STATE OF H.P. Vs. KRISHAN KUMAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present appeal is directed against the judgment dtd. 25/3/2013, passed by learned Additional Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court, Kangra at Dharamshala (learned Trial Court), vide which the respondent (accused before the learned Trial Court) was acquitted of the commission of an offence punishable under Sec. 302 of Indian Penal Code (in short 'IPC'). (Parties shall hereinafter be referred to in the same manner as they were arrayed before the learned Trial Court for convenience).

(2.) Briefly stated, the facts giving rise to the present appeal are that the Police filed a challan against the accused for the commission of an offence punishable under Sec. 302 of IPC. It was asserted that Paras Ram (since deceased) was walking on the passage located in the backyard of his house on 10/2/2012 at about 6:00 pm. The accused was armed with a stick (Ext. P1) and he was hurling abuses. Informant Thakri Devi (PW1) and Shareshta Devi (PW2) went to the spot on hearing the abuses. They saw the accused Krishan Kumar beating Paras Ram with a stick. They rescued Paras Ram from the accused Krishan Kumar. Paras Ram had sustained injuries on his head and arms. He was taken to Ayurvedic Hospital, Paprola. The informant, Thakri Devi, could not mention the beatings in the Hospital due to fear. Paras Ram was referred to Tanda Hospital, where his relatives arrived. Informant - Thakri Devi - narrated the incident to her relatives. The matter was reported to the police. An entry (Ext. PW11/A) was recorded in the police station. HC-Ashok Kumar (PW11) was sent for verification of the entry. He went to the hospital and filed an application (Ext. PW11/B) to obtain the opinion of the Medical Officer about the fitness of Paras Ram to make the statement. The Medical Officer certified that Paras Ram was not fit to make the statement. HC-Ashok Kumar recorded the statement of Thakri Devi (Ext. PW1/A) and sent it to the Police Station, where FIR (Ext. PW13/A) was registered. HCAshok Kumar conducted the investigation. He went to Ayurvedic Hospital, Paprola; however, the Medical Officer was not available and HC-Ashok Kumar could not obtain the record from the hospital. He visited the spot and prepared the site plan (Ext. PW11/C). Thakri Devi handed over a blood-stained jacket (Ext. P3) of Paras Ram, which was sealed in a parcel (Ext. P4) with five seals of seal 'R'. The parcel was seized vide memo (Ext. PW2/A). Bidhi Chand (PW5) and Geeta Devi (PW3) put their signatures on the memo. Sample seal 'R' was taken on a separate piece of cloth (Ext. PW2/B). Sub-Inspector Bhanu Pratap (PW14) conducted further investigation. He received information that Paras Ram had died. He visited the hospital. The photographs (Ext. PW9/A1 to Ext. PW9/A6) were taken. Bhanu Pratap prepared the inquest reports (Ext. PW14/A and Ext. PW14/B). He filed an application (Ext. PW6/A) for obtaining the post-mortem report. Dr Vijay Arora (PW6) conducted the post-mortem examination of the dead body. He found that Paras Ram had died due to the compression of the brain caused due to subdural and subarachnoid haemorrhage as a consequence of head injury. He issued a post-mortem report (Ext. PW6/B) and handed over the viscera to the police official accompanying the dead body. Inspector Bhanu Pratap arrested the accused. The accused made a disclosure statement (Ext. PW4/A) in the presence of HCPawan Kumar (PW4) and HHC-Ravi Kumar that he could get the stick recovered. The accused led the police party and got recovered a stick (Ext. P1). A sketch (Ext. PW4/D) of the stick was prepared. The stick was put in a parcel and the parcel was sealed with 8 seals of seal 'B'. The sample seal (Ext. PW12/A) was taken on a separate piece of cloth. The stick was seized vide memo (Ext. PW1/B). Spot map (Ext .PW14/D) was prepared. Inspector Sarwan Singh (PW15) conducted further investigation. He recorded the statements of witnesses as per their version and obtained the treatment summary from the office of the Medical Superintendent, Ayurvedic Hospital, Paprola. The viscera, jacket and stick were sent to Regional Forensic Science Laboratory (RFSL) for analysis. Reports (Ext. PX and PY) were issued showing that no poison/alcohol could be detected in the viscera. Human blood of group 'B' was detected on the jacket but no blood was detected on the bamboo stick. The statements of the remaining witnesses were recorded as per their version. The final opinion was obtained from the Medical Officer and the challan was filed in the Court of learned Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Baijnath, who committed it to the learned Sessions Judge for trial, who assigned it to learned Additional Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court for disposal.

(3.) The learned Trial Court charged the accused with the commission of an offence punishable under Sec. 302 of IPC. The accused pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried.