STATE OF PUNJAB Vs. BACHITTAR SINGH AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The facts given by accused Bachittar Singh (the first informant) are as under :

(2.) To prove its case, the prosecution examined inter alia, P.W-1 Dr. Charanjit Singh, who had conducted the post-mortem examination on the dead bodies of Gutjit Kaur, daugther of Sukhwant Singh deceased, and had found four gun shot injuries thereon (two of entry and two of exit), Gogi, Sukhwant Singh's second daugther with two gun shot injuries thereon, Piar Kaur, his wife with three gun shot injuries (two of entry and one of exit) and Sukhwant Singh himself with two gun shot injuries (one of entry and the other of exit); P.W-2 Dr. Rachpal Singh, who had conducted the post-mortem examination on the dead bodies of Bhupinder Singh and observed two gun shot injuries (one of entry and the other of exit), his son, Harjinder Singh, with two gun shot injuries (one of entry and the other of exit); another son, Devinder Singh, with two gun shot injuries (one of entry and the other of exit), and his wife, Joginder Kaur, with three gun shot injuries (two of entry and the other of exit); P.W.4 Dr. Gian Singh, who had at 8.15 A.M. on April 25, 1994, medico- legally examined Malook Singh accused and had found one simple abrasion on his person; P.W-3 Joginder Singh, the solitary eye-witness; P.W-5 Piara Singh, a relative of Joginder Singh (P.W-3), who was a witness to the recovery of a DBBL gun and three cartridge cases at the instance of Bachittar Singh, one shoe at the instance of Amarjit Singh and a pair of shoes, and some clothes at the instance of Malook Singh; P.W-8 Ajaib Singh, Joginder Sing's father, who stated to the motive for the offence, which had led to the murders; P.W-10 SI Surinder Pal, the main Investigating Officer, who had recorded the F.I.R. and also the statement of Joginder Singh (P.W-3) under Section 161 Cr.P.C., bringing out a different version vis-a-vis the one given by Bachittar Singh in the F.I.R. and had also recovered two cartridge cases from near the dead body of Piar Kaur, a turban (Exh. P-11) from outside the room of Sukhwant Singh, a piece of green cloth (Exh. P-12) entangled in the nail outside Sukhwant Singh's room, a Thatha (Exh. P-15) from inside the room, some hair entangled in the wooden plank of the door, one empty of a 12 bore DBBL gun from near the said room and had also lifted blood stained earth from the place of incident; P.W-11 A.S. Katari, JMIC, Batala, under whose orders the sample of the hair of Malook Singh had been taken; P.W-16 Surinder Singh, SP, who had also associated with the investigation of the case; P.W-20 Jagtar Singh son of Ajaib Singh, who proved the will (Exh. P48) allegedly executed by Sukhwant Singh and Bhupinder Singh deceased jointly on February 10, 1993 in which they had recited that as they feared danger to their lives at the hands of Bachittar Singh, they were leaving their properties to the State Government; P.W-21 Tarsem Singh, Arms Clerk, who proved the licence (Exh. P-37) issued in favour of Bachittar Singh accused for the DBBL gun; P.W-22 ASI Surinder Mohan, who had picked up four spent cases of 303 bore rifle, lying near the dead body of Bhupinder Singh and a shoe (Exh. P-1) from near the dead bodies of Bhupinder Singh and his wife, Joginder Kaur, and further stated that Bachittar Singh had produced a 303 rifle along with 48 cartridges before him on April 19, 1994, which had been taken into possession; P.W-23 Inspector Balkar Singh, who brought the record to show that the 303 rifle had been issued to Bachittar Singh for his security as he was apprehending danger at the hands of terrorists; and P.W-24 Jagjit Singh, Sub Station Operator of the Electricity Board, Dharamkot, who stated that the electricity supply in Dholewala had remained continuous from April 18, 1994 to April 20, 1994 upto 5.00 P.M. The reports of the Forensic Science Laboratory (Exhs. PNNN, POOO, PQQQ and PRRR) as also the report of the Chemical Examiner (Exh. PSSS) were tendered into evidence.

(3.) The prosecution case was then put to the accused and their statements recorded under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Accused Bachittar Singh stated that he was innocent and had been residing separately, some distance away, from his deceased brothers. He further stated that at about 6.00 A.M. on April 19, 1994, Pipal Singh, who was also living in a part of the Haveli occupied by Sukhwant Singh and Bhupinder Singh, had come to him and had told him that two unknown persons had killed them and their families, on which he had gone to Police Station and lodged the F.I.R. Accused Malook Singh and Amarjit Singh denied the allegations and pleaded innocence.