Case: Kartar Singh Versus State Of Punjab (Criminal Appeal No. 159 Of 1975) And Mukand Singh Versus State Of Punjab (Criminal Appeal No. 382 Of 1975) And Malkiat Singh Versus State Of Punjab(Review Petition No. 51 Of 1975) Vs.

2. Roor Singh (deceased) used to live in village Kurrar. His daughter Smt. Pritam Kaur was married to one Karnail Singh who was appointed by some Sadhs as theirm is respect of their lands measuring 15 bighas in that village. Karnail Singh sold that land to hisw Roor Singh. Kalu Sadh filed a suit forn through his wife Smt. Harnam Kaur. The suit was decreed some five or six months before the date of incident. Roor Singh filed a suit in the court of, Barnala, claiming that he was in possession of the land and was entitled to it, but it was dismissed. He again filed a suit against Smt. Harnam Kaur and Kalu Sadh, and it was pending on the date of the incident. Roor Singh obtained a temporary injunction against Smt. Harnam Kaur and her husband Kalu Sadh on August 23, 1971, restraining his dispossession as they wanted to execute then decree.      3. It is alleged that as Smt. Harnam Kaur wanted to dispossess Roor Singh Somehow, she obtained the help of herw accused Malkiat Singh who, in turn took the help of accused Mukund Singh who was a friend of Darshan Singh (PW 3) also. Accused Malkiat Singh and Mukund Singh went to village Tappa to meet Darshan Singh on December 26, 1971, and asked him to bring hisy and licensed rifle to Mahal Kalan on December 30, 1971, because they wanted to cultivate the aforesaid land that day. Darshan Singh agreed to the proposal and reached Mahal Kalan at about midday in his4. Mansha Singh (PW 2) and Surjeet Singh (PW 4) went near their father, brother and sister, and found that they were dead. Mansha Singh went to the village and informed Yogendra Singh (PW 6) and Thakur Singh about the incident. They accompanied him to the place of occurrence where some other persons had arrived in the meantime. Mansha Singh (PW 2) went to police station Mahal Kalan which was at a distance of six miles and lodged the first information report (Ex. 10) there at 6.15 p.m. It is alleged that within a few minutes of doing so a supplementary statement (Ex. DH) was recorded by Mansha Singh (PW 2) giving some more details.r Chand Singh accompanied Mansha Singh to the place of occurrence and reached there at about 9 p.m. He prepared the inquest reports. He again went to the place of occurrence next morning. He found eleven 12 bore fired cartridge cases lying there. He also found 2 brass fired cartridge cases and the splinter which had fallen from the gun. Some other articles like a bloodstained "gandasa" "kripan" and "dhangi" were found lying in the field, as also a kettle and cups etc. All those articles were taken in police custody. The dead bodies were examined by Dr. Jagjeet Singh (PW 1) on December 31, 1971. All the 13 fired cartridge cases were sealed by ther and reached the Forensic Science Laboratory, Chandigarh, on January 3, 1972.      5. Accused Malkiat Singh and Mukund Singh were arrested byr Hazura Singh (PW 17) on January 6, 1972. It is alleged that at that time Malkiat Singh was carryingl 12 bore gun Ex.P. 23, while Mukund Singh had al 12 bore gun Ex.P. 22 with him. Both the guns were taken in police custody and were sealed. Accused Kartar Singh, Hari Singh, Preet Singh and Kala Ram were arrested from village Sanghera byr Chand Singh (PW 19) on January 7, 1972. A of accused Kartar Singh of which he held a licence. The injuries of Kala Ram accused were examined by a medical officer, and some test identification parades were also held. On January 10, 1972,r Gur Chetan singh (PW 18) arrested Darshan Singh from village Tappa and recovered a 315 bore rifle (Ex.P. 18) from his possession for which he had a licence. Accused Lal Singh was arrested from Barnala along with gun Ex.P. 21. The four recovered guns and rifle were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory, Chandigarh, and reached there on February 3, 1972. It was found that the recovered fired cartridge cases, except one which had insufficient marks, had been fired form the one or the other of the recovered firearms. Darshan Singh applied for being made an approver and his statement was recorded on March 2, 1972. The police filed a chargesheet against all the accused Smt. Harnam Kaur and Smt. Surjeet Kaur were charged of abetting the murders, while the other accused were charged of committing the substantive offences.      6. The Additional Sessions Judge of Barnala acquitted Lal Singh, Smt. Harnam Kaur and Smt. Surjeet Kaur of the offences of which they were charged, and convicted the remaining accused of offenses under Sections 148 and 302/149 I.P.C. He sentenced Mukund Singh, Malkiat Singh and Kartar Singh to death, and Hari Singh, Preet Singh and Kala Ram to rigorous imprisonment for life, for the murder of Roor Singh, Gurbux Singh and Smt. Jeet Kaur, They were also convicted of the offence under Section 148 I.P.C. and were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for one year. Three appeals were filed in the High Court, and there was a reference for confirmation of the death sentence. The High Court acquitted Hari Singh, Preet Singh and Kala Ram, but upheld the conviction of the present appellants Mukund Singh, Kartar Singh, and petitioner Malkiat Singh, and confirmed their death sentence. Appeal No. 159 of 1975 has been filed by Kartar Singh while appeal No. 382 of 1975 has been filed by Mukund Singh, by special leave. Malkiat Singh also filed a petition for special leave, but it was dismissed on May 1, 1975. He has therefore filed a Review Petition No. 51 of 1975. We shall dispose of the two appeals and the review petition by this judgment.

Court's reasoning:
We have gone through the evidence on the record, and we find that there is nothing to show that Mansha Singh (PW 2) was acquainted with Kartar Singh and was in a position to mention his name in the first information report but failed to do so. In so far as the description in the first information report is concerned, it would be sufficient to say that we are not in a position to appreciate the argument whether it could be said to tally with appellant; Kartar Singh. IF the argument was meant to be effective, it should have been made in the trial Court of the High Court. As it is, Mr. Kohli has not been able to show why Mansha Singh and Surjeet Singh or for the matter of that Darshan Singh (PW 3) should have falsely implicated Kartar Singh in such a heinous crime. On the other hand, the evidence of the eyewitnesses against him has been substantially corroborated by the fact that when Kartar Singh was arrested on January 7, 1972,l 12 bore gun Ex.P. 20 was found in his possession. It is not disputed that it was a gun for which he held a licence. Out of the eleven 12 bore fired cartridge cases which were recovered from the place of occurrence soon after the incident, four were found to have been fired from Kartar Singhs gun and from no other gun16. Lastly, it has been argued that the sentence should be reduced to imprisonment for life. We find no force in this argument also, but if there are any mitigating circumstances which have not been brought on the record, the proper course is to bring them to the notice of the appropriate government.