MALKIAT SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present appeal has been filed impugning the judgment dtd. 5/2/2004 passed by Additional Sessions Judge, Moga whereby the accused/appellant was convicted/sentenced of the charges framed against him.

(2.) The FIR in the present case came to be registered on 11/10/2000. The judgment of conviction/sentence was passed on 5/2/2004 by the Additional Sessions Judge, Moga. The instant appeal was filed on 23/2/2004 and have come up for final hearing now i.e. after a period of more than 25 years from the date of registration of the FIR.

(3.) Briefly stated, on 10/10/2000 at about 7.30 p.m. Jaswinder Singh PW alongwith his cousin Inderjit Singh (now deceased) was going on a scooter and when they reached 1 kilometer ahead on the link road from the main road Moga-Dharamkot, a Maruti car white in colour came from their behind. Two shots were fired from the car towards them. Inderjit singh raised an alarm that he had received a gunshot. By turning his face, he saw the car, which had come parallel to their scooter. One person was driving the car while the other was sitting adjacent to the driver seat. He identified the assailant sitting adjacent to the driver seat as Preet Inder Pal Singh alias sonu son of Surjit Singh, shimba by caste, resident of village Lohgarh, who was having a gun in his hand. The driver of the car was aged 20/25 years, medium height and average built whom he could identify if produced before him. Due to the receipt of a gun shot by Inderjit singh, their scooter became unstable and both of them fell down. Inderjit Singh received the gunshot injury on the left side of his back. Then the assailants went away in their car. Thereafter, he went to village Lohgarh and brought a conveyance. At that time, Inderjit Singh was struggling for life. Then he took Inderjit singh to Civil hospital, Moga but on reaching there he succumbed to his injuries. The motive for crime was that in the year 1997, Inderjit Singh and others had given injuries to Preet Inder Pal Singh alias sonu for which a case was registered against them which was pending in the court. Due to this reason, Preet Inder Pal Singh alias Sonu had murdered Inderjit Singh by firing a shot at him.