SHIBU ALIAS SHIV NARAIN Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS appeal arises out of the following facts :- On 18th January 1995, at about 8 or 8.30 a.m. Vijay since deceased, was going from his house towards the bazar for shopping and had gone a short distance, when the three accused Shibu alias Shiv Narain, Surender Singh armed with a pharsa and Bhagat Singh armed with a sword accosted him and Shibu told him that they were going to teach him a lesson for the slaps that had been given to him on 16th January, 1995. Shibu then caught hold of Vinay in his grip, whereas Bhagat Singh inflicted a sword blow on his left thigh, while Surender accused aimed a blow on his leg which did not hit its target. On receipt of the injuries, Vijay cried "Mar diya, Mar diya", which attracted Attar Singh-PW-5 and Rajinder PW-6, the brother and first cousin of the deceased respectively, and one Inder to the place of incident. All the accused then ran away from the spot. Vijay was, thereafter, taken to his house and then to the Civil Hospital, Bahadurgarh in a tractor by Attar Singh and some others, but he succumbed to his injuries on the way. The dead body nevertheless reached the hospital, on which the doctor sent information vide Ex.PE to the police, which brought ASI Ranbir Singh to the hospital. He recorded the statement of Attar Singh Ex.PK at 11.50 a.m. and on its basis, a formal F.I.R. Ex.PK/2 was registered at Police Station, Bahadurgarh at 12.05 p.m.; the special report being delivered locally at 12.35 p.m. The S.H.O./Inspector Sumer Singh, also visited the place of occurrence and made the necessary investigation at the spot. The accused were arrested on 18th January, 1995 and on their interrogation and disclosure statements, a pharsa and a sword were recovered. On completion of the investigation, accused Bhagat Singh was charged for an offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, while the others were charged for the same offence with the aid of Section 34 thereof and as they claimed to be innocent, were brought to trial.

(2.) THE prosecution in support of its case examined inter alia, Dr. K.L. Kahturia, PW-2, who had sent the ruqa Ex.PE to the police station intimating that the dead body of Vijay had been brought to the civil hospital; PW-3 Tek Chand, a witness to the arrest of the accused; PW-4 Ram Niwas, a witness of the recovery of the sword at the instance of Bhagat Singh, the two eye witnesses Attar Singh-PW-5 and Rajinder PW-6; Dr. Manju Arora-PW-7 who had conducted the post mortem on the dead body and had found one incised wound 3 x 2 cm in dimension on the left side of the thigh, 16 cm below the anterior superior illiac spine on the left side; and PW-8 S.I. Raghbir Singh, who had recorded the statement Ex.PK which formed the basis of the First Information Report. Inder, who was stated to be one of the eye witnesses, was, however, given up as unnecessary.

(3.) THE trial Court concluded that the enmity between the parties stood proved as they had been on opposite sides in the panchayat elections and on account of this factor, Shibu accused who had abused Attar Singh a day or two earlier from the date of incident, had been given a beating by him. The Court also found that the prosecution story as narrated by Attar Singh PW-5 and Rajinder PW-6 was most natural as the time of incident coincided with the time when the villagers would normally go out to answer the call of nature on a winter morning. The trial Court, accordingly, held that a case of murder was clearly spelt out from the facts of the case and the two accused Shibu and Surender Singh, though they had caused no injury to the deceased, had also been involved in the attack and having held as above, convicted and sentenced all the accused to undergo imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 250/- and in default of payment of fine, to undergo R.I. for three months.