AJAY KUMAR Vs. STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Convict Ajay Kumar is in appeal before this Court. He has been convicted for the commission of offence punishable under Sec. 302 Penal Code and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and also to pay Rs. 10,000.00 as fine vide impugned judgment dated 28.8.2017.

(2.) Aggrieved by the impugned judgment, Ajay Kumar, convict has preferred the present appeal on the grounds inter alia that the findings of conviction recorded by learned trial Court are wrong and illegal. The same are based on surmises and conjectures. The contradictions, embellishments and paddings as emerge from the perusal of the evidence available on record render the prosecution story highly doubtful. The convict allegedly had no intention or knowledge of causing injuries to his mother. There being no animosity or motive to cause injuries to her is also not taken into consideration. The testimony of PW-1 and PW-2 has completely been misread, misconstrued and mis-interpreted. The plea raised by the convict in his defence that he is of unsound mind has erroneously been ignored irrespective of duly proved on record from the statement of DW-1 Dr. R.S.Dhatwalia and DW-2 Ravinder Kumar as well DW-7 Dr. R.C.Sharma and documentary evidence i.e. Ext. DW-1/A1 to Ext. DW-1/A4 and Ext. DB-1-DB-10. Learned trial Court on having come to know about the mental status of the accused during the course of trial erred legally and factually in not resorting to the procedure prescribed under Sec. 329 Crimial P.C. which prescribes for holding an enquiry to determine as to whether the accused at the time of occurrence was of unsound mind or not or that able to understand the nature of his defence and the evidence collected against him by the police. The failure on the part of learned trial Court to resort to such procedure has vitiated the trial as a whole. The impugned judgment, as such, has been sought to be quashed and set aside and accused acquitted of the charge framed against him.

(3.) The complainant herein is PW-1 Jaswant Singh. Accused is his son. He has one daughter also. Accused is married to PW-2 Madhu Bala. The complainant and his son, the accused were living together. The accused was running a shop of footwear at Ladrour bazaar in District Hamirpur. On 26.6.2015, he however, had not gone to the shop and remained on that day throughout in the house. The family had dinner at 9:30 PM and thereafter each and everyone went to their respective rooms for sleeping, however, accused came out of his room and went to that of his mother Sunita Devi, the deceased. He asked her as to whether they will purchase car for him or not. On the issue of car, he got enraged and started arguing with his mother. Each and everyone made him to understand that they will speak on the issue later and for the time being he must go and sleep but of no avail as he flared up and picked up a Darat (Sickle) lying there and assaulted the deceased thereby on her face, neck, chest and also other parts of her body. In the sudden attack, she sustained multiple injuries on her person. These acts were revealed by PW-1 Jaswant Singh to the doctor on duty in Community Health Centre Bharari, District Bilaspur where the deceased was brought in injured condition for treatment.