HARJINDER SINGH ALIAS BHOLA Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Three persons including the appellant herein, were charged for the murder of Gurpreet Singh on the night of 30th January, 1994, at village Ranguwal. The appellant together with one Manjit Singh was charged under Section 302, IPC, read with Section 34, IPC. It appears that the second accused Manjit Singh has been absconding and the trial proceeded only against the appellant. The other accused, namely Sohan Singh, who was charged under Section 302 read with Section 109, IPC, died during the course of trial. The Sessions Court convicted the appellant under Section 302 read with Section 34, I.P.C. and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The High Court upheld the conviction and dismissed the appeal.

(2.) The prosecution case, as revealed by the FIR lodged by Mohinder Singh, the father of the deceased and his deposition in Court is as under :

(3.) On the crucial date, when the informant (P.W. 3) returned to his house at about 7 p.m., his wife told him that their son Gurpreet Singh left the house at about 5 p.m. in the company of the two accused as the accused wanted his presence at Jorahan Village for settling the dispute between Jarnail Singh and Ranjit Singh (P.W. 4). As his son did not return till 7.30 p.m., Mohinder Singh (P.W. 3) decided to search for him and he first went to village Jorahan. Ranjit Singh (P.W. 4) also joined him in the search at Jorahan which according to the evidence of the Investigating Officer (P.W. 11) is at a distance of about 1.5 Kms. from Ranguwal. Not finding him there, P.W. 3 and P.W. 4 were coming back to Village Ranguwal. It was about 10 p.m. (9 or 9.15 p.m. as per the deposition) when they reached the Primary School at Ranguwal. They witnessed the attack on the deceased by the two accused in front of the Primary School building. The appellant placed a Pharna (scarf) around the neck of the deceased after pushing him down to the ground and he continued to press the neck with Pharna. The other accused namely, Manjit Singh took out knife from his pocket and inflicted injuries on the face of the deceased. At that stage P.Ws. 3 and 4 raised hue and cry. They were warned and threatened to leave the place. Soon after the accused left the place, P.Ws. 3 and 4 were able to go to the spot and noticed that Gurpreet Singh succumbed to the injuries. P.W. 3 claimed to have witnessed the occurrence in moonlight and also with the aid of a torch. Some persons including Chowkidar Nahar Singh and his servant Pritam Singh came to the spot immediately after the occurrence. Leaving them with the dead body, P.Ws. 3 and 4 set out to the police station on motorcycle (moped) for reporting the matter.