Crl. Misc. No. 5456-M of 2008 Present : Mr. Anil Kumar Garg, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. Palvinder Singh, Senior Deputy Advocate General, Punjab for the respondent. ***** The alleged occurrence relates to 21.6.2006, when at about 9.30 A.M. Jit Singh was said to have received a Kirpan blow at the hands of Surinder Singh accused/petitioner. As per the FIR lodged at the instance of Jit Singh, when Surinder Singh gave Kirpan blow to him he raised his left hand in defence and the Kirpan blow hit him on the left little finger, which was amputated. The FIR was registered under Sections 326/447/323/148/149 IPC. The medico-legal examination of Jit Singh was conducted on 21.6.2006, which revealed the presence of three injuries on his person. Injury No.1 was an incised wound present on the left little finger with amputation of the distal phalanx near the distal inter-phalangeal joint, while injury No. 2 was a lacerated wound measuring 0.5 cm x 0.5 cm present on the tip of left thumb on the palmar aspect. The third injury was only a bruise which was red in colour and as per FIR lodged by Jit Singh, caused to him by Hakam Singh, who wielded his Gandasa and hit him on the right side of his back. It is also clear from the FIR that Jit Singh had attributed the causing of injury on his left little finger to the petitioner. The petitioner moved an application for the grant of anticipatory bail which was declined by learned Additional Sessions Judge, Sangrur on 4.8.2006. He then filed Criminal Misc. No. 53371-M of 2006, which came up for hearing before this Court on September 07, 2006. Keeping in view the Crl. Misc. No. 5456-M of 2008 -2- fact that the petitioner was attributed an injury on the little finger of the left hand of Jit Singh, as a result of which it was amputated, this Court declined to grant the concession of anticipatory bail to the petitioner. Surprisingly, on 16.9.2006, SI Harvinder Singh, SHO Police Station Amargarh, moved an application before Medical Officer, Civil Hospital, Malerkotla so as to obtain his opinion on two points, which are as under :- (i) Whether Jit Singh ought to have received an injury on his hand or other fingers when he had received injury with a Kirpan which landed on his left little finger? (ii) Whether the injury on the left little finger of Jit Singh injured, which was caused with a sharp edged weapon, could be self suffered or suffered from a friendly hand? On the request made by SI Harvinder Singh, the concerned doctor gave his opinion that injury on other fingers may or may not occur when injury was received by Jit Singh injured on his left little finger. Further that possibility of injury on the left little finger of Jit Singh, being self suffered, could not be ruled out. The photocopy of the request submitted by SI Harvinder Singh and the opinion given thereon by the doctor has been produced, which is taken on record as Mark ‘A’ After receiving the aforementioned opinion, SI Harvinder Singh proceeded to delete the offence under Section 326 IPC from the heading of the FIR and presented challan against the petitioner and others for offences under Sections 323, 447 and other allied offences of Indian Penal Code. The petitioner was thereafter admitted to bail. At the stage of framing of charges, learned trial Court was of the view that offence under Section 326 IPC was made out and the accused deserves to be charged for the said offence as well. Crl. Misc. No. 5456-M of 2008 -3- Apprehending his arrest, the petitioner has moved the present application for the grant of anticipatory bail. It has also been submitted on behalf of the petitioner that both the parties have now entered into a compromise. Besides, Jit Singh injured has given an affidavit to the effect that his little finger was amputated when he was cutting grass. The medico-legal examination on the person of Jit Singh was conducted on 21.6.2006 and the FIR was registered on the following day on the basis of a statement made by Jit Singh injured himself. For almost more than one and a half month thereafter, the investigation remained with ASI Bachittar Singh of Police Station, Amargarh. SI Harvinder Singh, who is present in the Court, states that he took over the investigation on 5.8.2006. On enquiry put by the Court, SI Harvinder Singh, SHO, Police Station, Amargarh states that the police always considers injuries on the fingers to be self suffered or inflicted at a friendly hand and for that reason an application was made on 16.9.2006 by him to the doctor to get an opinion. When asked as to why almost a period of three months was allowed to elapse before filing an application to the doctor, he stated that he was entrusted with the investigation only on 5.8.2006. Even from the said date, he did not move any such application, as moved by him only on 16.9.2006, to seek the opinion of the doctor about the fact as to whether the injured would have received injuries on his own hand and other fingers when he received injury on his left little finger and whether the injury on the left little finger was self suffered or the same was inflicted by friendly hand. It is apparent that the petitioner was declined the concession of anticipatory bail by this Court on 7.9.2006. It appears that after the declining of anticipatory bail by this Court, an understanding was arrived at between the petitioner and the Investigating Crl. Misc. No. 5456-M of 2008 -4- Agency and then effort was made to help him out by obtaining an opinion from the doctor and then declaring that no case under Section 326 IPC was made out and the petitioner was, thus, challaned for an offence under Section 323 IPC. Even otherwise, the doctor had not given any categorical opinion about injury No.1 to be self suffered. He only stated that possibility of the same could not be ruled out. The opinion of the doctor regarding the presence of injuries on the hand and other fingers was that such injuries to other fingers may or may not occur. As per the medico-legal examination, there was another injury, i.e. on the left thumb, on the person of Jit Singh injured. This injury was not attributed to any accused. This inquiry could be caused in the same process in which injury was received by Jit Singh on his left little finger. In such a situation, the police was not duty bound to absolve the petitioner and other accused of the offence under Section 326 IPC. Anyhow, after the presentation of the challan under Sections 323, 447 and other allied offences of IPC, the learned Magistrate is now framing charge under Section 326 IPC as well against the petitioner and others. In so far the affidavit (Annexure P.2) of Jit Singh injured is concerned where he stated that he received injury on his left little finger while cutting grass, it may be mentioned that the occurrence had taken place on 21.6.2006 while for the first time, the injured is coming up with the version contained in affidavit on 13.12.2007. It is also clear from the perusal of Annexure P.1 that the parties have entered into a compromise. There is every likelihood that on account of the compromise, the injured has come up with a different version than the one as stated in the FIR. As the petitioner is attributed causing of an injury on the person of Jit Singh which resulted in the amputation of left little finger, and, thus, Crl. Misc. No. 5456-M of 2008 -5- falling within the ambit of Section 326 IPC, no case for grant of anticipatory bail is made out. The application is, therefore, dismissed. Let a copy of this order be sent to Director General of Police, Punjab for necessary information. ( T.P.S. MANN ) March 31, 2008 JUDGE satish