Mohinder Singh And Ors vs State Of Punjab

The accused-appellants belong to Sakkanwali Village, Police Station Sadar Muktsar, District Muktsar, Punjab. The deceased Harbans Singh was the neighbour of the appellants. There was a dispute on the demarcation of the Shamlat land. Some portion of this land is claimed by the accused-appellants and some of the land was being claimed by Harbans Singh, the deceased. The Shamlat land has not been demarcated nor a particular portion of the land was in exclusive possession of either the appellants or the complainant party. As per the First Information Report lodged by Harvinder Kaur at 10.30 P.M. on 23rd February, 1996, the prosecution story unfolded is, that on 23rd February 1996 at about 5.30 P.M., the complainant Harvinder Kaur (PW-1) along with Jasvinder Kaur (PW-2), wife of Jaspal Singh, were making cow-dung cakes in the Shalmat land. Harbans Singh after providing fodder to the cattle was talking to Jaspal Singh. In the meantime, Mohinder Singh (A-1) and Nasib Singh (A-3), armed with licensed 12 bore double barrel guns, Naginder Singh (A-6) armed with dang, Sukhdev Singh (A-5) armed with kassia, Beant Singh (A-2) armed with kirpan and Nirbhai Singh (A-4) armed with kassruli came to the spot. Mohinder Singh (A-1) raised lalkara that the complainant party be taught a lesson for grabbing and making addition of the land of the accused with that of the land of the complainant party. Then Mohinder Singh fired shot from his licensed gun at Harbans Singh, which hit him on the left side of the chest. When the complainant (PW-1) ran towards her husband to save him, Nasib Singh (A-3) fired a shot from his double barrel 12 bore gun, which hit her on the ankle of left foot. At that time Mohinder Singh fired another shot, which hit on the interior side of the right thigh of Harbans Singh, the deceased. At the same time Naginder Singh (A-6) gave dang blows to Jaspal Singh and Nasib Singh again fired shot on the right leg of Jasvinder Kaur. An alarm was raised which attracted Gurbans Singh and Mander Singh sons of Gurdev Singh, Pritam Singh and Gurmit Singh sons of Bhag Singh, Madan Singh son of Avtar Singh and Mukhtiar Singh son of Mehar Singh, residents of Sakkanwali Village. When they tried to intervene and rescue the members of the complainant party, Mohinder Singh and Nasib Singh fired shots at them hitting the right flank of Madan Singh and left leg of Pritam Singh. Similarly, Sukhdev Singh, Beant Singh and Nirbhai Singh caused injuries to Mander Singh, Gurbans Singh, Mukhtiar Singh and Gurmit Singh. After causing the aforesaid injuries, all the accused ran away with their respective weapons. Thereafter, Gurmit Singh arranged for the vehicle and took the injured to the Civil Hospital, Muktsar. However, Harbans Singh succumbed to his injuries on his way to the hospital. The remaining injured were got admitted to the Civil Hospital at Muktsar. The inquest report of the dead body of Harbans Singh was prepared in the presence of Jaspal Singh and Mander Singh. The special report reached the Illaqa Magistrate at 5.00 A.M. on 24th February, 1996. After the investigation the accused persons were arrested and prosecuted. Appellants Mohinder Singh, Sukhdev Singh and Naginder Singh had taken the plea of alibi stating that on the date of occurrence they along with Bachittar Singh and Harmanjit Singh had gone to the village Jharriwala to see a match for the grand daughter of Naginder Singh and had returned late in the night. As such they were not present on the date at the place of occurrence and had been falsely implicated by the complainant side. The other appellants while admitting the incident asserted that Harvinder Kaur had given wrong version of the facts, in fact, Nasib Singh was present at his house. Nirbhai Singh and Beant Singh came to know that Harbans Singh (deceased), Jaspal Singh (PW-9), Gurdev Singh, Mander Singh armed with gandasas along with some other persons were placing cow-dung cakes in their plot/land to take forceful possession of the land and when Nirbhai Singh and Beant Singh went to the spot to make enquiries, the aforesaid persons attacked them and caused injuries. Nasib Singh, Gurmail Singh and Angrez Singh intervened to save Nirbhai Singh and Beant Singh. Gurmail Singh and Angrez Singh caused injuries to the complainant's side. It was further asserted that in the meanwhile, some other persons collected there and Nasib Singh in self-defence of his property and person fired shots which hit the complainant's side. The prosecution has mainly based its case on the eye witnesses' account of the incident deposed by Harvinder Kaur (PW-1), Jasvinder Kaur (PW-2), Jaspal Singh (PW-9) and Pritam Singh (PW-10), the injured witnesses. The post- mortem of the deceased Harbans Singh was conducted by Dr. Kirandeep (PW-4) and she had found fire-arm injuries on the person of the deceased. In her opinion, the cause of death was shock and haemorrhage as a result of injury to pericardium and heart, which was sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature. Dr. M.G. Sharma (PW-3) had examined Mukhtiar Singh and Jaspal Singh. On 23rd February, 1996, Dr. Tarlochan Singh (PW-15) examined Harvinder Kaur (PW-1), Gurmit Singh, Pritam Singh, Jasvinder Kaur (PW-2) and Mander Singh. The doctors found the injuries on the person of the persons examined by them. Nirbhai Singh (A-4) and Beant Singh (A-2) were also examined by Dr. APS Kochar (DW-1) who had found some injuries on the person of A-4 and A-2. At the instance of the accused Mohinder Singh and Nasib Singh, licensed guns were recovered from their possession. After appreciation of the evidence on record, the trial court convicted all the accused persons as under:

The entire sentence was directed to run concurrently. However, the period of detention already undergone by the accused convicts during investigation or trial was directed to be deducted from the period of their substantive sentences. Aggrieved by the order of conviction and sentence an appeal was preferred in the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. It was urged before the High Court that there was a delay in lodging the FIR, which was lodged at 10.30 P.M. whereas the alleged incident took place at 5.30 P.M. on 23rd February, 1996 and the report to the Illaqa Magistrate had reached at 5.00 A.M. on 24th February, 1996, which goes to show that the complainant party had consumed time in coining up a story of their choice in connivance with the police. That non-explanation of the injuries on the person of Beant Singh and Nirbhai Singh, dented the prosecution case and because of non-explanation of the injuries by the witnesses on the person of the accused, it can be inferred that the complainant's side was suppressing the genesis of fight. That there was a discrepancy between the eye- witnesses' version and medical evidence. That the plea of alibi taken by Sukhdev Singh, Naginder Singh and Mohinder Singh was proved by the defence and as such they could not have been convicted. It was lastly submitted that their presence at the spot was not unnatural as the houses of the appellants were adjoining to the place of occurrence and unlawful assembly with a common object to commit the murder of Harbans Singh and cause injuries to other persons, cannot be inferred. The High Court recorded the findings that in the circumstances of the case, merely because there was some delay in lodging the FIR, it cannot be said that the prosecution had manufactured a story to falsely implicate the appellants, particularly so when the occurrence was admitted by the appellants, maybe with the denial of the presence of Mohinder Singh, Sukhdev Singh and Naginder Singh at the spot. The so called delay would at best call for more care and caution while scanning the entire evidence so that there would not be chances of false implication. The element of delay in registering the complaint or sending the same to the jurisdictional Magistrate by itself would not be fatal to the prosecution, if the evidence adduced by the prosecution was worthy of credence. The High Court found the eye- witnesses' version credible and trustworthy. As for non-explanation of the injuries on the appellants Beant Singh and Nirbhai Singh, the High Court has found that there were no injuries on their person by gandasa, which was claimed in defence. According to the High Court, the injuries were superficial in nature except one on the person of Beant Singh which was in the shape of diffused swelling and the doctor had opined that there was no visible injury mark seen, which showed that no injury was caused by the blunt side of the gandasa otherwise it would have left some mark of violence. The effect of the non-explanation of the injuries on the person of the accused had to be judged from the entire factual position, and having done so, in view of the High Court, the prosecution had not suppressed the genesis of fight. The High Court opined that the appellants in the shape of aggressors formed an unlawful assembly causing the murder of Harbans Singh and caused injuries to nine persons. As per the High Court, there was no discrepancy in the medical evidence and the eye-witnesses' account for the injuries caused by the use of firearm. The distance between the assailants and the injured, as per the prosecution witnesses was 7-8 karams, whereas according to the medical evidence the shots fired were not from more than a distance of 4 ft. from the muzzle end of the gun. This is on account of blackening around the wound. The High Court has held that the witnesses are rustic villagers from whom accuracy about the exact distance cannot be expected. All the four injured witnesses examined have categorically stated in one voice that Mohinder Singh along with Nasib Singh armed with licensed guns came and fired at Harbans Singh, the deceased. On perusal of the site plan, it is clear that the place of occurrence is of very small in dimension. Five persons from the complainant's side including the deceased were present on the plot, whereas the other five persons, who had received injuries, had also reached the spot after hearing the commotion. From the appellants' side, six persons entered the said plot. Thus, in all 16 persons were present at the time of incident and in such a situation it would not be possible for the witnesses to make the correct assessment of the distance, from where the shots were fired and in these circumstances the gun fires and the resultant injuries thereof, witnessed by the witnesses present and injured, cannot be disbelieved. Coupled with the fact that the licensed guns of the accused persons were recovered at the instance of the accused and the user of the same being confirmed by Forensic Science Lab, the witnesses' version cannot be disbelieved. It was obvious that two guns had been used in the occurrence.

In the present case, there is a creditworthy evidence of PW-1, PW-2, PW-9 and PW-10 viz., Harvinder Kaur, Jasvinder Kaur, Jaspal Singh and Pritam Singh, who have vividly described the incident and the part played by each of the accused-appellants. All the four witnesses are injured witnesses and their presence at the spot cannot be doubted. The evidence led by the defence at best shows minor injuries suffered by Beant Singh and Nirbhai Singh which would not dislodge the prosecution case, which is established by the evidence of creditworthy witnesses and non-explanation of the injuries by the prosecution, if any, sustained by the accused-appellants would not result in disbelieving the prosecution version. To prove the case, the prosecution has examined four eye-witnesses. Harvinder Kaur (PW-1), w/o Harbans Singh (deceased) has deposed that on the relevant day, her husband and Jaspal Singh were present at the place of incident where they were preparing cow-dung cakes. She saw the accused-appellants proceeding towards the shamlat land. Mohinder Singh and Nasib Singh were armed with licensed 12 bore guns, Naginder Singh with dang, Sukhdev Singh with Kassia, Beant Singh with Kirpan, Nirbhai Singh with Kassruli. Mohinder Singh raised a lalkara that they would teach us a lesson for adding their land with our land. Mohinder Singh accused fired from his 12 bore gun towards her husband Harbans Singh which hit him on the left side of his chest. She ran towards her husband and Nasib Singh fired at her by his gun which hit her on her left ankle. Mohinder Singh fired another shot which hit her husband on his right thigh while lying on the ground. Naginder Singh-accused gave dang blows to Jaspal Singh by hitting him but she could not tell the place of injuries on the person of Jaspal Singh. Nasib Singh then fired from his 12 bore gun hitting Jasvinder Kaur on her right leg above her right ankle on the front side. Nirbhai Singh-accused caused injuires to Jasvinder Kaur with kassruli. They raised alarm. On hearing noise Mander Singh, Gurbans Singh, Gurmit Singh, Pritam Sikngh, Madan Singh and Mukhtiar Singh came to the spot to rescue them from the accused. At that time Mohinder Singh fired from his gun hitting on the right flank of Madan Singh and left leg of Pritam Singh. Then Naginder Singh, Beant Singh, Sukhdev Singh and Nirbhai Singh with their respective weapons caused injuries to Mander Singh, Gurbans Singh, Gurmit Singh and Mukhtiar Singh. She has further stated in cross-examination that she was present at the spot 25-30 minutes prior to the occurrence and she had seen the accused at a distance of 7- 8 karams. The accused persons came carrying guns with them. The other accused were also with them and they came together. Mohinder Singh accused fired with the gun from a distance of 7-8 karams at Harbans Singh. Nasib Singh was at a distance of 7-8 karams from Jasvinder Kaur when he fired. Nasib Singh and Mohinder Singh had fired from 7-8 karams at Madan Singh and Pritam Singh. Further, Jasvinder Kaur (PW-2), another injured eye- witness, fully supports the version given by PW-1 of the incident. She specifically stated that Nasib Singh fired from his 12 bore gun towards her which hit her on her right leg above the ankle and the pellets hit her on abdomen and Nirbhai Singh gave kassruli blows on her left foot. Jaspal Singh (PW-9) is another injured eye-witness examined by the prosecution who had described the incident and the participation of the accused persons in the incident as described by PW-1 and PW-2. He had specifically deposed that accused-Naginder Singh gave three dang blows to him, first blow hit on his shoulder and second blow was received by him on the back side at right hand. Pritam Singh (PW-10), another injured eye-witness, had supported the statements of the eye-witnesses in toto. The cross-examination of these witnesses could not show any contradiction or discrepancy in their version in regard to the participation of the accused-appellants in the crime and the part played by them. The ocular version of the witnesses find support from the medical evidence of Dr. Kirandeep (PW-4) who has conducted the post-mortem on the deceased Harbans Singh. Statement of Dr. M.G. Sharma (PW-3), who examined Mukhtiar Singh and Jaspal Singh and statement of Dr. Tarlochan Singh (PW-15), who examined Harvinder Kaur Gurmit Singh, Pritam Singh, Jasvinder Kaur and Mander Singh, fully corroborated the ocular version of the eye-witnesses. We find that the eye- witnesses were wholly reliable and supported the case of the prosecution to the hilt.

We are satisfied with the evidence led by the prosecution that common object of all the accused appellants of causing death of Harbans Singh was established beyond any doubt and, therefore, the accused- appellants were rightly convicted under Section 302 IPC with the aid of Section 149 of IPC apart from other convictions under other Sections of IPC for causing injuries to other persons.

For the foregoing reasons, in our view there is no merit in this appeal. The appeal is dismissed.