HUKAM SINGH Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The killers of an advocates clerk arranged a funeral pyre by themselves and cremated the victim in the sight of his bereaved widow and son. Police charge-sheeted six persons including the appellants for those acts. But the Sessions Court acquitted them all. As the High Court reversed the order of acquittal as against the appellants and convicted them for murder they filed this appeal as of right under S. 379 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (for short the Code). We heard detailed arguments of Shri Uday Umesh Lalit, Advocate for the appellants and Ms. Anjali Doshi, Advocate for the State of Rajasthan.

(2.) Munshi Singh was an advocates clerk who was murdered in the vicinity of his own house by using a pistol and other lethal weapons at about 7 P.M. on 29-6-1981. The prosecution case is the following : Appellant Hukum Singh (who was ranked as A.1 in the trial Court) and his brother Harnam Singh (A.5) and the latters sons Jaswant Singh (A. 2) and Balwant Singh (A.4) had some axe to grind against deceased Munshi Singh. On the evening of the fateful day Munshi Singh alighted from a bus near his house and was proceeding to his house. His son Bhupender Pal (PW. 4) took over a bag of cattle-feed which his father brought from the bazar and he too was walking a little ahead of his father. All the appellants were at the bus stop variously armed. On sighting the deceased one among the appellants (Hukam Singh) made an exhortation to finish him off and then Darshan Singh (who died before the trial started) fired his pistol which hit the deceased on his back. He slumped down on the spot.

(3.) Seeing the above mishap befallen his father PW.4 Bhupender Pal rushed to rescue him. Munshi Singhs wife on hearing the commotion flew down from her house and reached her husband. All the accused assaulted both of them as well as the deceased. Then the assailants dragged the deceased along the ground and brought him to their courtyard. They made a pyre with firewood splinters and put the body of Munshi Singh on it and set it ablaze while his wife and son were looking on aghast.