(1.) THIS is an appeal by Mehar Singh who has been convicted by the Sessions Judge, bhatinda, under Section 302, Indian Penal Code, for having committed the murder of his own father Chanan Singh, and sentenced to imprisonment for life. The convict has two brothers Ptitam Singh and Sukhdev Singh.
(2.) THE prosecution case is that the deceased and Mehar Singh accused lived together in the same house in Mohalla Mehnawala in Bhatinda town, while Pritam Singh and Sukhdev Singh lived separately from their father. Mehar Singh was an idler and Miad been wasting money. He would always put demands on his father and some time about three years before the occurrence, the deceased. complained to Sucha Singh P.W. 2 that the accused was harassing him and demanding money from him. The accused was taken to the police and the dispute between the father and the son got settled there. Chanan Singh sold some of his land for Rs. 100,000 about four years before the occurrence and distributed the amount amongst his sons and himself. He gave one fourth of the amount, that is, Rs. 2,500/ - to the accused also as his share. All this was not sufficient for the accused and he was continuously making demands for more money.
(3.) THE Sub -Inspector then went to the place of occurrence along with Sucha Singh P W. reaching there at about 9. 30 P. M. Kishna Ram P. W. was also present there along with others. In the room where the dead body of the deceased lay, there were foot -prints, about 10 or 12 in number and some of them were with shoes on. The Sub -Inspector covered two foot -prints, one of the left foot and the other of the right foot. He then prepared moulds Exhibits P. 3 and P. 4. of these foot -prints and the same were deposited in the police Malkhana on 30th August, I; 66. The box Exhibit P. 2 of the deceased was taken into possession by the police but its hasp had been removed though the lock was still in it. No cash was to be found in the box but it contained a cheque bonk, some clothes and other articles.