MAJOR KUMAR Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Tersely, the facts and 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, are that complainant Ujjal Singh (PW7) (for brevity "the complainant") was residing in village Dhaliwal (Kadian), whereas his younger brother Harbant Singh (since deceased) was cultivating the land of his sister on lease in village Nangal. He was residing there along with his family members. On 25.12.2000 at about 3.30 p.m., the complainant received a telephonic message from village Nurpur that his brother Harbant Singh had met with an accident and he should reach there immediately. On receipt of the information, the complainant along with his other brother Joginder Singh and one Pritam Singh son of Lal Singh reached there, where the dead body of his brother Harbant Singh was lying on a cot in the house of Piara Singh, Ex-Sarpanch of village Nurpur. The blood was oozing out from his right thigh. The complainant came to know from the villagers that Harbant Singh had gone to attend the marriage party of Rachhpal Singh in village Gorawahi. The marriage party was stationed outside the village in a "Haveli", where the arrangements for drinking, snacks and orchestra were also made. A lady singer was performing on the stage. Appellant-convict Major Kumar son of Pritam Chand (for short "the appellant") had consumed liquor and fired shots from his licensed .12 bore rifle. Meanwhile, Harbant Singh approached and asked him to hand over the rifle as he also wanted to fire the shots. The appellant refused to hand over his rifle to him. In the scuffle/struggle, there was a accidental fire and the shot hit in the right thigh of Harbant Singh. He was removed in an injured condition to hospital at Jalandhar, but as luck would have been, he succumbed to his injuries on the way. Thereafter, his dead body was brought back to village Nurpur. Kulwinder Kaur, widow of Harbant Singh, was also called there. From there, the complainant and his brother brought the dead body of Harbant Singh to village Dhaliwal (Kadian). He (complainant) has also informed his brother Raghbir Singh, who was working as Head Constable in Ferozepur District. He telephonically informed, police came and recorded the statement (Ex.PH) of the complainant, which formed the basis of FIR.

(2.) Narrating the sequence of events, in all, the prosecution claimed that the appellant acted negligently and misused his licensed .12 bore rifle, culminating into the death of Harbant Singh. In the background of these allegations and in the wake of statement (Ex.PH) of the complainant, the present criminal case was registered against the appellant by means of FIR No.137 dated 25.12.2000 (Ex.PH/2), on accusation of having committed the offences punishable under sections 304 IPC and 27 of the Arms Act by the police of Police Station Bhogpur, District Jalandhar in the manner depicted here-in-above.

(3.) After completion of the investigation, the final police report (challan) was submitted by the police. The appellant was accordingly charge-sheeted for the commission of the pointed offences. As he did not plead guilty and claimed trial, therefore, the case was slated for evidence of the prosecution by the trial Court.