SURENDER ALIAS TONY Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Surender @ Tony and Mahender Singh, both were indicted for culpable homicide, amounting to murder of Mukesh @ Bhola on the evening of 21.7.2000. Consequently, vide judgment dated 23.4.2002, they were convicted and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay fine of Rs.3,000/- under Section 302 IPC each and to further undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years and to pay fine of Rs.1,000/- under Section 452 IPC each.

(2.) Brief resume of the facts is that on 21 st July, 2000 at about 1.45 p.m. Mukesh was present in his one room tenement and was watching a movie, when both the accused trespassed into the house; poured kerosene upon him; set him ablaze and fled away. The occurrence was witnessed by his wife Meenu (PW-5) and the accused was seen running immediately after the occurrence by Shanti (PW-7), mother of the deceased, (both having been declared hostile). However, after the occurrence Mukesh immediately went to his parental house at a small distance from where his brother Rakesh shifted him to the civil hospital, Sirsa where Dr. G.S. Somani sent ruqa Ex.PB to the police station, upon which ASI Roshan Lal reached the residence of Ms. Ritu Bahl, JMIC, Sirsa (PW-14) and moved an application Ex. PM before the Magistrate for recording the statement of Mukesh.

(3.) Thereafter, he moved another application Ex. PE before the doctor for seeking his opinion about the condition of the injured, over which the doctor opined Ex. PE/1 that the injured was fit to make the statement. At this Ritu Bahl, JMIC, Sirsa, recorded the statement of Mukesh at 4.45 p.m. who stated as under:-