Crl. Rev. No.2352 of 2002 [1] IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. Criminal Revision No.2352 of 2002 Date of Decision: 17 - 5 - 2010 Kuljit Singh .....Petitioner v. State of Punjab .....Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE KANWALJIT SINGH AHLUWALIA *** Present: None for the petitioner. Mr.J.S.Bhullar, AAG, Punjab. *** KANWALJIT SINGH AHLUWALIA, J. The present revision petition has been preferred by Kuljit Singh son of Paramjit Singh. He was named as an accused in case FIR No.51 dated 12.10.1997 registered at Police Station Gidderbaha under Section 304-A IPC. The Court of Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Gidderbaha vide its judgment dated 9.1.2001 held the petitioner guilty of offence under Section 304-A IPC and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for two years and to pay a fine of Rs.2,000/-. In default of payment of fine, he was to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for two months. Aggrieved against the same, the petitioner had filed an appeal. Crl. Rev. No.2352 of 2002 [2] The appeal was dismissed and the conviction and sentence was maintained. FIR Ex.PA was registered on the basis of statement made by Hardip Singh son of Balbir Singh resident of Village Tharajwala. Complainant stated that on 12.10.1997 at about 6.15 P.M., he was returning from Gidderbaha Mandi on his bicycle to his Village Tharajwala. When he reached near the godowns of wheat, his younger brother Balraj Singh, who was employed as Patwari, while travelling on his scooter crossed him. At that time Kuljit Singh son of Paramjit Singh resident of Village Tharajwala was coming at a high speed in a rash and negligent manner on his tractor No. 4511. The tractor hit the scooter driven by Balraj Singh, brother of the complainant. Balkar Singh fell down on the berm of the road and the tyres of the tractor-trolly crushed him. The accused ran away from the spot along with the tractor-trolly. Balraj Singh died at the spot. His scooter was damaged. Gurjant Singh son of Jagir Singh was attracted at the spot. Leaving Gurjant Singh to guard the dead body, complainant went to his village to inform his father Balbir Singh. Thereafter, he came to the police station to make the statement which was recorded by ASI Sukhdev Singh. The above-said FIR was investigated. Report under Section 173 Cr.P.C. was submitted. On 15.1.1998, the Court of Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Gidderbaha charged the petitioner for offence under Section 304-A IPC for having caused the death of Balraj Singh on 12.10.1997 at about 6.30 P.M. in the area of Village Gidderbaha while driving tractor-trolly No.PB-30-6287 in a rash and negligent manner. The petitioner pleaded not guilty and claimed a trail. Hardip Singh, complainant appeared as PW1. He reiterated as Crl. Rev. No.2352 of 2002 [3] to what was stated in Ex.PA. In cross-examination, he stated that they were three brothers and were residing separately. In those days, his brother Balraj Singh was Patwari of Villages Dona and Bharu. His office was at Gidderbaha.. His residence was not at Gidderbaha. On the day of occurrence, complainant had gone to Gidderbaha at 2.00 P.M. as he had to negotiate about the plots. His brother had not met him at Gidderbaha. He had gone to Village Dona which was at a distance of 4 kilometers. The witness admitted that at the place of occurrence, there was no residence, shop or office. There was only one godown of wheat. Nobody remained present at the godown. He further stated in the cross-examination that scooter fell down on the road side at a distance of 8/9 feet. At that time, Gurjant Singh had not reached the spot. Gurjant Singh appeared as PW2 and he corroborated the testimony of the complainant. In cross-examination, this witness stated that he was at a distance of 25/30 karams from complainant Hardip Singh and at the time of accident, it was not dark. This witness further admitted that Puran Singh was the former Sarpanch. The witness belonged to all factions. Kuljit Singh was opposing to Puran Singh due to some minor dispute. PW3 Ashok Kumar, Clerk, from the office of D.T.O. Muktsar proved original record regarding registration of tractor No.PB-30-6287. It was in the names of Ranbir Singh and Manbir Singh sons of Kuldeep Singh. Dr.H.N.Singh, PW4 performed autopsy of deceased Balraj Singh on 13.10.1997 at 8.30 A.M. The doctor opined that cause of death was multiple injuries on the skull leading to shock and hemorrhage. All the injuries were ante mortem in nature and could be the result of road accident. Raghbir Singh PW5 had submitted mechanical test report Crl. Rev. No.2352 of 2002 [4] Ex.PW5/A. PW6 Gurtej Singh was the Tractor Mechanic. He had submitted the mechanical test report Ex.PW6/A regarding the tractor. Ashok Kumar PW7 had photographed the spot. He proved photographs Exs.PW7/A and PW7/B and negatives Exs.PW7/C and Ex.PW7/D. In cross-examination this witness stated that the place of occurrence was at a distance of half a kilometer from Gidderbaha. PW8 Mander Singh had taken photographs of tractor No.PB- 30-6287 which are Exs.PW8/A to PW8/C and their negatives as Exs.PW8/E to PW8/G. Mulakh Raj PW9 from the office of District Transport Officer, Ferozepur proved ownership of the scooter. ASI Sukhdev Singh PW10 being the Investigating Officer proved various facets of the investigation. Thereafter, the prosecution closed its evidence. Statement of the accused was recorded under Section 313 Cr.P.C. He pleaded false implication and raised the plea of alibi. To prove the same, he examined Resham Singh DW1, Natha Singh DW2, Balwinder Singh DW3 and Ranjit Singh DW4. DW1 Resham Singh stated that he was the Secretary of the Village Gurudwara for the last 6/7 years. He was informed by one Iqbal Singh that an accident had taken place near the Godown and an announcement was made on the speaker of the Gurudwara. This fact was reiterated by Balwinder Singh DW2, whereas DW3 Natha Singh and DW4 Ranjit Singh stated that on the day of accident, Kuljit Singh was present in the Grain Market on the shop of DW4 Ranjit Singh where the paddy Crl. Rev. No.2352 of 2002 [5] belonging to his father was to be auctioned. Nobody has caused appearance for the petitioner, even though the case was called twice. I have proceeded to decide the revision petition under Section 403 Cr.P.C. after examining the records. Both the Courts below have placed implicit reliance on the testimonies of PW1 Hardip Singh and PW2 Gurjant Singh. The defence version whereby alibi was projected has been discarded. In the grounds of revision, it was pleaded that the occurrence had taken place on 12.10.1997 at 6.30 P.M., whereas the sun had set at 5.45 P.M. Therefore, it was dark and the witnesses could not identify the accused. This ground was also taken in the grounds of appeal. Accused belonged to the village of the witnesses. Therefore, he was known to the witnesses. There was no enmity between the accused and the witnesses. The witnesses have deposed in a categoric terms that the petitioner was driving the tractor in a rash and negligent manner and had caused the death of Baljit Singh. Both the Courts below have not only reposed trust on the testimonies of PW1 Hardip Singh and PW2 Gurjant Singh but have also believed presence of the witnesses at the spot. Thus, no ground is made out to cause interference and set aside the findings recorded by both the Courts below on the basis of evidence. Counsel for the State has placed on record custody certificate in the form of affidavit dated 14.5.2009 of Rajmohinder Singh, Deputy Superintendent, Sub Jail, Muktsar. As per the custody certificate, the petitioner had undergone 3 months and 8 days of actual sentence. The occurrence in the present case took place in the year 1997. About 13 years are going to elapse. The petitioner has suffered mental pain and agony of Crl. Rev. No.2352 of 2002 [6] the protracted trial. In the grounds of revision, it is stated that the petitioner was aged 22 years at the time of occurrence. He was a first offender and not a previous convict and is also a sole bread earner of his family. Taking all the aforesaid circumstances into consideration, this Court is of the view that sending the petitioner behind the bars will serve no useful purpose. This Court is also of the view that some monetary compensation can be granted to the family of deceased Balraj Singh. Thus, taking the totality of circumstances into view, the sentence awarded to the petitioner is reduced to the period already undergone. However, the sentence of fine is enhanced to Rs.35,000/-. The trial Court shall call upon the petitioner to deposit the amount of fine. However, in case the petitioner fails to deposit the amount of fine, no benefit in reduction of sentence shall accrue to the petitioner. With the aforesaid observations, the present revision petition is disposed of. ( KANWALJIT SINGH AHLUWALIA ) May 17, 2010. JUDGE RC