RAJINDER SINGH Vs. STATE OF H P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Appellant Rajinder Singh has been convicted of offences, under Sections 302 and 392 IPC by the Sessions Court, vide judgment dated 27.12.2005. He is aggrieved by this judgment and has, therefore, filed the present appeal.

(2.) Case of the prosecution, as per evidence adduced by the prosecution, is like this. On 13th September, 2004 around 9 in the morning, deceased Harjit Kaur alias Harpreet Kaur, left her house in New Delhi, on the pretext that she was going to Amritsar for taking bath in the holy Sarovar of Golden Temple. Instead of going to Amritsar, she came to Shimla accompanied by the appellant, who owned a taxi and drove it himself. The appellant and the deceased checked in Whether reporters of the local papers may be allowed to see the judgment Hotel Gulmarg, near Artrac Command Headquarters around 9 PM, on 13th September, 2004 itself. A form, prescribed by the hotel, was filled in, in which Delhi address of the deceased was mentioned. The form was signed by the appellant. The same is Ext. P-2. An entry was made in the register maintained by the hotel. The entry appears at Sr. No. 532 and is marked Ext. PW1/A in register Ext. P-1. According to this entry, appellant booked the room on 13th September, 2004. He signed the entry and gave the address of the deceased as his own address. The deceased and the appellant stayed in the hotel (room No. 128) on the night of 13th as also the night of 14th September, 2004. On 15th September, 2004, around 6 AM, appellant left the hotel, informing PW-3 Kanwar Singh, an employee of the hotel, who was present at the counter at that time, that he would be back soon and that the Madam was in the room. He handed over the key of the room to said PW-3 Kanwar Singh.

(3.) After the appellant left, PW-3 Kanwar Singh wanted to verify whether it was the appellant alone, who had gone away or the deceased had also vacated the room. So, around 6.15 AM, he asked the Chowkidar of the hotel, namely PW-5 Kalyan Singh, to see if the room had been vacated or it was still occupied. He handed over the key to the said Chowkidar. PW-5 Kalyan Singh opened the door with the key and noticed that television and the fan in the room were switched on and the lady was lying on the bed. He thought that the lady was asleep. He relocked the room and reported to PW-3 Kanwar Singh that the room was still occupied. Also, he returned the key to PW-3 Kanwar Singh.