PARAMJIT SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) APPELLANT No.2 -Joginder Singh is father -in -law and appellant No.3 -Surinder Kaur is mother -in -law of the complainant -Parminder Kaur. They, along with their son Paramjit Singh -appellant No.1 (since deceased), were arraigned as accused in FIR No.127, dated 15.05.2002, recorded at Police Station, Sadar, Hoshiarpur, under Sections 307/498 -A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short -'IPC'). Case of the prosecution, as noticed by the learned trial Court is as under: - "The prosecutrix is Parminder Kaur who was married to Paramjit Singh accused about seven or eight years before the occurrence and the other accused Joginder Singh and Surinder Kaur are the parents of Paramjit Singh. A male child was born to her from the wedlock who was about 5 -1/2 years old. On 11.05.2002, Onkar Singh PW, son of the sister of father of the prosecutrix had also come to meet her and was sitting in one room of the residential house at village Bhagpur to which the accused belong. At about 10 PM, Parminder Kaur went to her bed room for lifting the hand -fan that her husband Paramjit Singh accused poured kerosene oil from the tumbler on her back. When she turned back, she saw her mother -in -law Surinder Kaur accused having lit the match stick and threw it upon Parminder Kaur, as a result of which her chunni caught fire. She immediately threw away the chunni in the court -yard of the house and tried to run outside the house but at the entrance gate of the house, Joginder Singh accused, her father -in -law, who was present there, remarked that Parminder Kaur should be caught and finished. When she raised alarm that her cousin Onkar Singh and many residents of the locality gathered there was rescued her from the clutches of the accused.

(2.) PARMINDER Kaur, PW, then rang upon her parents at village Khurdpur and her father Balbir Singh, Manjit Singh, her brother, and Balwinder Singh, husband of sister of her father (Fuffar) reached there in the early morning. Parminder Kaur got nervous and she received certain abrasions on both her upper arms and on her back.

(3.) ACCORDING to Parminder Kaur's statement made before the police, her husband Paramjit Singh accused was posted as sepoy in the Border Security Force and was habitual drunkard. For the above mis -conduct the department had terminated his services. Now whenever Parminder Kaur required from them money for running the domestic expenses, Paramjit Singh started asking her to bring money from her parents but she had refused. All the accused took ill of the above refusal and they made an attempt to kill her by burning." After investigation was complete, a report in terms of subsection (2) and Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short -'Cr.P.C.') was filed before the learned jurisdictional Magistrate who, after complying with the provisions of Section 207, Cr.P.C. committed the case to the Court of Session, as offence of Section 307, IPC, is triable exclusively by the Court of Session. The matter was ultimately assigned to learned Additional Sessions Judge, Hoshiarpur (hereinafter referred to as the 'trial court').