Case: Romesh Kumar and Another Vs. State of Punjab

2. According to the prosecution story during the night intervening 11th/12th February, 1984 Ashok Kumar, a Riksha Puller, was standing outside the railway station at about 11.00 p.m. when four persons came and sat in his rickshaw. Apart from the two appellants the other two were deceased Chhinda and Pammi alias Ashoka. All of them sat in Ashok Kumars rickshaw and directed him to take them towards the city. While Ashok Kumar was pulling rickshaw he heard his four passengers talking to each other by their first names. After some distance three of them started beating Chhinda. All of them had knives in their hands and they gave serveralto Chhinda due to which he died and fell on theof the rickshaw. Ashok Kumar drove the rickshaw under the directions of the three assailants along with the dead body of Chhinda through the steets of Luchiana. The assailants directed the rickshaw puller to take them to the cremation ground. Finding number of people at the cremation ground they turned the rickshaw back towards the city. Some time after mid night while Ashok Kumar was pulling the rickshaw they came across two police on the road side. The constables stoped the rickshaw on which the three assailants left the rickshaw and ran away. The constables tried to chase the assailants but could not catch them. The constables took charge of hte dead body and also interrogated Ashok Kumar. The First Information Report was recorded at the instance of AshokAll the three accused were arrested by the police. After completing the investigation they were sent up for trial under S. 302/34 of the Indian Penal Code. Pummi alias Ashoka died during the pendency of the trial. As stated above the two appellants were tried and convicted by the SpecialAshok Kumar, rickshaw puller appeared as PW 3 and narrated the prosecution case. He stated before the Special Court that he knew the appellants. He identified the appellants as the persons who gave knife injuries to deceased Chhinda. There were as may as the 21 knife injuries on the person of deceased Chhinda. The testimony of Ashok Kumar PW 3 was corroborated by Manjit Singh PW 5. Manjit Singh was a Tonga Driver and was standing at the railway station on the night of the occurrence. According to him the three assailants had first come to him but ultimately changed their mind and went away to hire a rickshaw. Manjit Singh deposed that he knew the assailants before hand as they used to roam about near the railway station. Jogi Ram and Dev Singh were the two constables who stopped the rickshaw on the night of the occurrence. Jogi Ram appeared as PW 4 stated that he along with constable Dev Singh intercepted the rickshaw and found the dead body. He also deposed that the two appellants and their third companion ran away on seeing them

Court's reasoning:
The learned Special Judge has fully examined this aspect of the case. According to him the occurrence took place atin the month of February. The possibility of the happenings in the rickshaw having not been noticed by thewalkers cannot be ruled out. In any case theaccount of Ashok Kumar as corroborated by Manjit Singh and Jogi Ram proves the guilt against the appellants beyond reasonable doubt