BIKKAR SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Petitioner was convicted on the 25th of April, 1968, by Shrimati Harmohinder Kaur, Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class, Phillaur, of an offence under Section 61(l)(a) of the Punjab Excise Act and was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for four months as well as a fine of Rs. 100, the sentence in default of payment of fine being rigorous imprisonment for two months. His appeal was decided on the 18th of October, 1968, by Shri R.L. Garg, Additional Sessions Judge, Jullundur, who maintained the conviction as well as the sentence of fine and that imposed in default of payment thereof but reduced the substantive sentence of imprisonment to rigorous imprisonment for two months. To this Court the Petitioner has therefore, come up in revision.

(2.) THE case for the prosecution may be stated thus. On the 6th of January, 1966, Head Constable Gurmohinder Singh (P.W. 2) received some secret information in pursuance of which he proceeded in a jeep towards village Dialpur in the company of Excise Inspector Gurcharan Singh (P.W. 1) as well as some other police and excise officials. After this party had entered the area of the village, they sighted the Petitioner coming from the side of his well with a canister on his head. He was stopped on suspicion and the canister was found to contain 318 ounces of a liquid a sample from which was later on analysed by the Chemical Examiner and was found to be illicit liquor.

(3.) THE stand of the Petitioner was that he had been called from his house through a constable to that place in the village where a fair was being held and where the Head Constable was present and that he was falsely involved in the present case at the instance of Kartar Singh, a member of the village Panchayat, who was inimical to him (the Petitioner). He added that from his house to the fair he was accompanied by Sadhu Singh and Sarwan Singh.