and the deceased Gurdip Singh fell down and when P.W.3 tried to intervene, he was also beaten up. Thereupon they carried the fallen Gurdip Singh into their compound and then all of them inflicted a number of injuries on him as a result of which he died. P.W.3, Suba Singh reached Police Station, Jandiala and gave an F.I.R. and the case was registered. The Police Officer reached the place of occurrence, held the inquest over the dead body and sent the same for post-mortem. The accused were arrested and blood-stained weapons were seized. Dr. Paramjit Kaur P.W.1, who conducted the post-mortem on the dead body of Gurdip Singh, found as many as 24 incised injuries all over the body which were caused by sharp-edged weapons. Dr. Satish Chander P.W.2, who examined Piara Singh, found on him three incised wounds and an abrasion. Likewise on Suba Singh, P.W.3, the same doctor found an incised wound on the outer aspect of the right wrist. The prosecution relied on the evidence of P.Ws. 3, 4, and 5 who are the eye-witnesses to prove its case. In respect of earlier incident the evidence of Piara Singh, P.W.4 was corroborated by other evidence. The plea of the accused was one of denial. A-1, however, took the plea that on the alleged day of occurrence at about midnight, P.W.3 armed with a dang and the deceased armed with a kirpan entered his house and started abusing him saying that his son Narinder Singh has caused injuries to Piara Singh, the father of the deceased. According to him, P.W.3 and deceased started inflicting injuries on him, his wife and his daughter and to defend themselves, he took up a kirpan and his wife took up a gandasi and both of them used the same in self-defence and caused injuries to Suba Singh, P.W.3 and Gurdip Singh deceased. The other accused pleaded that they are innocent and they were not at the scene of occurrence. The defence examined D.Ws. 1 and 2 who spoke about certain aspects.
3. The evidence of P.Ws. 3, 4 and 5 is to the effect that because A-2 and other accused sang filthy song, Piara Singh objected to the same and he was attacked by the accused who inflicted injuries on him. Then about the second part of the occurrence, their evidence is to the effect that all the accused came andattacked P.W.3 and the deceased in the first instance and then took the fallen deceased to their compound and then again all the accused inflicted a number of injuries whereupon the deceased died instantaneously.
4. Both the courts have discussed the evidence of these
eye-witnesses in detail and have accepted the same.
5. Learned counsel for the appellants, however, submitted that the plea set up by Shamsher Singh, A-1 is probable and the same should have been accepted. We see no force in this submission. A-1, as a matter of fact, was examined one week later by the doctor for his injuries and the doctor found one infected incised wound on the right elbow and one lacerated wound on back of left elbow and one abrasion on the right knee and one superficial abrasion on the forehead. There is not even a single injury which could have been caused by kirpan and the injuries on his wife and daughter also are superficial. Therefore the plea that P.W.3 and the deceased entered the house of A-1 and inflicted injuries with kirpan and dang on the face of it appears to be untrustworthy. On the other hand the fact that there are so many injuries on the deceased person would show that a number of persons inflicted the injuries and the medical evidence corroborates the evidence of P.Ws. 3, 4 and 5 amply. In respect of the first occurrence also there was a trial and conviction and all the appeals were disposed of by the High Court by a common judgment. The High Court has given cogent and convincing reasons for dismissing the appeals. We see no grounds to interfere. Accordingly all these appeals are dismissed.
