JITENDER Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present appeal has been filed against the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dtd. 2/4/2004 passed by the Additional District & Sessions Judge (Adhoc), Jhajjar.

(2.) The instant FIR came to be registered on 12/7/2002. The accused-appellant/Jitender @ Jitta came to be convicted vide judgment of conviction and order of sentence dtd. 2/4/2004. The present appeal against the judgment of conviction and order of sentence was filed on 23/4/2004. The matter has come up for final hearing now after almost 23 years of the registration of the FIR.

(3.) Briefly stated the facts of the case are that on 12/7/2002 Basanti Devi complainant wife of Mahabir Singh resident of village Tandaheri went to the Police Station Sadar, Bahadurgarh accompanied by Jaikishan, the elder brother of her husband and reported the matter to the police that the house of Umed Singh accused was situated in front of their house across the lane and that their other house was situated adjacent to her house in the same lane. The Gram Panchayat had got constructed a drain from in front of their house and other houses including the house of Umed Singh for the flow of dirty water from the houses. However, Umed Singh was not allowing the flow of water from the house of the complainant in that drain (Nali) and on that account he used to hurl abuses at them (complainant party) and had turned hostile. On 11/7/2002, the complainant and her husband Mahabir had gone to the village pond with their buffalo. She (complainant Basanti Devi) was standing near the village pond on the road while Mahabir was standing at a small distance near the Madi situated on the village pond. At about 7.30 p.m. Umed Singh, Arvind @ Mannu son of Umed Singh, Jitender and Parveen sons of Satbir and Parveen son of Umed Singh with one more person on his motorcycle, not known to the complainant came there and they attacked Mahabir. They all had come from the side of the house of Jitender armed with knives, khokhri and a desi pistol with a common intention of killing Mahabir. They all raised a lalkara and surrounded Mahabir. Umed Singh exhorted them that Mahabir was not to escape and he be put to death and that he would take care of the consequences. On that lalkara accused Mannu who was having a khokhri in his hand gave a khokhri blow on the left side of Mahabir and Jitender gave him a knife blow on the left side of his chest. Jitender gave another blow on the left side belly of Mahabir. Sonu gave a knife blow on the front of his neck and he fell down. Parveen and the other person who could not be identified by her (complainant) gave one knife blow each to Mahabir on the right side ribs of Mahabir. Jitender and Sonu gave knife blows each on the right side temple of Mahabir near the eye and Mannu gave another khokhri blow on the right side of the head of Mahabir. In the meantime, Ranbir brother of Mahabir arrived at the spot and he and Basanti Devi rushed towards the spot for intervention. At that time Umed Singh who was having a desi pistol in his hand fired at them with the intention of killing them. On their alarm, some persons arrived there from the village side and on seeing those persons coming, the assailants ran away with their respective weapons. While leaving the spot, the accused gave threats to Ranbir and Basanti that they would not leave them alive as and when they could find an opportunity. Mahabir injured succumbed to his injuries at the spot. As it had fallen dark and the accused had given threats to the complainant so out of fear she could not go to the Police Station for reporting the matter to the Police. Jaikishan, another brother of the deceased was employed with the Haryana Police and so, Ranbir Singh contacted him on telephone and they waited for his arrival. He arrived in the village in the night and leaving Ranbir at the spot with the dead body, the complainant Basanti Devi accompanied by him went to the Police Station and reported the matter to the Police vide her written complaint Ex.PG regarding the occurrence. Kartar Singh, ASI recorded FIR Ex.PG/2 on the basis of that complaint.