J.S.KHEHAR,J - (1.) THE instant appeal has been filed by the accused/appellant Shanker Kumar against the order passed by the Sessions Judge, Ludhiana in Sessions Case No. 13 of 2000, decided on 10.10.2003. By the impugned judgement, the accused/appellant Shanker Kumar has been held guilty of having committed the murder of Bimla Devi, under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. By a separate order of the same day i.e. 10.10.2003, the accused/appellant Shanker Kumar was sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 10,000/-. In default of payment of fine, he was ordered to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for six months.
(2.) THE prosecution version of the incident emerges from the statement made by the complainant Bhagwan Singh PW2, to ASI Rajinder Singh PW9, on 16.1.2000 at 10.15 PM. In his complaint, the complainant Bhagwan Singh PW2 asserted that he was residing in House No. 327, Street No. 2, Mohalla Nanakpuri in Ludhiana, as a tenant in one room. He also asserted that he had four children, out of whom, three were daughters and one was a son. His eldest daughter Bimla Devi, aged 13 years, was also residing with him in the room. For his livelihood, the complainant Bhagwan Singh PW2 claims that he had a "rehri" of "golgappas". His eldest daughter, Bimla Devi used to prepare the "golgappas" with the other members of the family in the room taken by him on rent. According to the complainant, in another room in front of the room under his tenancy, the accused/appellant Shanker Kumar was living as a tenant. The aforesaid Shanker Kumar was a resident of village Podanpur, Police Station Digar Wing, district Kishanganj in Bihar. It was alleged in the complaint that the accused/appellant Shanker Kumar used to glare at his daughter Bimla Devi with an evil eye. He was informed about this by his daughter on many occasions. Accordingly, the complainant Bhagwan Singh PW2 had stopped the accused/appellant Shanker Kumar from glaring at his daughter. Whereupon, the accused/appellant Shanker Kumar asked the complainant Bhagwan Singh PW2 to marry his daughter Bimla Devi to him. The accused/appellant Shanker Kumar also allegedly threatened the complainant Bhagwan Singh PW2 that if he did not marry Bimla Devi to him, he would not allow her to marry any one else, and that, he would kill her. The complainant Bhagwan Singh PW2 also alleged in the complaint that he refused to marry his daughter Bimla Devi to the accused/appellant Shanker Kumar by telling him that he would perform her marriage in his own brotherhood. On 16.1.2000, at about 8.30 PM, while the complainant Bhagwan Singh PW2 and his wife Pushpa Devi PW4 and his daughter Bimla Devi were working in the room under their tenancy, the accused/appellant Shanker Kumar entered the same with a knife in his hand. He told us that he would teach a lesson to us for not marrying Bimla Devi to him. Whereupon, he inflicted injuries with the knife held by him in his hand, on the left side of the stomach of Bimla Devi. Bimla Devi fell down on the ground. Whereupon, other occupants of the room raised an alarm. According to the complainant Bhagwan Singh PW2, he tried to catch the accused/appellant Shanker Kumar, and in fact, had grappled with him, yet the accused/appellant Shanker Kumar ran away towards the railway line alongwith the knife. Thereafter, the complainant Bhagwan Singh PW2 and his wife Pushpa Devi PW4 alongwith other residents, took Bimla Devi in a private vehicle for treatment to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Ludhiana, where she was declared dead. The dead body of Bimla Devi was then brought back to the room, whereafter the complainant Bhagwan Singh PW2 proceeded to the police station for lodging a complaint. Asi Rajinder Singh PW9, having recorded the statement of the complainant Bhagwan Singh PW2, accompanied him to his tenement. Asi Rajinder Singh PW9 inspected the place of occurrence and prepared the site plan with marginal notes. He also inspected the dead body of Bimla Devi and prepared the inquest report Ex.PC which was attested by the complainant Bhagwan Singh PW2 and Mohinder Singh. The dead body of Bimla Devi was then sent to the ESI Dispensary, Ajitwal Kalan for postmortem examination. Sealed parcels were prepared of the clothes of the deceased Bimla Devi and taken into possession vide recovery memo Ex.PF. On 17.1.2000, Asi Rajinder Singh PW9 arrested the accused/appellant Shanker Kumar from near a "dhaba" outside the Railway Station at Ludhiana. The shirt and blood stained "paint" were taken into possession vide recovery memo Ex.PH. On the very day of his arrest i.e. on 17.1.2000, Asi Rajinder Singh PW9 interrogated the accused/appellant Shanker Kumar. He made a disclosure statement Ex.PJ, revealing that he had concealed the knife used in the occurrence by wrapping the same in a glaze paper by the side of the railway track near Manohar Nagar. The disclosure statement Ex.PJ was witnessed by Hakam Singh and Dalip Singh. Whereupon, the accused/appellant Shanker Kumar led the police party and got the knife recovered on 18.1.2000, on the basis whereof recovery memo Ex.P7/A was prepared. The knife recovered was sent to the Finger Prints Bureau, Phillaur. The Finger Prints Bureau, Phillaur vide its report Ex.PZ/2 recorded that the same had the finger prints of the accused/appellant Shanker Kumar. Thereafter, having completed the remaining investigation and other police formalities, a challan was presented in the Court of the Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, Ludhiana on 15.3.2000.
(3.) BY an order dated 8.4.2000, the Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, Ludhiana, concluded that a prima-facie case under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code was made out against the accused/appellant. Since the offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code is exclusively triable by the Court of Session, the Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, by his order dated 8.4.2000 committed the case for trial to the Court of Session.;