Criminal Appeal No 214 of 1979
From the Judgment and Order dated 22111978 of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Criminal Appeal No 701 of 1975
AN Mulla OP Sharma and RC Gubrele for the Appellants
Ms Amita Gupta and RS Suri for the Respondents
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by FATHIMA BEEVI J
Balbir Singh and Inderjit Singh the appellants are brothers
Onkar Singh brother of Brijinder Singh the father of the appellants died of multiple in juries on 871974
The appellants along with Mehar Singh were tried on the charge of murder under Section 302 IPC read with Section 34 IPC The Sessions Judge acquitted the accused of the charge
The High Court in appeal pre ferred by the State convicted these appellants and sen tenced them to undergo imprisonment for life under Section 302 IPC The appeal being one under Section 2 of the  the appellants  learned counsel persuaded us to go through the entire evidence maintaining that the High Court has erred in interfering with the order of acquittal
Ac cording to the learned counsel the view taken by the trial court is reasonable and there was no justification for upsetting the judgment even if a different view could have been taken by the appellate court on reappraisal of the evidence
It was contended that the High Court has not effectively dislodged the various reasons given by the trial Court for discarding the evidence and that the conclusion drawn by the High Court on the evidence on record is clearly wrong
In order to appreciate these arguments it is necessary to set out briefly the facts of the case and summarize the relevant evidence
The deceased Onkar Singh at the time of his death was employed in government service and was resid ing in Chandigarh
His brother Darbara Singh and his son Iswardial Singh as well as these appellants were residing in the village
Onkar Singh came to the village on 6th July 1974
On 8th July 242 1974 at about 1030 AM Darbara Singh along with his wife Surjit Kant and son Ishwardial Singh had gone to the mango grove across the choe to collect mangoes for being given to Onkar Singh
While they were returning home along the pathway Onkar Singh was seen coming in the opposite direction
These two appellants along with their companion emerged on the scene and attacked Onkar Singh Balbir Singh had a datar and Inderjit Singh had a sua and Mehar Singh had a lathi
After inflicting injuries with the weapons the appellants escaped
The deceased Onkar Singh was removed to the house of Darbara Singh for being rushed to the hospi tal but within a short time he breathed his last
The first information was lodged at the police station around 700 PM and the crime was registered and investi gated and finally chargesheeted
The post mortem examination on the dead body revealed that Onkar Singh had sustained besides lacerated injuries three stab wounds and that he died on account of the shock and hemorrhage as a result of the injuries
The motive alleged was that there had been some grouse on account of the transfer of agricultural land that belonged to the family among the children of the three brothers
The land stood in the name of the deceased s son under cultivation of Darbara Singh at the material time
The land was originally gifted to the appellants in 1964 but was reconveyed to the deceased
The learned Sessions Judge found that the motive had been proved
The two eye witnesses to the occurrence were Darbara Singh and his son Ishwardial Singh
They narrated the incident
Their evidence was discarded by the trial court for the reasons that there was a thick growth of reeds on either side of the pathway which was running zigzag and it was not therefore possible for the witnesses even if they were present in the vicinity to observe the assault and identify the assailants
Another reason was that the medical evidence was in distinct conflict with the oral testimony and the nature of injuries were such that the same could not be attributed to the use of the weapons mentioned by the witnesses
Yet another reason was that there had been no trace of blood either on the pathway or on the clothes worn by the deceased
The time of death of the deceased as dis closed by the medical evidence did not agree with the ver sion of the witnesses
There had been inordinate delay in lodging the FIR
The first information report did not inspire confidence
The witnesses had no consistent case regarding the role played by Mehar Singh and the evidence was interested and unconvincing
The learned Judge there fore rejected the 243 same and recorded the order of acquittal
The High Court had cautioned itself on the limited scope of interference while analysing and appreciating the evi dence and arriving at its own conclusion
The High Court has given very cogent reasons to establish that the whole ap proach by the trial court was wrong and reasons for reject ing the evidence did not stand scrutiny
Having heard the counsel on both sides we agree with the High Court that the prosecution evidence in the case is wholly reliable and it leads to irresistible conclusion that these appellants had intentionally caused the death of Onkar Singh
The occurrence took place in broad day light at a place close to the residence of the witnesses
The appel lants are the near relations of the deceased and the wit nesses and it has happened in the background of the family rued
The first information has been recorded within a few hours which in the circumstances of the case cannot be considered as unreasonably delayed
The version given in the FIR is substantially the same as the one spoken to by the witnesses before the court
There had not been any accept able suggestion why Darbara Singh should foist a case against the appellants
It is most unlikely that these witnesses would allow the real culprits to escape and their near relations to be implicated on the happening of such a tragedy in the family
Both the father and the son have given consistent account of the role played by each of the appellants
There would not have been any difficulty for the witnesses to identify the appellants from a distance and across the reeds even if they could get only a glimpse of them in the course of their action
The evidence is also clear that there had not been thick growth of reeds to cause complete obliteration of the scene
It could not therefore be assumed that the place of occurrence was out of bounds and that the witnesses have weaved a story of their own
As rightly pointed out by the High Court the medical evidence is not inconsistent
The witnesses are clear that the appel lants used the datar on the wrong side and that accounts for the lacerated injuries
Incised wounds may be produced by using the sua on that part of the body
We do not find any material to infer that the death could not have happened at the time spoken to by the witnesses
Since there had been internal hemorrhage and the injured person was immediately lifted from the place of occurrence the absence of blood at the scene is not strange
The fact that the acquittal of Mehar Singh had not been interfered with by the High Court cannot advance the case of the appellants
The High Court 244 has given him the benefit of doubt on the materials that emerged in the evidence
That is no reason to discard the evidence of the witnesses so far as these appellants are concerned when such evidence does not suffer from any seri ous infirmity
We find that the High Court had given weighty reasons in accepting the evidence and finding that the view taken by the trial court was clearly wrong
We reject the contentions of the appellants
There is no reason to interfere with the judgment of the High Court
The appeal is accordingly VPR Appeal dis missed


Summary:
By way of notification dated 1861977 the Central Government exempted from duty all goods falling under Tariff item No 68 of the First Schedule to the in or in relation to manufacture of which no process was ordinarily carried on with the aid of power
The respondents in the first set of appeals have been manufacturing crude sodium sulphate
Since the respondents used diesel pumps for pumping brine into salt pans in the process of manufacture the benefit of the said notification was denied to them on the ground that the process of manu facture was carried on with the aid of power
However on appeal the Collector of Customs Appeals allowed the benefit to the respondents
Revenue preferred an appeal and the Tribunal affirmed the Collector s order
In the other appeals the Respondents manufacturer of lime used to lift the raw materials to the platform at the head of the kiln by the aid of power and the raw materials were mixed manually into the kiln
The benefit of the said notification was denied to the Respondents by the Assistant Collector
Even an appeal before the Collector of Appeals failed
However on appeal the Tribunal accepted the claim of the Respondents
In all these matters the Tribunal took the view that the manufacturing process started from the stage of feeding raw materials into the salt pan or the kiln as the case may be and the transferring of the raw materials was a stage prior to the manufacturing process and so the 125 use of power for such transfer would not disentitle the respondents from the benefit under the said notification
Aggrieved by the orders of the Tribunal the Revenue has preferred the present appeals
Before this Court the Revenue contended that pumping the brine into the pan or lifting the raw materials to the kiln head was a process in relation to the manufacture of the final product and since that process with the aid of power was integrally connected with the manufacture the exemption would not apply
The Respondents contended that if the process carried on with the aid of power does not bring about any change in the raw materials it cannot be said that any process in or in relation to the manufacture of an article has been carried on with the aid of power and therefore mere transfer of raw materials by the use of power cannot be considered as a process of manufacture
Allowing the appeals this Court HELD 1 Process in manufacture or in relation to manufacture implies not only the production but the various stages through which the raw material is subjected to change by different operations
It is the cumulative effect of the various processes to which the raw materials is subjected to the manufactured product emerges
Therefore each step towards such production would be a process in relation to manufacture
Where any particular process is so integrally connected with the ultimate production of goods that but for that process manufacture of processing of goods would be impossible or commercially inexpedient that process is one in relation to the manufacture
130 E F
21 The natural meaning of the word process  is a mode of treatment of certain materials in order to produce a good result a species of activity performed on the subject matter in order to transform or reduce it to a certain stage
There is nothing in the natural meaning of the word process  to exclude its application to handling
There may be process which consists only in handling and there may be a process which involves no handling or not merely handling but also use
It may be a process involving the handling of the material and it need not be a process involving the use of material
The activity may be subordinate but one in relation to the further process of manufacture
130G 131 A B 126 22 A process is a manufacturing process when it brings out a complete transformation for the whole compo nents so as to produce a commercially different article or a commodity
But that process itself may consist of several processes which may or may not bring about any change at every intermediate stage
But the activities or the opera tions may be so integrally connected that the final result is the production of a commercially different article
Therefore any activity or operation which is the essential requirement and is so related to the further operations for the end result would also be a process in or in relation to manufacture to attract the relevant clause in the exemption notification
The word process  in the context in which it appears in the notification includes an operation or activi ty in relation to manufacture
132H 133 A B JK Cotton Mills vs
ST Officer   Union of lndia vs Delhi Cloth  General Mills 1963 Supp 1 SCR 586 relied on
31 The transfer of raw material to the reacting vessel is a preliminary operation but it is part of a continuous process but for which the manufacture would be impossible
The handling of the raw materials for the purpose of such transfer is then integrally connected with the process of manufacture
The handling for the purpose of transfer may be manual or mechanical but if power is used for such opera tion it cannot be denied that an activity has been carried on with the aid of power in the manufacturing process
The use of diesel pump sets to fill the pans with brine is an activity with the aid of power and that activity is in relation to the manufacture
It is not correct to say that the process of manufacture starts only when evaporation starts
The preliminary steps like pumping brine and filling the salt pans form integral part of the manufacturing proc ess even though the change in the raw material commences only when evaporation takes place
The preliminary activity cannot be disintegrated from the rest of the operations in the whole process of manufacture
Similarly when coke and lime are taken to the platform in definite proportions for the purpose of mixing such operation is a step in the manufacturing process
It precedes the feeding of the mix ture into the kiln where the burning takes place
The whole process is an integrated one consisting of the lifting of the raw materials to the platform mixing coke and lime and then feeding into the kiln and burning
These operations are so interrelated that without anyone of these operations manufacturing process is impossible to be completed
There fore if power is used in 127 anyone of these operations or anyone of the operations is carried on with the aid of power it is a case when in or in relation to the manufacture the process is carried on with the aid of power
133 C G 32 Processing  may be an intermediate stage in manu facture and until some change has taken place and the com modity retains a continuing substantial identity through the processing stage one cannot say that it has been manufac tured
That does not however mean that any operation in the course of such process is not in relation to the manu facture
136 E Dy
Commissioner Sales Tax Ernakulam vs Pio Food Packers   Union of India vs Delhi Cloth  General Mills 1963 Suppl
1 SCR 586 Standard Fireworks Industries vs Collector  relied on
Nirma Chemical Works  Ors
vs Union of India  Ors
  Chowgule  Co Pvt Ltd vs Union of India   referred to