Veer Singh & Ors vs State Of U.P

3. Aggrieved by the conviction and sentence accused No.1 to 5 preferred appeals being Criminal Appeal No.749 of 1996 and Criminal Appeal No. 761of 1996 and a Reference regarding death penalty was also made to the High Court. Besides the State also preferred an appeal being Appeal No.1341 of 1996, challenging the acquittal of accused Nos.6 to 8. The Appeals and Reference were heard together and the High Court by its common judgment dated 4.12.1997 allowed the Criminal Appeals filed by accused Nos.1 to 5 and rejected the Reference and acquitted them of all the charges. It also dismissed the Criminal Appeal preferred by the State.

x 0.7 cm x depth was not measured and the smallest wound was measuring 0.2 cms x o.2 cm x muscle deep. Some article like hard pellet felt in the injury. Blackening was present nearby the injury.

11. Harbans Kaur is the wife of Shisha Singh and the dwelling house of Mohar Singh was adjacent to her house. PW 4 Harbans Kaur in her testimony has stated that on the fateful night she along with her sons Joginder Singh and Jassa Singh and her daughter Rano, Joginder’s wife Bhajan Kaur and her three children Bagga Singh, Phulvender and Gurmit Singh were sleeping in her house and her husband was sleeping in the tubewell and a lantern was burning in the house and on hearing the barking of dogs they woke-up and saw group of people at the -gate including Kartar Singh and his four sons namely Mahendra Singh, Lakkha Singh, Ginder Singh and Sindar Singh and they were carrying gun, country made pistol, axe and spade. She also noticed among them the four sons of Sampuran Singh namely appellants Veer Singh, Tahal Singh, Amreek Singh and Kamir Singh along with Balkar Singh armed with weapons and lathi in the assembly, and out of fear she and her family members went into a room and bolted the door from inside. Kartar Singh and Mahender Singh climbed up the roof and started demolishing the roof and threw burning wood from the roof. Kartar Singh was shouting aloud to his sons to finish off all the members of family of Shisha Singh and Mohar Singh and not to allow anybody to escape alive. It is her further testimony that when she and the other family members tried to escape, accused Kartar Singh, Mahender Singh, Balkar Singh and Amreek Singh let loose killing spree and initially killed her daughter Rano, her daughter-in-law Bhajan Kaur, her sons Kulvendra and Gurpreet Singh and they fired gun-shots on her which struck on her chest and accused Sinder attacked her with an axe on her hand and mouth and her sons Jassa Singh and Joginder Singh were killed outside their -house when they tried to run away. She heard cries emanating from the house of Mohar Singh and five persons of their family were also killed and she ran to the field of paddy hiding herself where she met Gurdip Singh, Hazoor Singh and Jaswant Singh and narrated the occurrence to them and sought their help to lodge the complaint and Gurdip Singh along with Jaswant Singh proceeded to the Police Station. She has further testified that she asked Hazoor Singh to go to the tubewell and inform her husband about the occurrence. Hazoor Singh came back and told her that Shisha Singh and Mohar Singh were also hacked to death.

13. There is intrinsic evidence available on record which lends credence to her testimony. The occurrence took place in the midnight and the complaint was lodged in Jhinjhana Police Station at 4.15 a.m. on 14.7.1984 without any loss of time. The complainant Gurdip Singh was also murdered before the trial. In the complaint Gurdip Singh has stated that during midnight on the occurrence day he heard loud noise and screaming from the house of Shisha Singh and Mohar Singh. He took up his licensed gun and moved towards the house of Shisha Singh with Jassa Singh and Hajoor Singh and saw in the moon lit night and also in the light shed by the torch, Kartar Singh and his son Mahender Singh standing on the roof of Shisha Singh’s house and Kartar Singh loudly directed his sons to wipe off all the family members of Shisha Singh and Mohar Singh and when he and his fellows challenged, all of a sudden the assailants opened -fire on them and he stepped back and it was at that time injured Harbans Kaur who escaped from the occurrence place met him and told him that Kartar Singh and his sons along with other accused have killed all the members of her family and also the family of Mohar Singh, and pleaded for help and to inform the police. After providing her safety he went to the Police Station and gave oral complaint which was reduced to writing and he appended his signature on it.

18. In the present case we are left with the sole testimony of injured eye-witness PW4 Harbans Kaur. She has lost all the members of her family in the attack during the occurrence.

19. There was also motive for the occurrence. It is the testimony of the PW4 Harbans Kaur that her husband lent a sum of Rs.8000/- to Mahender Singh son of Kartar Singh 8 years prior to the occurrence and he was avoiding to pay back which created bitterness. Besides the above, it is also indicated in her testimony that Mahender Singh suspected that family members of Harbans Kaur had tipped the police about the activities of Mahender Singh which led to his arrest twice by the Jhinjhana and Kairana Police. It is her further testimony that Mohar Singh has also lent some money to Mahender Singh and this testimony

20. From the evidence on record we are inclined to hold that appellants along with other accused armed with weapons had committed trespass into the dwelling houses of Shisha Singh and Mohar Singh during mid-night with a view to commit murder of

-the family members of Shisha Singh and Mohar Singh and carried out the same. The High Court has rightly sustained the conviction on the appellants and the sentence awarded to them are also proper.

21. We find no merit in the appeals and the same are dismissed.

December 10 , 2013.