HARBHAJAN ALIAS BHAJJI Vs. HARYANA STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is directed against the judgment dated 23/24.10.1997 passed by Additional Sessions Judge, Hisar, whereby he convicted the appellant under Sections 302 and 324 of the Indian Penal Code. Appellant was sentenced to undergo life imprisonment under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code . He was ordered to pay a fine of Rs.5,000/-; in default thereof, he was directed to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for two years. Appellant was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of two years under Section 324 of the Indian penal Code. He was ordered to pay a fine of Rs.1000/-; in default thereof, he was directed to undergo rigorous imprisonment for six months. The sentence of imprisonment awarded by the trial Court was ordered to run concurrently. However, Satnam Kaur and Amar Kaur were acquitted of the charges framed against them. Accused Premi, co-accused of the appellant, was convicted under Section 323 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one year. A separate appeal, being Criminal Appeal No. 881-SB of 1997, has also been filed before this Court, which has to be heard by a single Bench of this Court.

(2.) The police machinery was set into motion on receipt of ruqa from the hospital with regard to the admission of Yogesh Sharma. Police reached the hospital and after obtaining opinion of the doctor regarding condition of Yogesh Sharma, his statement was recorded and it was stated by him that on 23.10.1995 at about 9.30 P.M., his son Ved Parkash was playing with fire crackers. He, his wife and Amar Chand were standing at some distance and his three daughters were sleeping inside the house. In the meantime, Premi, Bhajji, Amar Kaur and Satnam Kaur, who reside in front of the house of complainant in Matu Ram Colony, Fatehabad, came armed with lathis, pipes etc. Accused Premi caught hold of Ved Parkash son of complainant by neck and expressed resentment regarding falling of fire crackers in their house and also asked him as to why he was making so much noise. At this, complainant, his wife Pushpa and Amar Chand, neighbourer tried to bring him round, but in the meantime, Bhaji @ Harbhajan accused took out a knife from his pocket and inflicted knife blow on the left side of chest of Ved Parkash, who fell down on the spot. Accused Premi gave a lathi blow on the right hand and back of the complainant, while Satnami gave a lathi blow on his legs. Bhajji accused inflicted knife blows on the right thigh, left arm, back and left hand of the complainant. On hearing the alarm raised by Pushpa and Amar Chand, Satpal and Matu Ram etc. reached the spot and accused absconded from the spot with their respective weapons. Bharat Singh removed the complainant and his son in an injured condition to the hospital, but Ved Parkash was declared dead in the hospital by the doctor. On the basis of this statement, a case was registered and the dead body of Ved Parkash was subjected to post mortem examination and later on, accused were arrested and they got recovered the weapon of offence in pursuance of the disclosure statement made by the them and the same was taken into possession. On completion of necessary investigation, accused were sent up for trial.

(3.) Accused were charge-sheeted under Sections 302/324/323 of the Indian Penal Code, to which they did not plead guilty and claimed trial. Prosecution, in order to prove its case, examined as many as eleven witnesses, namely, Dr. D.L.Bansal, Medical Officer, (PW-1), Dr. S.P.Mimani, DSMO (PW-2), Dr. N.Chakarwarti, Medical Officer (PW-3), Mukesh Chand, Head Constable (PW-4), Ratan Singh, Constable (PW-5), Krishan Kumar Panwar, Draftsman (PW- 6), Yogesh Sharma (PW-7), Pushpa Devi (PW-8), Davender Kumar, Sub Inspector (PW-9), Atma Ram, Head Constable (PW-10) and Vijay Singh, Constable (PW-11) and closed its evidence. In his statement recorded under section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, accused denied all the allegations levelled against him. Accused pleaded that he is innocent and has been falsely implicated in this case.