(1.) On April 19, 1973, the respondent Om Prakash (hereinafter to be described as the accused) inflicted as many as five stab wounds on the appellants Suraj Bhan. The injuries were very severe as will be found from the description given below:-
(2.) The accused was convicted under Section 307, I.P.C. by the trial court by its judgment dated February 26, 1974 and sentenced to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment and also to a fine of Rs.200/-, in default rigorous imprisonment for one year. Although the accused gave his age as 19 years, according to the trial court he appeared to be aged about 23 years.
(3.) The accused appealed to the High Court against his conviction and sentence. The appeal was numbered as Criminal Appeal No. 442 of 1974. The injured Suraj Bhan also filed a Criminal Revision Application being numbered as 606 of 1974 for enhancement of the sentence passed on the accused. The appeal was decided by a learned single Judge of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana on January 10, 1975. It appears from the judgment of the High Court in that appeal that conviction of the accused was not challenged. The only point that was urged was that the accused was entitled to set off the period of his detention as an under trial prisoner against the period of imprisonment imposed upon him under Section 428 of the Criminal Procedure Code 1973 (Act No.2 of 1974) which came into force from April 1, 1974. It appears also from the judgment that the State did not oppose the aforesaid submission on behalf of the accused. The learned single Judge, therefore, passed the order in the following terms:-