PARTAP Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ACCUSED Partap Singh and deceased Raj Mal, both sons of Phul Singh, Jats of village Gokalpura, Police Station Loharu of Bhiwani District, were real brothers. Partap Singh owed to his brother Rajmal 30 Kgs. of wheat. Rajmal demanded it back around 10.00 P.M. on 31st August, 1986. On Partap Singh's refusal to return it immediately, the deceased abused him and gave him a slap on the left check. After his return to his own house from the house of the accused, Rajmal deceased was lying down on a cot placed outside his house. Partap Singh came there carrying an axe and gave blows therewith on his left jaw as a also left, right and front side of his neck. Rajmal succumbed to him injuries after a short while.

(2.) VIDE its assailed judgment dated 6th May, 1986 the learned trial court convicted accused Partap Singh of the commission of the offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for life. Feeling aggrieved therefrom Partap Singh accused-appellant has filed Criminal Appeal No. 407-DB of 1986 in this Court.

(3.) IN spite of it referring to the observations of Supreme Court in Narayan Singh and others v. State of Madhya Pradesh, AIR 1985 Supreme Court 1678 which read, "It is not open to any court to start with a presumption that extra judicial confession is a weak type of evidence. It would depend on the nature of the circumstances, the time when the confession was made and the credibility of the witnesses who speak to such a confession," learned trial court took upon itself the onerous duty of establishing the guilt of the accused through its ingenuity by developing prosecution argument against the fundamental principle of presuming the innocence of the accused, unmindful of the fact that both the witnesses of extra judicial confession and the only witness of discovery of incriminating articles had resiled and that besides the circumstantial evidence aforesaid there was nothing before it to lend support to the prosecution case set up against the accused.