IASHWAR AND ORS. Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE instant appeal has been filed against the order passed by the Sessions Judge, Sonepat, in Sessions Case No. 50 of 1996, decided on 2.5.1998. By the impugned judgement, the accused/appellants - Ishwar, Joginder, Bijender, Smt. Vidya and Smt. Krishna have been held guilty of having formed an unlawful assembly for committing the murder of Raj Pal with deadly weapons, under Section 148 of the Indian Penal Code. They have also been found guilty of committing the murder of Raj Pal under Section 302 read with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code. By a separate order passed on 6.5.1998, they were sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year each under Section 148 of the Indian Penal Code.

(2.) THEY were also sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life under Section 302 read with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code, besides being required to pay a fine of Rs. 1,000/ -each. In default of payment of fine, they were ordered to further undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year each. The aforesaid sentences were ordered to run concurrently. It was also directed, that in case the fine imposed on the accused was recovered, the same would be paid to the L.Rs. of the deceased Raj Pal.

(3.) HOWEVER , none from the neighbourhood came to the place of the occurrence. The complainant Dharam Pal PW3 then allegedly saw Krishan PW4, coming from the side of the bus stand. On seeing his brother Krishan PW4, the complainant Dharam Pal PW3 called out to him, asking him for help to save Raj Pal. Neither of the brothers, Dharam Pal PW3 or Krishan PW4, could intervene in the matter on account of the fact, that the accused/appellants threatened both the brothers. Accordingly, the complainant Dharam Pal PW3 and Krishan PW4 ran away out of fear. While Krishan PW4 ran away towards the bus stand, the complainant himself i.e. Dharam Pal PW3 ran towards the "abadi" of the village. On hearing the commotion, 5 -10 villagers were allegedly attracted to the spot, whereupon, the accused left the spot taking away their respective weapons. When the complainant Dharam Pal PW3 and Krishan PW4 returned to the place of the occurrence, they discovered that their brother Raj Pal has breathed his last. Dharam Pal PW3, accordingly, set off for the police station to make a complaint. According to the complainant Dharam Pal PW3, Ram Lal i.e., the real brother of the accused/appellant Ishwar had filed a civil suit in connection with encroachment on a street, which was still pending. In reference to the aforesaid civil suit, it is alleged, that the accused/appellant Ishwar had made a threat about four days before the incident. In view of the aforesaid threat, the complainant Dharam Pal PW3 had reported the matter to the police. The statement of the complainant Dharam Pal PW3 on the said incident (which had occurred four days prior to the incident in question) was recorded by SI Hari Singh PW7. On the complaint made by Dharam Pal PW3 on 9.8.1996 (i.e. in respect of the incident which is subject matter of controversy in the present appeal), a First Information Report bearing No. 93 was registered at Police Station, Sadar Sonepat, on 9.8.1996 at 9.05 PM. After having recorded the statement of Dharam Pal PW3, SI Hari Singh PW7 went to the place of occurrence and recorded the statements of witnesses present at the spot. SI Hari Singh PW7 also prepared a rough site plan, and the inquest report of the dead body of the deceased Raj Pal. SI Hari Singh PW7 then sent the body of the deceased Raj Pal for postmortem examination through Constable Lal Singh. SI Hari Singh PW7 arrested the accused/appellants Joginder, Bijender, Smt. Vidya and Smt. Krishna on 11.8.1996. On 12.8.1996, the accused/appellant Ishwar himself surrendered to the police. On the basis of the disclosure statement made by the accused/appellant Ishwar, a "gandasa" was recovered from the garage of Ishwar. On the basis of the disclosure statement made by the accused/appellant Joginder, a "dav" was recovered from the garage of Ishwar. Likewise, on the disclosure statement made by the accused/appellant Krishna, a "gandasi" was recovered from the same garage. On the basis of the disclosure statement made by the accused/appellant Vidya, a "kulhari" was also recovered from the same garage of Ishwar. The recovery of the weapons used in the occurrence was witnessed by Jai Parkash and Om Parkash. On the completion of the remaining investigation, as well as, the necessary police formalities, a challan was presented by SI Hari Singh PW7 in the Court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Sonepat, on 10.10.1996.