SEWA SINGH AND ANOTHER Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioners were tried by learned Judicial Magistrate 1st Class, Taran Tarn and were convicted and sentenced for the offences punishable under sections 326, 324 and 323 of the Indian Penal Code as under :-

(2.) Case of the prosecution against the petitioners is that on 18.10.1980 at about 9 or 10 A.M., PW-1 Piara Singh was present on the culvert of the water course at Gharkawala along with his cattle when injured PW Atma Singh and Nirmal Singh passed by that way while going to village Mundapind for rendering services. When they were about one killa away from the culvert, petitioner Sewa Singh armed with a spear and petitioner Dara Singh armed with a gandasi came out from the bushes. Petitioner Sewa Singh exhorted that Atma Singh had abused his brother on the previous day without any reason and hence they had come to take revenge. Sewa Singh thereafter gave a spear blow to Atma Singh which hit on his right arm. Petitioner Dara Singh gave gandasi blows on the back side of the head of Atma Singh. Thereafter PW Piara Singh rushed to the spot. Sewa Singh with the Dang of his spear and Dara Singh with the reverse side of his gandasi gave seven more injuries on the back side and left ankle of Atma Singh, who fell down on the ground. Nirmal Singh raised alarm on which the petitioners fled away.

(3.) The defence version as given by the petitioners in their statements under sections 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was "it was stated by the accused that on the day of occurrence, accused Sewa Singh and Dara Singh were going to their fields. When they reached about one Kila away from the culvert, accused Atma Singh armed with a pistol came there raising exhortations. Atma Singh also abused the accused and, therefore, he fired a cartridge from his pistol. Thereafter, in self-defence, both the accused inflicted some injuries on the person of Atma Singh in self-defence to snatch the pistol from Atma Singh so as to prevent him from firing another-cartridge. The pistol and empty cartridge were produced before Sucha Singh Sarpanch and Harbans Singh, Member Panchayat, who accompanied by the accused took the same to Sarhali police station where the pistol and the cartridge were produced before ASI Mohinder Singh and a complaint was also lodged, upon which a case u/s 336 IPC and 25 Arms Act was registered against Atma Singh. Accused examined Sital Singh DW1 in their defence.