SHEETAL Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present Criminal Appeals have been filed by the appellants- Sheetal (Crl.A. 126/2018) and Inderjeet Singh (Crl.A. Nos.247/2018 ) under Section 374(2) Cr.P.C. against the common judgment of conviction dated 23.12.2017 and common order on sentence dated 29.01.2018 passed by learned Additional Sessions Judge, Rohini Courts, Delhi whereby, the appellants have been convicted under Section 302/120B IPC. For the offence punishable u/s 120B IPC, the appellants have been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of five years each and a fine of Rs. 5000/- each and in default of payment of fine, they shall undergo simple imprisonment for one month each. They have been further sentenced to undergo life imprisonment for the offence punishable u/s 302 IPC and a fine of Rs. 25,000/- each, and in default of payment of fine, they shall undergo simple imprisonment for a period of six months each. Both the sentences were ordered to not run concurrently.

(2.) It is the case of the prosecution that on 28.02.2014, upon receiving information through a PCR call, Vide DD No. 7A that a dead body was seen lying near a water tank at Pusta Road, Thokar No. 13, in a field near Jhangola Village, SI Jaibeer and Const. Rajbir reached the spot. Insp. Mahesh Kumar on getting the information also reached the spot along with SI Kamlesh, HC Praveen and HC Ramesh. They found that a dead body of a male Sikh aged about 45 years was lying there. It appeared to them that due to heavy impact the body was crushed, and blood was also lying near the head of the deceased. The dead body was lying near a berry tree and bushes, in which a blood-stained stone was lying. The deceased was wearing a grey colour pant, a jersey and a white coloured striped shirt, and was also wearing a hawai slippers of green and white colour. Half of the face of the deceased was covered with a black coloured turban. The scene of crime was got examined by the crime team and the photographs were taken. As per the report of the crime team Ex PW4/A, the right eye and the forehead of the deceased were having injury marks and one Driving License (DL No. 0120100066867) and cash worth Rs.800/- was recovered from the inner pocket of the deceased's pant. The name and address mentioned on the Driving License was of one Satwant Singh, S/o Narottam Singh, R/o H.No. 3566/2011, Gali No. 95, B-Block, Sant Nagar, Burari. There was no eye witness at the scene of crime. It appeared that the deceased was killed by a stone, which was lying in the bushes nearby and was stained in blood. Accordingly, the case was registered under section 302 IPC.

(3.) During the investigation, dead body of the deceased was sent to BJRM Hospital and the body of the deceased was preserved for 72 hours. The blood- stained stone, blood near the head and blood stained earth were lifted and were sealed in different pullandas and the same were taken into possession. The driving Licence and Rs.800/- recovered from the possession of the deceased were also seized by the police. Thereafter, the case was got registered under section 302 IPC. Thereafter, the statement of the informant Ved Pal- PW6 was recorded under section 161 Cr.P.C. The son of the deceased, namely, Napinder Singh @ Nonu- PW3 and the brother of the deceased, namely, Sanjeev S/o Narotam Singh identified the deceased in the mortuary of BJRM Hospital vide EX PW-5/A and disclosed that his name is Satwant Singh S/o Narotam Singh R/o H.No. 3566/11 Gali No. 95B, Sant Nagar, Burari which was also mentioned in the driving license recovered from the deceased.