KARAM CHAND Vs. STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Three persons, including the present appellant, were sent up for trial for an offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 34, I. P. C. The other two were the father (named Nathu Ram) and the wife (named Kanta Devi) of the present appellant. On commitment of the case to it, the Sessions Court discharged Kanta Devi, the wife of the appellant. The appellant was charged with an offence punishable under Section 302, I. P. C. and his father Nathu Ram with an offence punishable under Section 201 read with Section 302, I. P. C. On conclusion of the trial, the Court found only the present appellant guilty of the offence charged with, i.e. the offence of murder and accordingly convicted him. He was heard on the question of quantum of sentence and ultimately sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay fine of Rs. 10,000/- and in default of payment of fine to undergo simple imprisonment for one year.

(2.) Facts, as per record, may be summed up thus. Nathu Ram, the father of the present appellant, had been having some dispute pertaining to landed property. The dispute arose out of latest settlement. He filed a case with regard to that dispute and executed a Power of Attorney in favour of his son Rachhpal Singh for pursuing that case on this behalf. It appears that Rachhpal Singh, acting as attorney of his father Nathu Ram, transferred some part of the property of Nathu Ram in favour of his sons. Nathu Ram, it appears, did not approve of this action of his son Rachhpal and asserted his right over the transferred property. On the fateful day, i.e. 6-5-1999, when Nathu Ram, with a view to asserting his ownership over the transferred piece of land, was ploughing that piece of land, deceased Laxmi Devi, wife of Rachhpal Singh, went to the spot and objected to the ploughing of the field. In the meanwhile, appellant Karam Chand, another son of Nathu Ram, reached there. He started arguing with Laxmi Devi and asked his father Nathu Ram to continue with the ploughing of the field. Appellant is then alleged to have snatched from Nathu Ram the stick, which the latter was holding to drive the bullocks, and to have hit Laxmi Devi on her forehead just near the left eyebrow resulting in a lacerated wound and depressed fracture of the bone underlying that wound and also haemorrhage of the brain under the fractured bone. The incident was allegedly witnessed by Sher Singh and Tilak Raj, who were busy in their nearby fields, and also by a son. named Sushil Kumar, of Laxmi Devi, who reached the spot on hearing her cries. Sher Singh, one of the alleged eye-witnesses, then deputed his son Bir Singh to the Police Station to lodge the report. Laxmi Devi was taken to her house by Tilak Raj and Sushil Kumar. Laxmi Devi died within a few minutes of receiving the injuries.

(3.) Police, on reaching the spot, conducted inquest and sent the dead body for post-mortem. The doctor, who conducted the post-mortem examination, noticed a lacerated wound 2 cm. x 1 cm. x 1 cm. on the left side of the forehead just near the outer 1/3rd of the left eyebrow, reddish in colour with clotted blood surrounding along the direction of the eyebrow. He also noticed a contusion 3 cm. x 3 cm. with clotted blood, reddish in colour just below the lacerated wound. Further, he noticed a depressed fracture 3 cm. x 1 cm. on the left frontal wound adjoining the lacerated wound and extradural haemorrhage 5 cm. x 5 cm. in the left anterior cranial fossa was also noticed. Sub archnoid haemorrhage was also noticed on the surface of the brain. The doctor gave the opinion that the lady died of asphyxia and haemorrhage shock due to antermortem head injury on the left side and the injury was sufficient, in the ordinary qourse of nature, to cause death. According to his opinion, time gap between the injury and the death was 1 to 10 minutes.