M.M.PUNCHHI,J - (1.) THESE are three Criminal Appeals. Criminal Appeals No. 364 and 359-DB of 1987 arise from one and the same judgment and order. These are the main appeals arising out of a trial for murder. There are two appellants in Criminal Appeal No. 364-DB of 1987. Out of the two, Darshan Singh has appealed against his conviction under Section 302, Indian Penal Code, and the sentence of life imprisonment and fine of Rs. 10,000/- imposed thereunder. The other appellant, Joginder Singh, has appealed against his conviction under Section 323, Indian Penal Code, and sentence of one year's rigorous imprisonment. Criminal Appeal No. 459-DBA has been preferred by the State against Joginder Singh, for his acquittal under Section 302 read with Section 34, Indian Penal Code. Lastly, Criminal Appeal No. 390-DB of 1987 has been preferred by Darshan Singh against his conviction under Section 25 of the Arms Act and the sentence of one year's rigorous imprisonment. This sentence was ordered to run concurrently with the sentence awarded to the appellant, which is subject matter of Criminal Appeal No. 364-DB of 1987.
(2.) THE deceased in this case was Jagir Singh, a Harijan, residing in village Mundi Jamal, Tehsil Zira, District Ferozepur. He himself, while alive laid the foundation of the case in giving the following version to the police when his statement was recorded, which become the basis of the First Information Report. According to Jagir Singh, he and his brother Channa Singh PW8, had gone to the circular road of the village in order to buy liquor from Joginder Singh accused selling liquor there in front of the house of Darshan Singh appellant. The deceased demanded liquor from Joginder Singh. Darshan Singh appellant, who was standing close-by, abused the deceased and told Joginder Singh not to supply liquor to the deceased, as the deceased had taken a loan of Rs. 50/- from him and had not returned the same by then. In retaliation the deceased abused Darshan Singh. Thereupon Darshan Singh ran to his house and brought a spear and immediately on his arrival hit the deceased with his spear in the abdomen. Joginder Singh appellant too, who was armed with a wooden batten, gave two or three batten blows hitting him on the right shoulder, left shoulder and the forehead. Darshan Singh appellant than gave another spear blow near the ribs of the deceased, whereupon he fell down. While lying fallen, Joginder Singh gave more batten blows on the right leg of the deceased. Besides, Darshan Singh gave him kick blows in the abdomen. The deceased and his brother Channa Singh kept saying loudly to the accused not to kill the deceased. In the meantime, the uncle of the deceased, namely, Sohan Singh also came at the spot. The assailants together with their respective weapons fled from the scene of occurrence. The deceased was removed to his house by Channa Singh and Sohan Singh. The father of the deceased had gone to a close-by village Saideshah and the brother of the deceased went to fetch him. They having arrived, removed him to the Rural Dispensary, Fatehgarh Panjtoor, where he was attended to by the Incharge. The deceased owned the cause of grudge being his having borrowed Rs. 50/- from Darshan Singh a year ago, which he had not been able to pay due to paucity of money and for that reason the deceased stated that he had been assaulted.
(3.) THE deceased was attended to by Mr. Balraj Vohra, PW-1, Medical Officer, Rural Dispensary, Fatehgarh Panjtoor, at 6.10 p.m. on May 24, 1986. He found as many as 10 injuries on his person, but the first two injuries require specific notice :- 1. Incised stab wound 3 cm. x 1/2 cm. on front of abdomen in upper half, in right hypochondrium. Depth not probed Clots present, wound was oblique. 2. Incised wound 1/2 cm. x 1/2 cm. skin deep on right side of the chest in lower 3rd, 5 cm. right to injury No. 1, clots present, wound was oblique. Out of the remaining eight injuries, six were stabbed abrasions of various dimensions and two were reddish contusions of different dimensions. All of them were on non-vital parts and those were attributed to Joginder Singh appellant. The incised wounds were attributed to Darshan Singh appellant. Dr. Vohra prepared a medico-legal report and sent a copy thereof to the police informing them of the arrival of the injured in the dispensary. ;