BALWANT SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Balwant Singh, the sole appellant in this appeal, was convicted under Section 302 of the Penal Code and sentenced to death by the Trial Court. His conviction, and sentence have been confirmed by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. Special leave to appeal was granted by this Court limited to the question of sentence only. We have, therefore, to see whether on the facts of this case the High Court was right in confirming the death sentence imposed upon the appellant or was it a case where the lesser sentence of life imprisonment ought to have been awarded.

(2.) The appellant was aged about 60 years at the time of the occurrence. He was working as a Granthi of a Gurudwara in village Salihna District Faridkot. Mohan Singh the deceased was a member of the Managing Committee of the Gurudwara. He made certain complaints against the appellant to the President of the Managing Committee and asked for his removal from the post of the Granthi. The appellant, therefore, bore a grudge against the deceased. In the early hours of April 13, 1974 the appellant gave Karah Parshad of Granth Sahib to Mohan Singh mixing opium in it. As soon as Mohan Singh took the Parshad he felt sick and his heart began to sink. Inspite of the medical aid he could not survive and died about 4 hours after the administering of the poison to him by the appellant. On the facts found by the learned Sessions Judge and as affirmed by the High Court, the appellant was convicted under Section 302 of Penal Code. The question for consideration is whether the sentence of death was rightly passed. It may be noticed that the occurrence took place on April 13, 1974 after coming into force of the Criminal Procedure Code,1973 on and from April 1, 1974. Provisions of Section 354(3) of the new Code, as noticed by the High Court, governed this case. Yet the High Court confirmed the sentence of death relying upon two decisions of this Court which were not concerned with the application of law engrafted in Section 354(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 but were given with reference to the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898 as it stood at the relevant time.

(3.) It is well-known that in many parts of the world an agitation has been going on against the imposition of death penalty even in murder cases. And in many countries or States death penalty has been abolished. In India the legislature in its wisdom has not thought it fit and proper to abolish the death penalty altogether but there has been a gradual swing against the imposition of such penalty. Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 as it stood before its amendment by Act 26 of 1955, sub-s. (5) of Sec. 367 required: