- (1.) Both these appeals are directed against the decision dated 20-2-1996 passed by the learned Additional Judge, Designated Court, Karnal at Kurukshetra in Sessions Trial No. 39/95. The appellants in Crl. Appeal No. 297/96 namely Baba Peer Paras Nath and Baldev Nath were tried with the appellants Kashmir Singh and Jaswant Kaur in the other Crl. A. No. 637 of 1996 and also with two other accused Kaka alias Charanjit Singh and Sukhpal Singh alias Khushpal Singh.
(2.) It appears that the appellants Baba Peer Paras Nath and Baldev Nath Chela were charged for an offence under S.307 read with S.34 and S.109 of the Indian Penal Code and the appellants Kashmir Singh and Jaswant Kaur were charged for offence under S.307 read with S.34 and S.109 of the IPC and also offences under Ss.3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Terrorist and Disruptive (Prevention) Activities Act, 1987 (hereinafter referred to as TADA).
(3.) It may be stated here that confessional statements were made by all the six accused persons before the Superintendent of Police under S.15 of the TADA but later on, the accused retracted with confessional statements. The prosecution case in short is that the appellants Baba Peer Paras Nath and Baldev wanted to kill the complainant Peer Gobind Nath in order to take control of Panchmukhi Hanuman Temple at Railway Road, Kurukshetra and for the said purpose through the appellant Jaswant Kaur they had approached two terrorists Puran Singh and Karnail Singh (since deceased) on payment of money and the appellants Kashmir Singh and Jaswant Kaur and Kala alias Charanjit Singh and Sukhpal Singh alias Khushpal Singh, in order to execute the said plan contacted the said two terrorists on 19-6-92. At about 7-30 p.m. the complainant along with Om Prakash, Dr. Narinder Prakash and Arun were sitting in a room in the temple. At that time two young Sikhs came inside the room and on the asking by one of them, as to who was Peer Gobind Nath. Peer Gobind Nath had stated that he was the same person. The said two accused then produced a letter head and asked him to read the writing in it. On the letter-head, it was printed in Punjabi as well as in English. "Bhinderwala Tiger Force (of Khalistan)". the contents in the letter head were written in Punjabi. The said persons disclosed that they were terrorists and also added that they had come to kill him and so saying one of the two terrorists fired a shot from his pistol to Gobind Nath but the shot did not hit him because he had bent his neck. In the meantime, the above named three persons, who were sitting with the complainant raised an alarm that the terrorists had come and they would be caught. The complainant and his companions also succeeded in apprehending the terrorist who had fired the shot but the other terrorist could manage to go out of the room. But a number of person, who had come by that time, succeeded in apprehending the other one.;