- (1.) The appellants in these two appeals were tried by the Designated Court, Patiala, for various offences such as punishable under Sections 120-B, 302, 307, 394, IPC; Section 25 of the Arms Act; and Sections 3(1), 3(2) and 3(3) of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 [for short, the TADA Act]. Along with these two appellants, one Balwinder Singh alias Fauji alias Pradhan was shown as the third accused, but he was absconding and was declared as a proclaimed offender, not available for trial. The appellant were found guilty by the Designated Court for the offences punishable under Section 120B read with Section 302, IPC and also under Section 3(3) of the TADA Act. Both of them were sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs.3,000/- with default sentence for six months, for the offence under Section 120-B read with Section 302, IPC. For the offence under Section 3(3) of the TADA Act, they were sentenced to undergo imprisonment for a period of five years each and to pay a fine of Rs.2,000/- with the default sentence of six months. The allegation against these appellants was that they entered into a conspiracy with Balwinder Singh to murder Dr. Megh Raj Goel on 6-2-1992 at about 10 P.M.. Balwinder Singh shot at Dr. Megh Raj Goel and caused him fatal injuries. Dr. Megh Raj Goel died at 6.25 A.M. on 7-2-1992.
(2.) According to the prosecution, Dr. Megh Raj Goyal, with his wife Dr. Suman Rani Goel, was running a Psychiatric hospital in Patiala. Both of them had completed their education in psychiatry in England and returned to India in 1989. They started Goyal Psychiatric Hospital at 34, Punjabi Bagh in Patiala and later shifted to 85, Punjabi Bagh in May, 1991. Appellant in Criminal Appeal No.577, Dr. Surinder Singh Sandhu was already running "Sandhu Nursing Home" in Psychiatry since 1973 and he had almost established a monopoly in field of treatment of psychiatric patients. When deceased Dr. Megh Raj Goel and his wife started their hospital, it gained popularity, and according o the prosecution, Dr. Surinder Singh Sandhu was adversely affected. The prosecution alleged that the number of patients who were being treated in Sandhu Nursing Home gradually declined whereas there was a steep increase in the number of patients that received treatment in the hospital of the deceased, Dr. Megh Raj Goel. The prosecution further alleged that appellant, Dr. Surinder Singh Sandhu met Dr. Hardeep Singh Sohal, the appellant in Criminal Appeal No.531 of 2004, and together they hatched a conspiracy and decided to do away with Dr. Megh Raj Goel. Dr. Hardeep Singh Sohal secured the presence of one Balwinder Singh alias Fauji with the assistance of Miss Sawinder Kaur, a staff nurse working in the Rajindra Hospital, Patiala. The appellant agreed to pay Rs.2 lacs to Balwinder Singh and a sum of Rs.50,000/- was paid as initial payment. On 6-2-1992, Balwinder Singh came to Patiala and saw a Maruti car bearing registration No.PCH 8008 parked near hotel Greens. The owner of the car Surinder Kumar Bajaj was sitting in the car. Balwinder Singh came near the car and fired a shot from his revolver at Surinder Kumar Bajaj through the window of the car causing injury on his right thigh. Balwinder Singh then quickly got into the car and occupied the left front seat of the car and at revolver point forced Surinder Kumar Bajaj to drive the vehicle towards Goyal Psychiatric Hospital. They came near that hospital around 10 P.M. and saw Dr. Megh Raj Goel and his wife Dr. Suman Rani Goyal, who had gone for a stroll, coming towards their hospital. At that point, Balwinder Singh fired two shots from his revolver at Dr. Megh Raj Goel. Dr. Goel fell on the ground and in that commotion Surinder Kumar Bajaj managed to run away from that place leaving his car there. Balwinder Singh then escaped in that car and later the car was found abandoned near the T.B. Hospital. Injured Megh Raj Goel was immediately taken by his wife to the Surgical Centre, Model Town, Patiala and from there to Rajindra Hospital, Patiala. Dr. Megh Raj Goel was operated upon by a team of doctors there, but they could not save his life and he was declared dead at 6.25 A.M. on 7-2-1992.
(3.) Based on the information given by Dr. Suman Rani Goel, the police registered a case under Section 307 read with Section 34, IPC and Section 25 of the Arms Act. Subsequently, offences under Section 382, 302, IPC and Section 4 and 5 of the TADA Act, 1987 were added. Balwinder Singh was arrested by Inspector Gurnam Singh, SHO Police Station Civil Lines, Patiala on 8-4-1992 at about 7.30 P.M. in connection with a case registered against him under Sections 302 and 382, IPC and Section 25 of the Arms Act. A point thirty two bore country-made revolver with six live cartridges were recovered from him. On interrogation, Balwinder Singh made a voluntary confession and admitted having committed the murder of Dr. Megh Raj Goel. Section 4 and section 5 of the TADA Act were added to the case registered earlier and the District Suptd. of Police City Patiala, Shri Ajaib Singh recorded the confessional statement of Balwinder Singh under Section 15 of the TADA Act, 1987. Balwinder Singh was remanded to police custody from time to time and according to prosecution on 3-5-1993 Balwinder Singh was taken or transit remand to District Sangrur in connection with another case and there he escaped from the police custody on 5-5-1993 while being taken for effecting recovery of arms and ammunition, for which a case had been registered against him at Police Station Bhawanigarh in District Sangrur. The prosecution would further contend that Balwinder Singh could not be traced and he was declared a proclaimed offender by an order passed by the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Patiala, on 24-10-1994. Based on the confessional statement of Balwinder Singh, the present appellants Dr. Hardeep Singh Sohal and Dr. Surinder Singh Sandhu were arrested by police on 19-4-1993 and the investigation continued. In the meantime, Dr. Suman Rani Goyal, wife of deceased Dr. Meghraj Goyal, filed a writ petition before the High Court of Punjab and Haryana alleging that police were not vigilant in investigating the case and she prayed for investigation being done by the Central Bureau of Investigation. In pursuance of the order passed by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana on 9-7-1996, the investigation of the case was entrusted to the C.B.I. and they conducted the further investigation. After completion of the investigation, the C.B.I. submitted the charge sheet. On the side of the prosecution PW-1 to PE-47 were examined. Appellant Surinder Singh Sandhu, when questioned under Section 313, Cr.P.C., alleged that he had been falsely implicated. He stated that he had secured MBBS Degree from the Punjab University and D.P.M. from Ranchi University and that he had put in 43 years of experience as a Psychiatrist and had worked in various hospitals. He also stated that his professional income from 1986 to 1992 had been constantly increasing. Hardeep Singh Sohal, the appellant in Criminal Appeal No. 531 of 2004, when questioned under Section 313, Cr.P.C., deposed that he is an Orthopaedic Surgeon and he was Head of Orthopaedics Department, Govt. Medical College, Rajundra Hospital, Patiala. He stated that he had had a brilliant academic career and served in different medical colleges in Punjab. He also deposed that his son Harmandeep Singh was killed by the police while he was travelling in a car along with other members of the family. He stated that the police had fired from behind and hit on the head of his son, who died on the spot. He further stated that he had raised a hue and cry regarding the cold-blooded murder of his son and the senior police officers assured that action would be taken against the guilty persons, but it is on account of this that the police had become inimical towards him. He denied having any connection with Balwinder Singh and stated that he did not know Miss Sawinder Kaur. He also stated that he had no social or professional dealings with the other appellant, Dr. Surinder Singh Sandhu.;