Crl.Rev No.2073 of 2011 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Crl.Rev No.2073 of 2011 (O&M) Date of Decision: 08.09.2011 Ranjit Singh ...Petitioner Vs. State of Haryana ...Respondent BEFORE: HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE A.N.JINDAL Present: Mr.Gurcharan Dass, Advocate, for the petitioner. --- A.N.Jindal, J. Four persons of a family lost their precious lives as a result of alleged rash and negligent act of the petitioner for which he was put to dock. Ultimately, vide judgment dated 4.10.2010 passed by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Sangrur, the accused/petitioner (herein referred to as the petitioner) was convicted and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 2 years and to a pay a fine of Rs.1000/- under section 304-A IPC and to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 6 months and to pay a fine of Rs.500/- under section 279 IPC. Appeal preferred by him was also dismissed on 4.08.2011. Crl.Rev No.2073 of 2011 2 Allegations in nutshell are that complainant Narotam Singh had two brothers namely Swaran Singh and Harinder Singh. He along with his brother Harinder Singh, sister-in-law Parvinder Kaur, nephew Gurleen Singh and niece Gurcheen Kaur were returning from Chandigarh in Maruti Car bearing registration No.CH- 01-P-0055. At about 5.30 PM, when they reached in the area of village Harditpura near Daljit Dhaba, the petitioner while driving tanker bearing registration No.PB-11-G-9588 came from Bhawanigarh side and hit against the car of Harinder Singh. Due to this impact the car turned towards Patiala side and was badly damaged. The complainant stopped the car and made inquiry from the tanker driver, who disclosed his name as Ranjit Singh son of Gurmit Singh, resident of Bhogipur District Ropar. As a result of the accident, Harinder Singh and his wife Parvinder Kaur died at the spot and Gurleen Singh and Gurcheen Kaur were shifted to the hospital who died later. Post mortem examination on the dead bodies was conducted. On the statement of Narotam Singh case was registered. Petitioner was arrested on 20.5.2007 and on completion of investigation challan against the accused was presented in the court. In order to substantiate the charges, the prosecution examined 14 witnesses in all. When examined under section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure the petitioner denied all the the incriminating circumstances and pleaded his innocence. Crl.Rev No.2073 of 2011 3 The case of the prosecution stands duly established from the testimonies of Kartar Singh (PW 6) and Narotam Singh (PW 13), who are alleged eye witnesses to the alleged occurrence. Photographs of the car also indicate that it was badly damaged. Though Kartar Singh (PW 6) supported the prosecution case in examination-in-chief but refused to identify the driver in his cross- examination, yet Narotam Singh (PW 13), who had occasion and opportunity to see the petitioner, has duly identified him in the court. It was evening time, therefore, there was no reason for Narotam Singh for making mistake in identifying the accused. Medical evidence supports the prosecution version. There are no reasons for falsely implicating the petitioner in the case. At the same time the accused has not led any plausible defence. Both the courts below have returned consistent findings of fact that the petitioner Ranjit Singh while driving the tanker No.PB- 11-G-9588 rashly and negligently struck against car No.CH-01-P- 0055 resulting in the loss of four valuable lives. No perversity, illegality much less irregularity has been pointed out in the judgment warranting interference by this court. No grounds to interfere. Dismissed in limine. (A.N.Jindal) 08.09.2011 Judge nk/rp