STATE OF H.P. Vs. RADHA KRISHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) HEARD and gone through the record. The three appeals are being disposed of by a common judgment, as they arise out of the same judgment of the trial Court, i.e, judgment dated 26-8-1992 whereby out of the three accused, namely, Sunder Singh, Radha Krishan alias Durga Singh and Bitu alias Shiv Raj, sent up for trial for offences under Section 302 and 201 read with Section 34, Indian Penal Code, two namely, Sunder Singh and Bitu were convicted of offence under Section 323, I.P.C. and sentenced to under-go simple imprisonment for a period of one year and the third one, namely, Radha Krishan was acquitted. Appeal No. 341 of 1997 has been filed by the State seeking the conversion of conviction of accused Sunder Singh and Bitu alias Shiv Raj from 323 I.P.C to 302 read with Section 34, I.P.C. Appeal No. 17 of 1993 has also been filed by the State seeking reversion of acquittal of accused Radha Krishan and his conviction for offence under Section 302 read with Section 34, I.P.C. Third appeal No. 110 of 1992 has been filed by Bitu alias Shiv Raj seeking reversion of his conviction under Section 323, I.P.C. and his acquittal.

(2.) RELEVANT facts may be summed up thus: Prior to the date of occurrence (date of occurrence is 8th August, 1991), deceased Tulsi Dass and accused Sunder Singh had some dispute. Sunder Singh had been accused by Tulsi Dass of having stolen a sum of rupees 1200/- from his pocket. Sunder Singh denied the accusation. However, there had been some settlement and Sunder Singh was made to pay the aforesaid amount of money to Tulsi Dass which implied that Sunder Singh had committed theft of the said money. Sunder Singh felt humiliated and insulted because of such implication. On 8th August, 1991, deceased went to see a fair in village Seri where all the accused met him and they together went to the house of PW2 Durga Nand with a bottle of liquor. After consuming the liquor, the accused and the deceased happened to have a brawl, when Sunder Singh raised the issue of his humiliation on account of accusation of theft. Accused Bitu alias Shiv Raj gave a slap on the face of the deceased while accused Sunder Singh kicked him. Durga Nand PW2 intervened and got them separated. The accused then left in the direction of their house while the deceased went towards his own house. Their villages are situated in opposite direction. The incident had taken place during night time. Next morning, dead body of Tulsi Dass was found lying down a precipice known as "Diun Dhank". The matter came to light when the deceased did not return home and his nephew Jyoti Lal (PW1) started searching for him. He came to know from a daughter-in-law of Durga Nand (PW2) that the deceased and the accused had visited their house on the night of 8th August, 1991 and had a brawl after consuming liquor. The case was registered against the appellants. Police conducted the inquest. Dead body was sent to the Government Hospital for post mortem examination. The Doctor observed the following ante mortem injuries on the dead body:

(3.) THE trial Court charged and tried all the three accused for offences under Section 302 and 201 I.P.C. At the end of the trial, two accused were convicted and sentenced, while the third one was acquitted, as aforesaid. We have heard the learned counsel representing the State and the accused and have also been taken through the record, particularly the testimony of Durga Nand (PW2), the eye witness, & Daulat Ram (PW5) and Jagdish Chand (PW9) in whose presence accused Sunder Singh allegedly made the disclosure statement leading to the discovery of the danda Exhibit P12.