RANJEET SINGH GILL Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant stands convicted under Sections 302/307 IPC by the Court of Additional Sessions Judge, Delhi vide judgment dated 22 -02 -2003 in Sessions Case No. 50/2000 for having shot to death a Member of Parliament Shri Lalit Maken, his wife Geetanjali and one Bal Kishan who had come to see Mr. Lalit Maken, and under Section 307 IPC for causing fire -arm injuries to one Suresh Malik in an incident of indiscriminate firing took place at the residence of Makens in Kirti Nagar. For the triple murders the appellant was mercifully awarded sentence of life imprisonment and fine of Rs.5,000/ - and rigorous imprisonment for ten years and a fine of Rs. 5,000/ - for his conviction under Section 307 IPC vide order dated 24/02/03. In this appeal the appellant has assailed the correctness of the said decision of the trial Court.

(2.) THE relevant facts leading to the trial and conviction of the appellant have been noticed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge in the impugned judgment and the relevant paras are re - produced hereunder: -

(3.) DURING investigation of this case a test identification parade was got arranged by the Delhi police in respect of accused Sukhdev Singh @ Sukha on 25/09/86 at Pune jail where he was lodged in connection with the murder of General A.S. Vaidya(Retd.) and during that test identification parade he was identified by PW -2 Naresh Chand Gupta and PW -6 Mohd. Salam, eye witnesses of the incident of shooting, as one of the shooters who had participated in the shooting incident on 31/7/85 at the residence of Sh. Lalit Maken. On 25/09/86 the house of Ranjit Singh Gill in Ludhiana was searched and certain documents were seized during that search. Ranjit Singh was, however, not found at his house at that time. Arrest warrants were then obtained from Court for the arrest of accused Ranjit Singh Gill but the same could not be executed. Then process was got initiated against him for declaring him a proclaimed offender but before he could be got declared a proclaimed offender the investigating agency came to know that Ranjit Singh Gill had fled away to U.S.A. on fake documents under the assumed name of Yashpal Kashyap and had been arrested there on 14/05/87 and then the Government initiated extradition proceedings for bringing him back to India. In the meantime, accused Harjinder Singh @ Jinda, who had also been named as a co -conspirator by accused Sukhvinder Singh @ Sukha in the present case of murder of Makens as also in the murder of Gneral Vaidya and was absconding, was arrested sometime in 1987 in Delhi in some other case and pursuant to his confession made in that case during interrogation he was formally arrested in the present case also. It also appears that he had made a confession about his involvement in the murder of General Vaidya also and in connection with that case he appears to have been sent to Pune Jail. It is also the prosecution case that for the identification of accused Ranjit Singh Gill, who had been named by Sukhvinder Singh @ Sukha in his confessional statement as his co -conspirator, PW -1 Suresh Singh Malik, PW -2 Naresh Chand Gupta and PW -6 Mohd. Salam were shown certain photographs during investigation by the police on 04/08/87 and photo of Ranjit Singh Gill also was one of those photographs and all these three eye -witnesses had identified Ranjit Singh Gill from his photo as one of the culprits involved in the shooting incident on 31/07/85. With that photo identification of Ranjit Singh Gill investigation in respect of Sukhvinder Singh @ Sukha, Harjinder Singh @ Jinda and Ranjit Singh Gill stood completed and since the investigating agency considered that there was sufficient evidence against these three accused in the form of evidence of eye witnesses who had identified Sukhvinder Singh @ Sukha in test identification parade at Pune, confessional statements of Sukha and Jinda, photo identification of accused Ranjit Singh, a charge -sheet was filed in the Designated Court under TADA Act against them but since accused Ranjit Singh Gill was detained in U.S.A. and extradition proceedings had been initiated his name was shown in column no.2 of the charge -sheet. The Designated Judge after noticing that extradition proceedings were going on in respect of accused Ranjit Singh Gill issued production warrants for the production of accused Harjinder Singh @ Jinda, and Sukhdev Singh @ Sukha in connection with the present case but the Designated Court at Pune trying them for the murder of General A.S. Vaidya(Retd.) did not accept the request of the Delhi Court for sending them to Delhi so that they could face trial in the present case also. Those two accused were finally convicted by the Pune Court under TADA Act as well as under Section 302 IPC and they were awarded death sentence which was confirmed by the Supreme Court also and thereafter both of them were hanged. Consequently the present case against them in Delhi had to be closed by the Designated Court vide order dated 28.9.1993. Thereafter some evidence was recorded under Section 299 Cr.P.C. It further appears that one of the accused who had been declared a proclaimed offender, namely, Daljeet Singh was arrested by the police in some other case and was lodged in Nabha jail and pursuant to his confession made during his interrogation of that case regarding his involvement in the present case also he was charge -sheeted and tried by the Designated Court under Section 3(3) of TADA Act only but was acquitted vide judgment dated 7/12/99.