AVTAR SINGH AND OTHERS Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Affidavit of Sh.Satpal Singh, PPS, Superintendent, District Jail, Hoshiarpur, filed in court today is taken on record.

(2.) Crl.Misc.No.47976 of 2011 has been filed seeking suspension of sentence on behalf of applicant-appellant no.2 Joginder Singh. FIR in the case was registered on the statement of Kartar Singh, whose son Sukhjit Singh was killed in the incident that occurred on 28.12.2005. It is alleged by the complainant that his son Sukhjit Singh (deceased) was coming on a Hero Honda motor cycle to his village. Then Avtar Singh (non-applicant) armed with a bat, Joginder Singh (applicant-appellant no.2), armed with a wooden stick and Gurmit Kaur (non-applicant since granted bail) with common intention to kill his son all of a sudden came out from the school building. Avtar Singh and Joginder Singh (applicant-appellant no.2) gave injuries with their respective weapons, whereas Gurmit Kaur caught hold of Sukhjit Singh. On this, the complainant and his wife raised a hue and cry, which attracted others. The role attributed to the applicant-appellant no.2 Joginder Singh is that he gave two lathi blows, which hit on the mouth and left knee of the son of the complainant. In terms of the statement of Dr. Ranjit Singh PW-1, ( whose statement is attached as Annexure A-1 with the present Crl. Misc. Application) there is no injury on the mouth and injury No.5 is on the front of left knee joint, which is only an abrasion. There is, therefore, no injury on the mouth of the deceased Sukhjit Singh. Injury No.4 is mentioned as fresh bleeding on both the nostrils. Injury no.5 is a reddish abrasion 2cm x 2 cm on the front of left knee joint of Sukhjit Singh. It has been stated in the cross-examination of Dr.Ranjit Singh (PW-1) that though bleeding was present from both the nostrils but there was no external mark of an injury. Therefore, according to the learned Senior Counsel, the said injury has occurred due to blow on the head. It may also been noticed that Dr.Parmod Rishi PW-4 in his deposition stated that he conducted the postmortem examination on the dead body of Sukhjit Singh on 6.1.2006 and as per his deposition, there is no injury on the mouth or the leg of Sukhjit Singh (deceased). The appellant-applicant no.2 Joginder Singh was found to be innocent during investigation and he was summoned as an additional accused in terms of Section 319 of the Cr.P.C. The injuries attributed to him are not shown to be clearly established. Avtar Singh nonapplicant- appellant no.1 is stated to have given injuries on the head of Sukhjit Singh. Smt.Avinash Kaur, mother of deceased Sukhjit Singh appeared as PW-3 and stated that Avtar Singh who was armed with a bat gave 2/3 blows on the head of her son. According to Dr. Parmod Rishi PW-4, the cause of death was on account of head injury which was sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature. The co-accused of the appellant-applicant namely; Gurmit Kaur has been granted the concession of bail by this court vide order dated 28.9.2010. As per the custody certificate filed in court today, the appellant-applicant no.2 Joginder Singh has undergone 1 year 5 months and 22 days of imprisonment.

(3.) Keeping in view the role attributed to the appellant-applicant no.2 as also the age of the appellant-applicant, which is stated to be 73 years as also the fact that appeal is not likely to mature for hearing in the near future, it would be just and expedient to suspend the sentence of imprisonment of the appellant-applicant no.2 Joginder Singh.