- (1.) This appeal has been preferred against the judgment and order dated 31.8.2004 passed by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh in Criminal Appeal No. 167-DB of 1999, by which it has affirmed the judgment and order of the Trial Court in Sessions Case No. 5 of 1998 dated 22.2.1999 convicting the appellants for the offence punishable under Section 302 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 (hereinafter referred to as 'IPC') and awarding the sentence of life imprisonment and imposing a fine of Rs.2,000/- each.
(2.) FACTS: (A) That on 9.10.1997, some labourers were working in the fields of Ishwar Singh (PW.2) and his son Amardeep was also with them. On that date at about 7.00 PM, Ishwar Singh (PW.2) started from his house for his fields in order to keep watch on the crop, relieving Amardeep from the fields. On his way, Ishwar Singh (PW.2) saw Kulvinder Singh and Jasvinder Singh/appellants at the tubewell of Singh Ram. Kulvinder Singh was sitting on a cot outside the tubewell while Jasvinder Singh was inside the tubewell. On being asked by Ishwar Singh (PW.2), Kulvinder Singh replied that they were there in a routine manner as it was the tubewell of Singh Ram, the father of Jasvinder Singh. Kulvinder Singh is the son of the maternal uncle of Jasvinder Singh. After reaching his fields, Ishwar Singh (PW.2) relieved his son Amardeep of his duties. The next morning i.e., on 10.10.1997, at about 6.00 AM, the labourers of Mange Ram, Sarpanch, (PW.11) of the same village came and told him that a dead body was lying near the paddy field in the water channel. Mange Ram (PW.11) reached the spot with his labourers. By that time several other villagers had also collected there and they identified the dead body as being that of Amardeep. They also found a large number of wounds caused by a sharp-edged weapon on the body. They immediately called Ishwar Singh (PW.2), father of the deceased to the spot. (B) Mange Ram (PW.11) then started for Police Station Radaur to make the report, however, he met Roop Chand SI/SHO, Police Station Radaur (PW.14) on the way and informed him that Amardeep had been murdered by some unknown person by assaulting him with sharp edged weapons. Roop Chand, SI, (PW.14) asked Mange Ram (PW.11) to go to the Police Station to lodge the complaint formally. Thus, the FIR was lodged. Roop Chand, SI, (PW.14) reached the place of occurrence and examined the dead body as well as the place where it was lying. He prepared the inquest report and sent the dead body of Amardeep for postmortem examination. Roop Chand, SI, (PW.14) also got the spot photographed, prepared a rough site plan of the place of occurrence and recorded the statements of the witnesses in which Ishwar Singh (PW.2) told him that about 8 to 10 days before the date of occurrence, he saw Jasvinder Singh/appellant grappling with his son Amardeep while they were playing kabaddi. He intervened and asked the reason for the same and Jasvinder Singh had disclosed that Amardeep was teasing his sister and wife. Ishwar Singh (PW.2) reprimanded his son Amardeep for the alleged misconduct, however, Amardeep protested and told him that the accusation was false. During the course of the investigation, Roop Chand, SI, (PW.14) also came to know that on 9.10.1997 at about 7.30 PM, Ranbir Singh (PW.3) had started for his fields and when he was by the side of bund of the village, he heard shrieks from the place where the dead body of Amardeep was found lying the next morning. He also saw both the appellants running fast and they crossed him and on being asked as to why they were running, they did not give any reason but rather told him that they were running fast without any purpose. However, Ranbir Singh (PW.3) came to know only next morning that Amardeep had been murdered. (C) On 13.10.1997, Phool Singh (PW.10) produced the accused before Roop Chand, SI (PW.14) and told him that they had made extra-judicial confession before him about the killing of Amardeep, because the latter was teasing the wife and sister of Jasvinder Singh. Both the appellants were arrested and interrogated. On their disclosure, the clothes they had put on at the time of occurrence, which had already been washed, were recovered. On disclosure of Jasvinder Singh-appellant, the barchha used for committing the crime was recovered on 14.10.1997. After conducting the postmortem examination, Dr. Vijay Mohan Atreja (PW.9) gave a report stating that there were 22 injuries on the person of Amardeep and the same could have been caused by a barchha. The barchha recovered on the disclosure of the appellant-Jasvinder Singh had blood stains on it at the time of recovery. Roop Chand, SI, (PW.14) recovered the blood stained chappals and the blood stained earth from the spot and sent all those items alongwith barchha and clothes to the Forensic Science Laboratory. After completing the investigation, a chargesheet was submitted against the appellants. The court after completing the formalities committed the case to the Sessions Court vide order dated 20.1.1998. They were charged under Sections 302 read with 34 IPC vide order dated 20.2.1998 to which the appellants pleaded not guilty and claimed trial. (D) The prosecution examined 14 witnesses at the trial including Ishwar Singh, (PW.2); Ranbir Singh (PW.3), who saw the accused running fast and crossing him on the evening of 9.10.1997 and heard the shrieks from the place of occurrence; Dr. Vijay Mohan Atreja (PW.9), who conducted the postmortem examination alongwith Dr. Ashwani Bhatnagar on the dead body of Amardeep; Phool Singh, (PW.10) before whom the extra-judicial confession was made by the appellants; Mange Ram, Sarpanch, (PW.11) complainant/informant in the case; Mam Chand (PW.12), witness to the recovery of barchha on the disclosure statement of the appellant Jasvinder Singh; and Roop Chand (PW.14), the investigating officer. The reports of the Serologist were tendered in evidence. On closure of the prosecution case, the Trial Court examined the appellants/accused under Section 313 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter called 'Cr.P.C.'). Both the accused denied their participation and pleading that they had been falsely implicated. (E) After considering the entire evidence on record, the Trial Court vide judgment and order dated 22.2.1999 convicted both the appellants for the offence punishable under Section 302 IPC and awarded the sentence of life imprisonment and a fine of Rs.2,000/- each. (F) Being aggrieved, the appellants preferred Criminal Appeal No. 167-DB of 1999 which has been dismissed by the High Court vide judgment and order dated 31.8.2004. Hence, this appeal.
(3.) Shri S.P. Laler, learned counsel appearing for the appellants, submitted that it is a case of circumstantial evidence; that there was no motive for committing the murder of Amardeep; that there had been material contradictions in the evidence of the witnesses; the chain of circumstances could not be completed; in the facts of the case the extra-judicial confession could not be relied upon by any means; the theory of the deceased being last seen with the appellants cannot be applied. Involvement of both the appellants in the commission of the offence is doubtful as the injuries found on the person of the deceased had been caused only by one weapon. The courts below have erred in convicting the appellants and, therefore, the judgments and orders of the courts below are liable to be set aside.;