CRR No. M 3298 of 2009 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH -- CRR No. M 3298 of 2009 Date of decision: 17.03.2010 Jaspal Singh ........ Petitioner Versus State of Punjab .......Respondent(s) Coram: Hon'ble Ms Justice Nirmaljit Kaur -.- Present: Mr. Surinder Sharma, Advocate for the petitioner Mr. K S Pannu, DAG, Punjab for the respondent State -.- 1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgement? 2. To be referred to the Reporter or not? 3. Whether the judgement should be reported in the Digest? Nirmaljit Kaur, J. This is a revision petition against the judgement dated 07.07.2008 passed by the trial Court as well as judgement dated 18.11.2009 passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Hoshiarpur. Facts as recorded by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Hoshiarpur are:- “That on 11.01.2000, one chit was received from Civil Hospital Dasuya that some unknown person had received injuries in the accident and admitted in the hospital. On this HC Balwinder Singh visited Civil Hospital Dasuya but the doctor declared the injured unfit for making the statement. CRR No. M 3298 of 2009 2 On 12.01.2000, ASI Yogesh Kumar along with other members of the police party visited Civil Hospital Dasuya and recorded the statement of Mohinder Singh complainant to the effect that he is resident of village Allaigarh Police Station Mukerian and is an agriculturist. His brother in law Sucha Singh was going to his village on 11.01.2000 on his scooter and he was following him on his scooter bearing No. PB 07 B 1055. At about 4.30 p.m. When they reached near village Saggran, one bus bearing No. PB 08Y 6511 came from Hajipur side at a very fast speed without blowing any horn and hit against the scooter of Sucha Singh, as a result of which he suffered injuries on his person. The bus driver took the injured to Civil Hospital Dasuya in the same bus and got admitted him there and thereafter ran away from the spot. Lateron, Sucha Singh died in the hospital. He came to know the name of the driver of the bus as Jaspal Singh. He has seen the whole occurrence with his own eyes as he was following the deceased on his scooter. Above statement of Mohinder Singh was reduced into writing which is EX PC. An endorsement EX.PC/1 was made on it and on its basis FIR No. 4 of 2000 under Section 304-A of the IPC was registered at Police Station Dasuya.” On the basis of the evidence, the petitioner was sentenced and convicted by the trial Court to undergo RI for a period of six months and to pay a fine of Rs.1000/- for the offence under Section 279 of the IPC and in default of payment of fine to further undergo RI for a period of one month. He was further ordered to undergo FI for a period of one year and to pay a fine of Rs.2000 for the offence under Section 304-A IPC and in default of payment of fine, to further undergo RI for a period of one month. CRR No. M 3298 of 2009 3 The petitioner filed appeal against the judgement and order of conviction dated 07.07.2008 passed by the Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Dasuya. The same was dismissed vide judgement dated 18.11.2009 passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Hoshiarpur. The concurrent findings have been recorded by both the Courts below. While convicting the present petitioner, the trial Court held as under:- “Evidence of related witness is taken as per with any other witness and the same can be made basis for the conviction of the accused if it is reliable and consistent. In my view, the statements made by PW 4 Surinder Kaur and PW5 Mohinder Singh are consistent in nature and from their evidence, it is clearly established on record that on 11.01.2000 present accused Jaspal Singh was driving the bus bearing No. PB-08-Y 611, in a rash and negligent manner, at a public place and he hit the same in the scooter of Sucha Singh, as a result of which, Sucha Singh received injuries on his person and later on died in the Hospital. So in view of my above discussion and reasons it is proved that accused Jaspal Singh drove his bus bearing No. PB-08 Y 611 in a rash and negligent manner on public place and, therefore, the ingredients as required under section 279 of the IPC are duly proved on record by the prosecution.” The appeal against the above order of conviction was dismissed by observing as follows:- “In view of the statement made by PW5 whose testimony could not be shattered during the cross examination, it becomes clear that the said bus has been duly identified by this witness in the Court. Therefore, even if the test CRR No. M 3298 of 2009 4 identification parade was not held that would not lead to the failure of the prosecution case. There was no question of holding a test identification parade much less in the circumstances when the complainant himself has stated that he saw the accused at the spot and has also identified him in the Court.” Nothing has been pointed out from the evidence which may enable this court to interfere with the well reasoned judgements rendered by both the Courts below. In view of the above, revision against the judgement dated 18.11.2009 passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Hoshiarpur dismissing the appeal of the petitioner against the judgement of conviction and order of sentence dated 07.07.2008 passed by the trial Court is dismissed and the conviction of the petitioner is upheld. However, the total sentence awarded by the Courts below is reduced to six months under Section 304-A of the Indian Penal Code. The remaining sentence as well as fine shall same the same. The revision petition is accordingly dismissed with modification in sentence in the above terms. (Nirmaljit Kaur) Judge March 17, 2010 mohan