- (1.) This judgment shall dispose of criminal appeal i.e. CRA No.S- 2631-SB of 2009, filed by the appellant.
(2.) Brief facts of the case as set-out in Para 2 of the judgment passed by learned Sessions Judge, Hoshiarpur are as under: "The facts leading to the present case are that on 11.5.2008, ASI Gurdip Singh was present in the Police Station. There he received one chit of the doctor bearing No.101/E dated 10.5.2008 alongwith MLR No.SC/Gen/23/08, dated 10.5.2008 in respect of Tripta Devi wife of late Gurbachan Singh, resident of Chingarwan. On receipt of this chit, he visited BBMB Hospital Talwara and filed an application regarding the fitness of the injured. The doctor declared Tripta Devi unfit to make statement due to unsoundness of mind. Then ASI searched Sukhdev Singh (PW1) as his name figured in the MLR. The said Sukhdev Singh alongwith Som Pal met ASI Gurdip Singh outside the police station at chowk, where the statement of Sukhdev Singh was recorded by ASI Gurdip Singh. According to Sukhdev Singh, he was resident of village Chingarwan and was running a rice sheller near his residence. That on 10.5.2008 at about 8.30 PM, he was present in his rice sheller when he was informed by two children that one person was tying alongwith one lady in the fields of Balwant Singh. On this, the complainant went to the spot and with torch light he found that Gobind Singh accused was raping Tripta Devi forcibly, who was unable to speak due to mental retardation and she was trying to save herself from Gobind Singh. The complainant raised an alarm and on this, Onkar Singh (PW2) and Som Pal came to the spot and saw the occurrence. When the complainant alongwith Onkar Singh and Som Pal was in the process of freeing Tripta Devi from clutches of Gobind Singh, then Gobind Singh accused who was under the influence of liquor, ran away in the fields. Onkar Singh and Som Pal arranged for a vehicle and took Tripta devi to BBMB Hospital, Talwara."
(3.) After completion of investigation, the challan against the accused-appellant was presented before the Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Dasuya. Since, the offence was triable by the Court of Sessions, therefore, the case was committed by learned Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Dasuya to the Court of learned Sessions Judge for trial vide order dated 11.08.2008. The charge was framed against the accused-appellant vide order dated 04.09.2008, to which he pleaded not guilty and claimed trial. To prove its case, the prosecution examined Sukhdev Singh as PW1, Onkar Singh as PW-2, Dr. Shalini Chaudhary as PW3, Dr. Amaijit Singh as PW4, HC Gurnam Singh as PW5, Tarsem Lal as PW6, Constable Surjit Singh as PW7, SI Kulwinder Singh Virk as PW8, MHC Harminder Singh as PW9 and Ranjit Singh as PW10 and the remaining evidence of the prosecution was closed. After closure of the prosecution evidence, statement of appellant-accused under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was recorded in which he denied the prosecution allegations and stated that he is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case. However, the appellant-accused did not lead any evidence in defence.;