PURAN SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellants Puran Singh, Piara Singh, Bakshish Singh, Bohar Singh and Balkar Singh have been convicted under Ss.302/149 I.P.C. and sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 200 each and in default six months' rigorous imprisonment and under Ss. 326/149 I.P.C. to one year rigorous imprisonment and under Section 148 I.P.C. to one year rigorous imprisonment. The learned Sessions Judge who tried the present case had also convicted one Pargat Singh the brother of Bakshish Singh and son of Charan Singh but this accused has been acquitted by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana - hereinafter referred to as the 'High Court.' The High Court has, however, affirmed the conviction ant sentences of the five appellants and dismissed the appeal filed by the appellants before it hence this appeal to this Court by special leave.

(2.) It is not necessary for us to detail the facts of this case, because the decision of the matter lies within a very narrow compass. Mr. R. K. Garg appearing for the appellants has raised a few questions of law and according to his submissions the appeal should succeed on the question of law on the basis of the findings given by the High Court. The unfortunate incident in the present case which led to the loss of two valuable lives appears to be the result of chronic land dispute between the parties and a competitive race for taking possession of the land by the prosecution or the accused. The story opens with a usufructury mortgage which was executed by Hari Singh the original owner in respect of 29 Kanals 14 Marlas of land in favour of the appellants Puran Singh and Piara Singh and one Nisham Singh for a sum of Rs. 3000/-. Soon thereafter the mortgagees sold their mortgage rights to Makhan Singh father of Dilbagh Singh of the prosecution party. On July 28, 1966 the appellants Puran Singh and Piara Singh and one Smt. Chandra daughter of the appellant Bakshish Singh purchased the equity of redemption in the said land from Hari Singh for a sum of Rs. 20,000/- and undertook to liquidate the mortgage debt. According to the defence the mortgage debt was actually discharged on May 30, 1967 and a few months later mutation was sanctioned in favour of the accused on July 13, 1967. Having, however, failed to take possession of the mortgage property after having redeemed the mortgage, the purchasers of the equity of redemption, namely, the party of the appellants filed a suit for possession against Dilbagh Singh in the Court of the Subordinate Judge, Hoshiarpur on October 4, 1967. One of the dates fixed in this suit was October 27, 1968 when, according to the prosecution, Puran Singh, Piara Singh, Bakshish Singh, Pargat Singh and Chandra Singh entered the land in dispute and demolished the kothas of the complainant A complaint was filed by Dilbagh Singh on October 30, 1968 against the accused and Ajmer Singh Sub-Inspector of Police alleging that the accused had entered the land and demolished the kothas belonging to the complainant with the active aid of the police. In this complaint although the complainant did not admit in so many words that the accused had taken forcible possession of the land and demolished the kothas, yet from the facts and circumstances proved in this case there was no doubt that it was a fact that the complainant in spite of his best attempts was dispossessed by the party of the accused. While the complaint was being enquired into, the suit filed by Puran Singh and others was dismissed on November 21, 1968 on the ground that the suit was not maintainable and the plaint was returned to the plaintiffs for presentation to the proper authorities, namely, Revenue Courts. Emboldened by this success in a civil suit it appears that the complainant Dilbagh Singh along with Sohan Singh Bachan Singh, Sulakhan Singh Bar Singh and others went to the field in question and started ploughing it and sowing Sarson. We might mention here that the definite case of the accused has been that after taking possession of the land in question from the complainant the appellants had grown wheat in the land and on the date of occurrence the complainant party tried to destroy the crop which led to mutual fight between the accused and the complainant party resulting in the death of the two deceased persons of the prosecution party and according to the defence injuries on Mohan Singh and Bohar Singh who were on the side of the accused.

(3.) According to the prosecution while the prosecution party was busy ploughing the land and sowing Sarson crop in the field all the appellants variously armed with gun, barchhas, kirpans, gandasis and axes entered upon the land and Pargat Singh fired his gun as a result of which Dilbagh Singh and Bachan Singh fled away leaving the two deceased persons and Sohan Singh behind. Thereafter the accused Puran Singh and Piara Singh surrounded Sulakhan Singh and inflicted various injuries on his body with kirpans, while Bakshish Singh gave spear blows in the thigh and abdomen of Sulakhan Singh. The appellants Balkar Singh, Puran Singh and Piara Singh inflicted with their respective weapons blows on Baj Singh. Sohan Singh P.W. 9 who tried to rescue his brother was also assaulted by Balkar Singh, Bohar Singh and Bakshish Singh. Puran Singh and Piara Singh are also alleged to have assaulted Sohan Singh with their weapons. The victims then fell down on the ground and then the accused made good their escape. The three injured persons were removed to the civil hospital at Hoshiarpur but Sulakhan Singh succumbed to his injuries on the way while Baj Singh and Sohan Singh were admitted in the hospital. The F.I.R. was lodged on November 27, 1968 by Baj Singh one of the injured persons on the basis of which the present case started and after usual investigation a chargesheet was submitted against the accused which resulted in their ultimate conviction and sentences as mentioned above.