SURJIT SINGH Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant before us stands convicted and sentenced under Section 5 of the Explosive Substances Act, 1908 by the Designated court, Kamal for having been found in unlawful possession of a hand-grenade and a detonator.

(2.) According to the prosecution case on 3/4/1984 when Inspector Sada Ram (Public Witness 5 and ASI Bachan Singh (Public Witness 4 of Panipat City Police Station along with other police personnel were proceeding along Jatal Road for investigating into a case they found the appellant coming from the opposite direction. On suspicion they apprehended him and started interrogating. On interrogation he disclosed that he had kept concealed a hand-grenade underneath a barh tree in front of his house. To work out that information the police party along with Pratap Singh (Public Witness 2, a member of the public, went to the house of the appellant. Reaching there the appellant brought out the hand-grenade along with a detonator after digging the earth from near a barh tree. Inspector Sada Ram prepared a recovery memo in respect of those articles, wrapped them in separate packets and sealed them. A case was thereafter registered against the appellant and in course of investigation the sealed packets were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory where the hand-grenade and the detonator were examined by Dr O. P. Chugh (Public Witness 1, Director of the Laboratory. He found the same to contain substances which on explosion could cause damage to lives and properties around the pointof their explosion. On completion of investigation the police submitted charge- sheet along with a sanction of the District Magistrate, Kamal to prosecute the appellant under the Explosive Substances Act.

(3.) The appellant pleaded not guilty to the charge levelled against him and his defence was that he was falsely implicated in the case. In support of his defence he examined a witness, namely. Sultan Singh (DW 1 who testified that there was no tree near the house of the appellant as claimed by the prosecution witnesses.