BALBIR SINGH AND OTHERS Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE challenge in this appeal preferred by appellants -convicts Balbir Singh son of Lal Singh & others (for brevity "the appellants"), is to the impugned judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 22.12.2000, by virtue of which, they were convicted and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment (for short "RI") for a period of 1 -1/2 years, to pay a fine of Rs. 500/ - each and in default thereof to further undergo RI for a period of one month each for the commission of an offence punishable under section 148 IPC. Appellants Darshan Singh & Jaswinder Singh were substantively convicted & sentenced to undergo RI for a period of four years, to pay a fine of Rs. 1000/ - each and in default thereof to further undergo RI for a period of one month each u/s. 307 IPC, whereas remaining appellants were convicted vicariously & sentenced to undergo RI for a period of three years, to pay a fine of Rs. 700/ - each and in default thereof to further undergo RI for a period of one month each u/s. 307 read with section 149 IPC; Appellant Gurmel Singh was substantively convicted & sentenced to undergo RI for a period of three years, to pay a fine of Rs. 1000/ - and in default thereof to further undergo RI for a period of one month u/s. 326 IPC; whereas remaining appellants were convicted vicariously & sentenced to undergo RI for a period of two years, to pay a fine of Rs. 500/ - each and in default thereof to further undergo RI for a period of one month each u/s. 326 read with section 149 IPC. Appellants Mithu Singh and Balbir Singh were convicted & sentenced to undergo RI for a period of 1 -1/2 years, to pay a fine of Rs. 500/ - each and in default thereof to further undergo RI for a period of one month each u/s. 325 IPC, whereas remaining appellants were convicted vicariously & sentenced to undergo RI for a period of one year, to pay a fine of Rs. 300/ - each and in default thereof to further undergo RI for a period of one month each u/s. 325 read with section 149 IPC. Lastly, appellants Darshan Singh and Jaswinder Singh were convicted and sentenced to undergo RI for a period of three years, to pay a fine of Rs. 1000/ - each and in default thereof to further undergo RI for a period of one month each u/s. 27 of the Arms Act. However, all the sentences were ordered to run concurrently by the trial Court of Addl. Sessions Judge. The contour of the facts & evidence, unfolded during the course of trial, culminating in the commencement, relevant for deciding the instant appeal and emanating from the record, as claimed by the prosecution, is that fore -fathers of complainant Paramjit Kaur w/o Jarnail Singh (PW 3) (for short "the complainant") had mortgaged the land in favour of Teja Singh s/o Ishar Singh. Although the complainant & others had deposited the mortgaged money within a period of limitation, but still, Mithu Singh and Lal Singh sons of Teja Singh did not withdraw the same, resulting into the various types of civil & criminal litigation between the parties in different Courts.

(2.) THE case of the prosecution further proceeds that on 28.12.1996, the complainant and other members of her family were working in their house. When appellants Mithu Singh, Jaswinder Singh and Darshan Singh were seen going towards the indicated land by raising exhortation (lalkara) saying that they were going to cultivate the same. Amritdeep Kaur (PW 4), sister -in -law of complainant also came and told her that Mithu Singh etc. had gone to plough the land. The male members of her (complainant) family were not present in the house at that time. She accompanied by her sister -in -law Amritdeep Kaur, Sukhjit Singh, her brother -in -law (PW 6), Hardial Singh her grandfather, Ajmer Kaur, her aunt and Hardev Singh (PW 5) went to the fields known as "Rohniwala field" with a view to stop Mithu Singh etc. from ploughing the land. At about 11 AM, the appellants were found standing in the field, armed with gandasas, sotis and 12 bore guns. Thereafter, appellant Darshan Singh fired a shot, which hit the left flank of Paramjit Kaur, as a result of which, she felled on the ground. Another shot fired from the gun by Darshan Singh hit her right shoulder. Appellant Jaswinder Singh took the gun of appellant Tarlochan Singh and fired a shot therefrom towards Amritdeep Kaur, which hit her right shoulder. The other appellants have also caused injuries with gandasa and soti to the injured PWs. Thereafter the injured PWs were removed to Civil Hospital, Mansa for their treatment.

(3.) AFTER completion of the investigation, the final police report (challan) was submitted by the police against the appellants to face the trial for the pointed offences.