IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. Criminal Appeal No.257-DB of 1998 Date of decision: 18.01.2008 Gurdip Singh @ Bau. -----Appellant. Vs. The State of Punjab. -----Respondent. CORAM:- HON'BLE MR JUSTICE ADARSH KUMAR GOEL HON'BLE MR JUSTICE S. D. ANAND Present: Ms. Vandana Malhotra, Advocate for the appellant. Mr. Rajesh Bhardwaj, DAG, Punjab. ----- Adarsh Kumar Goel, J. The appellant challenges his conviction under Section 302 IPC, for which he has been sentenced to undergo life imprisonment and to pay fine of Rs.2,000/-, in default, to undergo further RI for six months. Case of the prosecution is that on 26.11.1994, Narinder Kaur (PW-3) had gone to the house of her husband’s sister Paramjit Kaur @ Pammi, deceased, wife of Gurdip Singh @ Bau, appellant at Village Taragarh Talab. The deceased had returned home after earning Rs.50/- as labour charges. Criminal Appeal No.257-DB of 1998 The appellant snatched the said amount from her and at her protest, he caught hold of her from her long hair and threw her on the ground. He picked up kahi (spade) from the courtyard and gave blows from its sharp edged side on her head, neck, face and arms. She started bleeding profusely and raised alarm, which attracted Kashmir Singh, neighbour. It was 9-00 P.M. at that time. The appellant ran away along with the spade. The residents of the village removed Paramjit Kaur @ Pammi to the hospital, but she died on the way. Narinder Kaur (PW-3) stayed for night at Taragarh Talab. In the morning, she went to her in-laws’ house. She and her husband after leaving her husband’s elder brother’s wife Chhinder and other women near the deadbody, proceeded to the police station. On the way, they met Mohan Singh, Sub Inspector (PW-9), who recorded her statement (Ex.PE) at 9-00 A.M. on 27.11.1994, which led to registration of FIR. Mohan Singh (PW-9) went to the place of occurrence, prepared inquest report, recovered bloodstained earth, prepared rough site plan and sent the deadbody for post-mortem examination. The post- mortem examination was conducted by Dr. Gurmanjit Rai (PW-2) on 27.11.1994 at 4.30 P.M., who found the following injuries:- “It was an alleged case of death due to injuries by kahi, length of the body was 5’. It was a dead body of a moderately built and poorly nourished female wearing kamij and salwar, clothes were bloodstained, post-mortem staining was present on the back of the body except area of contact flattening. Rigour mortis was present throughout the body. Clothes were found having cuts 2 Criminal Appeal No.257-DB of 1998 corresponding to injuries. I found the following injuries on the body of the deceased:- 1. Incised wound 10x2 cm. bone deep on the left front parietal region of head. It was 9 cm above eyebrow. Clotted blood was present; 2. Incised wound 8x1.5 cm. was present on the left cheek 1 cm. lateral to angle of mouth. It was bone deep, clotted blood was present; 3. Incised wound 8x2.5x2 cm on the right side of neck, underline caroted vessel and jugular veins was found incised. 4. Incised wound 7 x .5cm on the front of neck at the level of thyroid cartilage. It was skin deep. 5. Incised wound 5 x 1.5cm and bone deep was present on the left wrist. Clotted blood was present. 6. Incised wound 5 x 2cm and muscle deep present on the back of left fore-arm in its 1/3rd. Clotted blood was present; 7. Incised wound 3 x .5 cm. on the outer aspect of right upper arm. It was .3 cm. deep. Underline mumerus bone was found fractured. There was swelling and deformity. Clotted blood was present; 8. Incised wound 5x5.2 cm. on the back of left fore-arm, in its upper 1/3rd. Clotted blood was present; 9. Incised wound 4 x .3 x.2 cm on the back of left fore- arm, 2 cm below injury no.8; 10. Reddish abrasion 3 x 2 cm on the front and left side of the abdomen, 6 cm lateral to amblicus; 11. Reddish abrasion 3 x 1 cm on the outer aspect of left thigh in its upper 1/3rd; 12. A leniar reddish abrasion 8 cm x .2 cm on the right flank of the abdomen, 4 cm above, Superior crest. 3 Criminal Appeal No.257-DB of 1998 According to him, the cause of death was haemorrhage and shock as a result of injuries which were sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature. The accused was arrested on 29.11.1994 and made a disclosure- statement, which led to recovery of kahi (Ex.P1). After completion of investigation, the accused was sent up for trial. The prosecution examined Jarnail Singh (PW-1), Dr. Gurmanjit Rai (PW-2), Narinder Kaur, Complainant (PW-3), Kashmir Singh (PW-4), Rishi Ram, Draftsman (PW-5), HC Manjit Singh (PW-6), HC Dharvinder Singh (PW-7), HC Mohinder Singh (PW-8), Mohan Singh, Inspector (PW-9), Constable Kishan Singh (PW-10) and Constable Ajit Singh (PW-11). The accused denied the prosecution allegations. The trial Court after considering the evidence on record, held the case of the prosecution to be proved beyond reasonable doubt. The substance of reasons given by the trial Court is as under:- (i) Evidence of Narinder Kaur (PW-3) fully supported the prosecution version. Injuries were ante mortem by one weapon and were sufficient to cause death; (ii) Evidence of Narinder Kaur could not be rejected merely because she did not intervene to rescue the deceased or did not accompany the deceased to the hospital or did not disclose names of the persons who took the deceased to 4 Criminal Appeal No.257-DB of 1998 the hospital or particulars of vehicle in which the deceased was taken to the hospital or that she did not inform the Sarpanch of the village or did not mention why she did not take the daughter of the accused, aged one year, with her; (iii) Kashmir Singh (PW-4), neighbour of the deceased, though declared hostile, admitted that Narinder Kaur (PW-3) had come to the house of the accused and he had gone there on hearing alarm; (iv) Delay in lodging FIR was not unexplained; (v) Father of the accused was at home who could have looked after the one year old child. Kashmir Singh, Neighbour, having arrived, failure of Narinder Kaur to report the matter to the Sarpanch or to disclose the names of the persons who took the deceased to the hospital, were not material discrepancies which doubted her presence; We have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. Reference to testimony of PW-3 Narinder Kaur shows that she is closely related to the deceased and the accused. Her presence at the place of occurrence could be natural. She has no reason to falsely implicate the accused. Her testimony is forthright about the occurrence. There is no dispute of identity. When direct evidence is available, absence or inadequacy of motive is not important. Grievous crime can be committed for slightest of motive. It is not always necessary or possible to prove exact motive for the occurrence. Her 5 Criminal Appeal No.257-DB of 1998 failure to intervene when the accused was having the lethal weapon, is not unnatural. The occurrence took place at the night time in winter and Narinder Kaur had to first inform her husband about the matter. Faced with death of her close relative, she could not be expected to act mechanically with all the promptitude. Delay in sending of report to the Magistrate is not extraordinary or unexplained. If ocular account is reliable, little delay in lodging of the FIR or sending a copy of the FIR to the Magistrate cannot be treated as an infirmity to reject the case of the prosecution. The medical evidence fully corroborates the version given by PW-3 Narinder Kaur. PW-4 Kashmir Singh, neighbour of the accused, did not support the version of the accused or his having caused death, but deposed that when he went to the house of the deceased, he found Narinder Kaur (PW-3) present there. This witness, thus, corroborates the presence of Narinder Kaur (PW- 3) at the place of occurrence. Minor discrepancies pointed out by defence counsel mainly relate to the witness not having acted in a particular manner, such as not reporting the matter to the Sarpanch, not taking the child of the deceased with her and not accompanying the deceased to the hospital. It is well known that different persons react in different manner and reaction of a person cannot be expected on any particular pattern. PW-3 Narinder Kaur is a close relative of the deceased as well as the accused. Relationship is not a fact which affects credibility of a witness. A close relation will not normally conceal the actual culprit. 6 Criminal Appeal No.257-DB of 1998 Thus, tested on the test of probabilities, the version given by PW-3 Narinder Kaur is fully established beyond reasonable doubt. We do not find any merit in the appeal and the same is dismissed. ( ADARSH KUMAR GOEL ) JUDGE January 18, 2008 ( S. D. ANAND ) ashwani JUDGE Whether to be referred to reporter? Yes/No 7