LILA RAM Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) We discern not many a knots in the strand woven by the prosecution. However, first, the prelude. In the posh locality of Saket there is a Central Market known also as Super Bazar. It comprises of twenty-six shops. Shop No. 24, however, provides the central stage. Its proprietors were Davinder Kumar Aggarwal and Parveen Kumar Aggarwal, though some times their father Gian Chand Aggarwal also used to look after the business. Hardly a few yards away from the market are residential houses and one of the occupants of one of those residential buildings is Rajpal Sharma, Advocate. Quite nearby also lives Vinod Kumar Singhal. He is the brother-in-law of Parveen Kumar Aggarwal. They are the central characters besides, of course, Lila Ram @ Liloo and Rajinder Kumar, who were arrayed by the prosecution as the accused. Allegedly their victim was Parveen Kumar Aggarwal.

(2.) A thumb nail sketch of the sequence of facts is necessary to get a hang of the core of the case of prosecution. Drawn from the First Information Report recorded on the basis of the statement of Davnder Kumar Aggarwal, it emerges out as follows.

(3.) On December 29, 1983 at about 5 P.M. Davinder Kumar Aggarwal and his brother Parveen Kumar, deceased, were present at the shop. A boy, short statured, sallow complexioned and slightly heavy built, came to the shop and asked for a speaker for his jeep. When told that they had no speakers for vans, he took a television speaker on approval, came back after some time, and demanded screws to fit it in the jeep. It so happened that at that time, four screws were lying on the counter meant for a heater belonging to a customer. The boy picked up those screws. This was objected to by Parveen Kumar to which that boy took offence and tjreatened to teach him a lesson. However, on being pacified by Davinder Kumar Aggarwal, that boy went away in his white coloured jeep. The scene then shifts to January 1, 1984. On that day at about 9.15 P.M. while the shop was being closed by the said two brothers' and their employee Akhilesh, a person sallow complexioned slim and aged about 26-27 years came to the shop, stared at Davinder Kumar, asked him whether he was the same person, and gave a slap on his face. In the meanwhile, the boy who had visited the shop on December 29, 1983 also came there and, while pointing out towards Parveen Kumar, told him that it was Parveen Kumar who was the person concerned. By that time that. slim person had taken out a screw-driver from inside the belt of his pant. He gave two or three blows with it to Davinder Kumar Aggarwal which were successfully warded off and as soon as Parveen Kumar enquired as to what the matter was, that slim person gave three or four blows with it in his chest, and stomach. Parveen Kumar fell down on the ground on which the built boy remarked: "Bas Sala Mar Gaya, Chalo." Thereafter, both of them took to their heels. Parveen Kumar was later taken to the hospital by Davinder Kumar Aggarwal and Akhilesh Kumar where he was declared dead. The occurrance as per the First Information Report, was witnessed by two three shopkeepers and by Akhilesh Kumar. However, in the course of the trial, Davinder Kumar Aggarwal disowned the shopkeepers and the prosecution made an attempt to show that it was Rajpal Sharma, Advocate, who had actually witnessed the occurrence.