IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH 1) Criminal Appeal No. 593-DB of 2000 Dated of Decision:- July 23, 2009 Darshan Singh ....APPELLANT VERSUS State of Punjab ....RESPONDENT 2) Criminal Appeal No. 620-DB of 2000 Rani Kaur ....APPELLANT VERSUS State of Punjab ....RESPONDENT CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MEHTAB S.GILL HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JITENDRA CHAUHAN Present:- Sh. A.P.S.Deol, Sr. Advocate with Sh. Daldeep Singh, Advocate for the appellants. Sh. Satinder Singh Gill, Addl. A.G. Punjab. ------ MEHTAB S.GILL, J. We will be deciding Criminal Appeal No.593-DB of 2000 and Criminal Appeal No.620-DB of 2000 by a common judgment, as they arise out of the same order/judgment dated 23.9.2000 of the Addl. Sessions Judge, Mansa, whereby he convicted Darshan Singh son of Puran Singh 2 Criminal Appeal No. 593-DB of 2000 and Criminal Appeal No. 620-DB of 2000 and Rani Kaur w/o Kuldeep Singh under Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC and sentenced them to undergo life imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs.1,000/- each, in default of payment of fine to further undergo R.I. for one month. The case of the prosecution is unfolded by the application Ex.PF of Amrik Singh given to SI Kesar Singh, SHO Police Station, Bhikhi at Police Station Bhikhi. Amrik Singh stated that his sister Amrik Kaur @ Harbans Kaur was married with Darshan Singh of Village Borawal about 11 years back. His taya’s (uncle) daughter Melo Kaur had arranged the marriage. His sister had three children. The elder daughter was studying in 5th class. One son was five years old and the 3rd child was three years old. Amrik Kaur’s relations with her husband were strained, as Darshan Singh had illicit relations with one Rani Kaur d/o Gurdit Singh of the same village. Amrik Kaur used to stop Darshan Singh from having relationship with Rani Kaur. On 18.5.1999 Rani Kaur slept in the house of Darshan Singh. Their common intention was to eliminate Amrik Kaur. On 19.5.1999 both Darshan Singh and Rani Kaur administered some poisonous substance to Amrik Kaur, by which she died. Regarding the illicit relations, a number of relatives had persuaded Darshan Singh from not going around with Rani Kaur. On the basis of this application, FIR Ex.PF/1 was registered on 19.5.1999 at 3.30 p.m. The special report reached the J.M.I.C., Mansa on the same day at 5.30 p.m. The prosecution to prove its case brought into the witness box, Dr. Kashmir Singh PW1, Amrik Singh PW2, Melo Kaur PW3, Gurmel 3 Criminal Appeal No. 593-DB of 2000 and Criminal Appeal No. 620-DB of 2000 Singh PW4, Mukhtiar Singh son of Kartar Singh PW5, Mukhtiar Singh son of Googan Singh PW6, HC Ruldu Singh PW7, Pritam Singh CII PW8, Kuldeep Singh PW9, Kesar Singh SI/SHO PW10. In defence, HC Darshan Singh was examined as DW1, Gurjant Singh as DW2, Magh Singh as DW3, Amrik Ram DW3 and Bhola Singh DW4. Learned counsel for the appellants has argued, that it was a case of suicide, but has been made into a case of murder by the complainant party. The Investigating Officer SI Kesar Singh PW10 has connived with the complainant party in fabricating a case under Section 302 IPC against the appellants. There was no poison present on the bed or clothes or any part of the body of the deceased. The medical evidence as propounded by Dr. Kashmir Singh PW1 shows, that there was no injury on the person of the deceased. If forcibly poison was administered to the deceased, there should have been injuries on the lips, face and other parts of the body, as deceased Amrik Kaur would have definitely put up resistance. In column No.15 of the Inquest Report Ex.PC i.e. ‘Are there any symptoms rumours to show as to how the death occurred due to torture or by poisoning’, the Investigating Officer has written “By eating poison”. These words clearly show that initially the Investigating Officer was convinced that it was a case of suicide and not of a homicide. The complainant Amrik Singh PW2, in his testimony before the Court has stated, that whatever he wrote in Ex.PF was on the dictation of the Investigating Officer. The application was written by one Janta Singh and he merely thumb-marked it. 4 Criminal Appeal No. 593-DB of 2000 and Criminal Appeal No. 620-DB of 2000 Learned counsel for the State has argued, that there is no delay in lodging of the FIR. Occurrence had taken place at about mid night/early morning of 18/19.5.1999 and FIR Ex.PF/1 came into existence on the same day at 3.30 p.m. The special report reached the J.M.I.C., Mansa at 5.30 p.m. on 19.5.1999. The twelve hours delay is of no consequence, as the occurrence had taken place in the night and if there is any delay, it is purely on administrative reasons. The post-mortem report Ex.PA shows that death was by poison. Deceased died in the house of appellant Darshan Singh. The conduct of Darshan Singh is suspicious. Instead of going to the police and lodging the FIR or staying by the dead-body of his wife, he ran away and it was Amrik Singh PW2, the brother of the deceased, who reported the matter to the police and took the dead body to the hospital. If the appellant was innocent, he would have not behaved in such a suspicious manner. The testimony of Amrik Singh PW2, Melo Kaur PW3 and Gurmel Singh PW4 inspire confidence. The house of Melo Kaur PW3 is very close to the house of the deceased. She along with Gurmel Singh were the first ones to reach the house of Darshan Singh appellant and they saw both appellant Darshan Singh and Rani Kaur leaving in a jeep, at 5.30 a.m. in the morning. In fact Melo Kaur PW3 is an eye witness to the occurrence. She saw the appellants administering poison to the deceased. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the record with their assistance. The main thrust of the arguments of the learned counsel for the appellants is that it is a case of suicide and not of culpable homicide amounting to murder. The post-mortem report Ex.PA states, that on basis of 5 Criminal Appeal No. 593-DB of 2000 and Criminal Appeal No. 620-DB of 2000 the report of the Chemical Examiner Ex.PP, the cause of death was due to aluminum phosphide pesticide poisoning. Further in the report it has been stated, that there was no external injury on the person of Amrik Kaur. There was 200 mls. of fluid in the stomach, which was taken by the deceased 10- 15 minutes prior to her death, this fluid could be tea, as the colour was brown. A person who takes aluminum phosphide normally dies within 2-3 hours. Amrik Singh PW2, the complainant has stated in his testimony before the Court, that appellant Rani Kaur had illicit relations with his brother-in-law Darshan Singh for the last three years. He used to stop his brother-in-law Darshan Singh from having illicit relations with Rani Kaur. Instead of stopping, he started mis-treating his sister Amrik Kaur physically. He along with his brother Janta Singh went to his sister’s house and they reached at about 8.30 a.m. and saw Melo Kaur PW3 and Gurmel Singh PW4 there weeping. His sister Amrik Kaur was lying dead on the cot. They told Amrik Singh PW2, that both appellants Darshan Singh and Rani Kaur had administered poison to Amrik Kaur, which caused her death. Thereafter he along with Janta Singh went to Police Station, Bhikhi, where he lodged FIR Ex.PF/1. This witness has also stated, that appellant Darshan Singh was not in the house. His statement gets corroboration from Melo Kaur PW3 and Gurmel Singh PW4. Both these witnesses i.e. Melo Kaur PW3 and Gurmel Singh PW4 have stated, that when they came in the morning in the house of Amrk Kaur deceased, they saw appellants Darshan Singh and Rani Kaur fleeing away in a jeep. When they went inside, they saw the dead body of Amrik Kaur. 6 Criminal Appeal No. 593-DB of 2000 and Criminal Appeal No. 620-DB of 2000 The conduct of appellant Darshan Singh is highly suspicious. Amrik Kaur lost her life in the intervening night of 18/19.5.1999. Instead of looking after and taking care of Amrik Kaur deceased, appellant Darshan Singh was not found in his house. In his statement under Section 313 Cr.P.C. Darshan Singh in answer to the last question put to him has stated as under: - “ A. Amrik Kaur deceased was having illicit relations with Gurmel Singh her brother-in-law. Melo Kaur the wife of Gurmel singh and I used to object to such relations. On the night of 18.5.99 Gurmel Singh came to house. Melo Kaur also followed him where quarrel took place amongst Gurmel singh, Melo Kaur and Amrik Kaur (now deceased). Melo Kaur asked Amrik Kaur that she had illicit relations with Gurmel Singh her husband. After this quarrel, Amrik Kaur consumed tablet of aluminum phosphide and died. She died, as she was fed up with Gurmel Singh and Melo Kaur, with a view to save themselves they falsely implicated me and my co-accused”. In his statement under Section 313 Cr.P.C., appellant has made out a new case altogether. He has stated that Gurmel Singh PW4 and Amrik Kaur deceased had illicit relations, which was objected to by Melo Kaur PW3. That was the reason, when she (Amrik Kaur) was confronted by Melo Kaur PW3, that Amrik Kaur consumed aluminum phosphide. Strangely Amrik Singh PW2, Melo Kaur PW3 and Gurmel Singh PW4 have not been confronted with this version of Melo Kaur PW3 and Darshan Singh appellant having illicit relations. No question was being put to this witness regarding this story, nor any suggestion has been put to this effect to them. 7 Criminal Appeal No. 593-DB of 2000 and Criminal Appeal No. 620-DB of 2000 Taking the medical evidence into consideration, that appellant Darshan Singh it seems administered poison to the deceased in the form of mixing it with some liquid like tea. Dr. Kashmir Singh PW1 in his testimony before the Court has stated that there was 200 mls. of water, which looked like tea, this was taken by the deceased 10 minutes before she died. Appellant Darshan Singh after administering poison to Amrik Kaur in tea or some other liquid left her in the house and went away. It being night time. Amrik Kaur deceased did not get any medical help and she unfortunately lost her life. Appellant Rani Kaur seems to have been roped in. Though she had illicit relations with Darshan Singh, but on the day Amrik Kaur died, apart from the evidence of Melo Kaur PW3 and Gurmel Singh PW4, there is no other evidence to show, that she was present in the house on the fateful night. Appellant Darshan Singh cannot be absolved of the murder of his wife, as the occurrence had taken place in his house at night time and it was natural for him to be there. In fact he has admitted his presence in his statement under Section 313 Cr.P.C., though he has tried to twist the actual version. Benefit of doubt is given to appellant Rani Kaur w/o Kuldeep Singh. She is acquitted of all the charges framed against her. Criminal Appeal No.620-DB of 2000 filed by appellant Rani Kaur is allowed. Her conviction and sentence is set aside. If in custody, she be set free forthwith if not required in any other case. Darshan Singh is directed to surrender before the C.J.M., Mansa, if on bail, to undergo the remaining part of his sentence. Criminal Appeal No.593-DB of 2000 filed by appellant Darshan Singh is dismissed. 8 Criminal Appeal No. 593-DB of 2000 and Criminal Appeal No. 620-DB of 2000 (MEHTAB S.GILL) JUDGE (JITENDRA CHAUHAN) July 23, 2009 JUDGE SKArora WHETHER TO BE REFERRED TO REPORTER? YES/NO