- (1.)Narain Singh, the appellant impugns his conviction vide judgment dated 23rd July, 1998, under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 ("IPC? for short) for murder of Pradeep Kumar and under Section 324 IPC for having caused injuries to Prem Pal. The appellant also impugns the order on sentence directing the appellant to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and fine of Rs. 2,000/- (in default to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year) for the offence under Section 302 IPC and rigorous imprisonment of one year for the offence under Section 324 IPC. The two sentences are to run concurrently and the appellant has been granted benefit of Section 428, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
(2.)Death due to injuries caused on the head of deceased Pradeep Kumar on 22nd March, 1994 is not disputed. It is also not disputed that Prem Pal, who had appeared as PW6, had suffered injuries on his right palm. The prosecution has proved the Medico Legal Report of the deceased Pradeep Kumar as Ex. PW11/A issued by Dr. Preetish S. Vaidyanathan, the examining Medical Officer, Safdarjung Hospital, which states that the deceased Pradeep Kumar was brought to the hospital at 3.25 p. m. , with an alleged history of assault. He was declared dead at 3.55 p. m. Dr. Preetish S. Vaidyanathan had appeared as PW11. The post mortem report has been proved as Ex. PW12/A. Similarly, injuries suffered by Prem Pal have been proved by Medico Legal Report, Ex. PW3/A which was recorded by Dr. A. Ganesh, the examining Medical Officer. The same was recorded at 4 p. m. on 22nd March, 1994 with "alleged history of assault". As Dr. A. Ganesh had left the hospital for UK after preparing Prem Pal?s MLC report, Dr. Preetish S. Vaidyanathan (PW11) identified Dr. A. Ganesh?s handwriting and signature on the MLC report.
(3.)The case of the prosecution, which has been accepted by the trial court, is that the appellant had caused injuries to Pradeep Kumar and Prem Pal by an axe Ex. P-1 in his house at 279, Sector-II, R. K. Puram, Delhi on 22nd March, 1994. The case made out against the appellant is that he knew the deceased Pradeep Kumar and Prem Pal from before. On the date of the occurrence, the appellant saw them coming from market and asked them to come inside his house as he wanted to talk to them about something urgent. Pradeep Kumar and Prem Pal came inside the house of the appellant. The appellant asked them why they were spreading rumours about him and a girl, Veena. Thereafter, the appellant went towards the kitchen. When he came back, he took out an axe from underneath the bed and gave two blows from the axe on the head of the deceased Pradeep Kumar. The appellant gave a third blow on the right hand palm of Prem Pal. Prem Pal ran away to save himself and went to inform the mother of Pradeep Kumar at village Mohammadpur. Subsequently, he came back to the bus stand of the village Mohammdpur and informed some boys standing there about the incident. The said boys reached the appellant?s house, where they found Pradeep Kumar and took him in a three-wheeler scooter to Safdarjung Hospital. Prem Pal also went to the said hospital. The information regarding the incident was recorded in DD No. 24, Ex. PW5/A. After the death of Pradeep Kumar, DD No. 27, Ex. PW12/B was recorded. Another DD being DD No. 28, Ex. PW5/C was recorded on receiving information that Prem Pal had been admitted in the hospital in injured condition.