RAJ PAL Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is directed against the judgment of the Division Bench of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana dated 23.11.2007, in Crl. A. Nos. 198-DB of 1998. The High Court by order dated 23.11.2007, dismissed Crl. A. No. 198-DB of 1998 and Crl. A. No. 426-DB of 1998. The present Appellant was the Appellant in the Crl. A. No. 198-DB of 1998. As far as the Appellant in Crl. A. No. 426-DB of 1998 is concerned, it is stated that by an order dated 14.07.2009 his S.L.P. (Crl.) 5039 of 2009 was dismissed.

(2.) The case of the prosecution as narrated in the impugned judgment was that two to three months prior to the date of occurrence an altercation took place between the Appellant and the complainant party, over the "Mial" (Ridge), which was however subsequently compromised at the intervention of the relatives.

(3.) On 29.12.1995, in the evening it is stated that there was an exchange of hot words between the Appellant Raj Pal and the deceased over the aforesaid Ridge. The Appellant stated to have nurtured a grievance over the same. Late in the night, on that date after dinner, when the complainant P.W. 6 along with his mother and sisters was taking rest in their house, the deceased who was lying in the "kotha" adjoining their house cried for help, to which the complainant, his sister and mother rushed to the "kotha" where they found the Appellant and the co-accused pouncing upon the deceased with a "Pharsa" and "Kulhari" (axe). According to P.W. 6, the Appellant gave a "Pharsa" blow on the frontal portion of the neck of the deceased, while the co-accused inflicted an axe blow on the deceased, which hit him on the left hand below the elbow. It was also stated that when P.W. 6 and others tried to apprehend the assailants, they fled away from the scene of occurrence along with their weapons.