G. P. Mathur, J. - (1.) These appeals under Section 2 of Supreme Court (Enlargement of Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction) Act, 1970 have been preferred against the judgment and order dated 27-3-1996 of High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh by which the appeal preferred by the State was allowed and the judgment of acquittal passed by the learned Sessions Judge, Chandigarh was set aside and the appellants were convicted under Section 302 read with Section 34, IPC and were sentenced to imprisonment for life and a fine of Rs. 2,000/- each and in default to undergo six months RI.
(2.) The case of the prosecution in brief is that the appellant Ashok Kumar (A-1) is owner of house No. 138 in Sector 35, Chandigarh which had been converted into a guest house known as "Friends Guest House". Thaman Kumar (A-2) and Rajesh Singh (A-3) were employed as servants in the aforesaid guest house. The deceased Bhanwar Singh was a rickshaw puller and he used to bring customers to the guest house for which Ashok Kumar (A-1) used to pay him commission. Sometimes he used to sleep in the garage of the guest house. A considerable amount towards commission, it is alleged, had falled due regarding which he made a demand in the night of 23-12-1989 and a dispute took place. At about 12.30 p.m. in the night A-2 and A-3 strangulated Bhanwar Singh by tying a chadar which had been rolled in the shape of a rope around his neck and pulling it from the two ends. At that time, A-1 sat over the chest of the deceased and had caught his both the hands firmly so that he may not be in a position to offer any resistance. Constables Ram Mehar and Suresh Kumar, who had been assigned parole duty in Sector 35, were passing in front of house No. 138 and heard shrieks raised by deceased Bhanwar Singh. They entered the house after opening the front gate and saw the incident happening in the garage in which electric light was on and the doors were slightly open. They caught hold of A-2 and A-3 on the spot but A-1 managed to escape by scaling the rear boundary wall. Suresh Kumar then gave information about the incident at about 1.05 hours to Police Post in Sector 36 by telephone. Surender Kumar, SI, then came to the spot, took stock of the situation and recorded the statement of Ram Mehar, Constable. He then gave a Rukka to Suresh Kumar, Constable, which he took to the Police Station in Sector 39 on the basis of which an FIR was registered at 02.20 a.m. on 24-12-1989. Surender Kumar, SI, also held inquest on the body of the deceased Bhanwar Singh. The body was sealed and was sent for post-mortem examination. After completing investigation, he submitted charge-sheet against all the three accused.
(3.) The Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Chandigarh, by his order dated 16-4-1990 committed the case to the Court of Session. The learned Sessions Judge framed charge under Section 302 read with Section 34, IPC against all the three accused, who denied the case of the prosecution and claimed to be tried. The prosecution in support of its case examined 11 witnesses including 2 eye-witnesses and filed some documentary evidence. Ashok Kumar (A-1) in his statement under Section 313, Cr. P.C. denied the case of the prosecution, but admitted that the guest house in Kothi No. 138, Sector 35 was run by his brother Om Prakash and he also looked after the same. He stated that when he was sleeping in his house, Rajesh Singh (A-3) came there at about 12.30 in the night and informed him about the presence of a dead body in the garage of the guest house. He then went to the guest house and after seeing the dead body, he informed the police, which came there and arrested him and other co-accused on the spot at that very time in spite of their protests. Thaman Kumar (A-2) also denied the case of the prosecution and stated that he and Rajesh Singh were working in the guest house and used to sleep in a room, which was situate on the backside of the garage. Rajesh Singh awoke him at about midnight and told that a dead body was lying in the garage. Rajesh Singh then went to inform the owner of the guest house and thereafter A-1 came there, who informed the police. The police then came to the spot and arrested all the three accused. Rajesh Singh (A-3) also gave a similar statement.;