Raghbinder Singh vs Bant Kaur & Ors

1. Bant Kaur, the widow of Lal Singh and Sukhwinder Singh and Paramjit Kaur, his son and daughter respectively filed a suit (No.877 of December 20, 1994) in the court of Civil Judge (Junior Division), Dhuri, claiming a sum of Rs.2,00,000.00 (rupees two lakhs only) as damages from Jang Singh and his two sons Raghbinder Singh and Jinder Singh (Harjinder Singh) who, according to them, had killed Lal Singh in an occurrence that took place at village Kumbherwal (P.S. Ranike), Tehsil Dhuri, District Sangrur, Punjab, on August 7, 1994 at 11:30am. The trial court by judgment and order dated March 7, 1998 found and held that the defendant nos.1& 2 2 murdered Lal Singh over property dispute and they were, therefore, liable to compensate the plaintiffs for the loss of their dependency and mental agony suffered by them. The trial court then calculated the compensation payable to the plaintiffs and arrived at the sum of Rs.2,40,000.00 (rupees two lakhs forty thousand only). However, since the plaintiffs had claimed the lower sum of Rs.2,00,000.00 (rupees two lakhs only), it decreed the suit for that amount. The two defendants, Jang Singh and Raghbinder Singh, against whom the suit was decreed, took the matter in appeal (Civil Appeal No.43 of April 17, 1998). But the District Judge, Sangrur, dismissed the appeal by judgment and order dated July 27, 2000 without any modification in the decree passed by the trial court. The two defendants then carried the matter to the High Court in second appeal (RSA No.4562 of 2000). The High Court dismissed the second appeal by a brief order dated, December 18, 2000 observing that no case was made out for any interference in second appeal. Raghbinder Singh, alone, then brought up this matter in appeal by grant of special leave, impleading his father defendant no.1 before the trial court as proforma respondent no.4.

4. From the report received from the High Court and the other materials on record it is evident that at the conclusion of the trial, Harjinder Singh, one of the three accused (defendant no.3 in the suit from which the present appeal arises) was acquitted but the other two accused, namely, Jang Singh and Raghbinder Singh (defendants 1 and 2) were convicted under section 302 read with section 34 of the Penal Code for committing the murder of Lal Singh and sentenced to undergo life imprisonment and a fine of Rs.1,000.00 each (and in default of payment of fine to undergo rigorous imprisonment 4 for six months) vide judgment and order dated August 17, 1996 by the Sessions Judge, Sangrur. Against the judgment of the trial court, Jang Singh and Raghbinder Singh preferred appeal (Criminal Appeal No.449-DB of 1996) before the High Court. The State too went up in the appeal (Criminal Appeal No.228-DBA of 1997) against the trial court judgment insofar as it acquitted the third accused, Harjinder Singh. A division bench of the High Court by judgment and order dated November 20, 2004 dismissed both the appeals, thus, maintaining the conviction and sentence awarded to the appellant and Jang Singh by the trial court. Against the judgment of the High Court, the appellant and Jang Singh came before this Court in SLP (Crl.) No.4500 of 2005. It was dismissed in limine by order dated August 18, 2005. The aforesaid developments, after the filing of the present appeal, take away the objection raised on behalf of the appellant.

8. No other point was raised for our consideration.

9. We find no merit in the appeal and the same is dismissed, but with no order as to costs.

...................................J (AFTAB ALAM) ....................................J (R.M. LODHA) New Delhi, September 22, 2010