CHARAN SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE facts giving rise to this appeal are as under :

(2.) IN order to bring home the guilt against the accused, the prosecution examined inter alia, Dr. P.K. Bansal, PW1 who had conducted the post- mortem examination on the dead body of Natha Singh and had found one injury on his person; Arur Singh PW2, Jaswant Singh PW3 and Satnam Singh PW4 - the three eye-witnesses, and ASI Amarjit Singh PW8, the investigating officer. Certain documents were also tendered in evidence by the prosecution.

(3.) THE trial court came to the conclusion that Arur Singh PW2 who had up to the stage of examination-in-chief supported the prosecution but at the stage of the cross-examination five months thereafter he made a complete volte face and was declared hostile and that he was a person whose evidence could not be relied on; that as there was only one accused, it could not be said that it was a case of false implication; that merely because the other eye- witnesses who were present at the spot had not been produced as witnesses would not take away from the prosecution case as all the eye-witnesses were not required to be produced; that the mere fact that the inquest proceedings had not been attested by any of the alleged eye-witnesses was not a circumstance to be taken against the prosecution in the light of the fact that the accused had been apprehended at the spot; that the medical evidence indicated that a case of murder was clearly spelt out and having held as above, convicted and sentenced the accused to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to the payment of fine of Rs. 100/- and in default of payment thereof to further undergo rigorous imprisonment for three months. Hence this appeal.