Case: Kasturi Lal Vs. State of Haryana

This appeal by Kasturi Lal accused arise from the judgment of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana dated April 7, 1971, upholding his conviction for various offences, including the offence of committing the murder of Sardari Lal for which he has been sentenced to imprisonment for life and fine of Rs. 500 under Section 302 read with Section 149 I.P.C. There were six other accused in the case including Khazan Singh and Gurdial Singh, but both of them were acquitted by the Sessions Judge of Karnal by his judgment dated December 19, 1970, whereas the appellant and the other accused were convicted for various offences and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. Four appeals were filed in the High Court, including an appeal by the present appellant Kasturi Lal and an appeal by the State of Haryana against the acquittal of Khazan Singh and Gurdial Singh. The High Court dismissed all the four appeals and the present appeal of Kasturi Lal has come up for consideration by special leave.

Reasoning: It would thus appeal that the evidence regarding motive was common to all the accused and was not confined to appellant Kasturi Lal who could not be said to have motive different from the acquitted accused Khazan Singh and Gurdial Singh. Then there is the further fact that all three of them were not found to have received any injuries in the alleged incident so that their cases were not different in that respect also11. Thus the reasons given by the High Court for distinguishing the case of Kasturi Lal from that of Khazan Singh and Gurdial Singh were not correct, and there is justification for the argument of Mr. Anthony that such a distinction would not have been made if the High Court had read the evidence correctly in all material particulars. So when the case of kasturi Lal was not distinguishable from that of Khazan Singh and Gurdial Singh, the High Court erred in taking the view that he was not entitled to acquittal.