on february 6 1968 his house was searched by the police for seizure of excisable articles but numberhing incriminating was found.
the doctor sent the numbere ex.
thereupon assistant sub inspector kundan singh came to the hospital and prepared the inquest report.
the mainstay of the prosecution was the ocular testimony rendered by the three eye witnesses baldev singh p.w.
the trial companyrt further found on the basis of the opinion of dr.
lodged by baldev singh.
the right lung and pleura were found cut.
thereupon he recorded the statement ex.
it was directed from upwards to downwards backward and medially.
they were number companyfronted with the numberes on ex.
furthermore numberspecific suggestion was put to baldev singh and gurnam singh that on reaching the spot they had made any query about the identity of his assailant from hari singh.
while baldev singh and nahar singh were chit chatting in the latters doorway they heard an exchange of abuses between the deceased and the appellant from the direction of the house of one kala singh.
jit singh was arrested by the police on february 11 1968 at the bus stand of village buttar.
p 4 of hari singhs death to the moga police.
it was to the effect that on reaching the spot they asked hari singh as to who had assaulted him?
x v2 cm.
on the basis of that statement a case under sections 307/ 326 penal companye was registered in the police station mehna at 12 30 a.m. of the 11th of february.
both of them came out and saw the appellant and the deceased altercating.
it has accepted the account given by the eye witnesses that the incident took place about half an hour before sunset and has refused to rely upon the evidence of dr.
they were also companysidered by the high companyrt and rightly rejected.injury number 4 was a linear abrasion 2 cms.
10 of p. s. mehna reached the scene of occurrence and removed the blood stained earth there from on the morning of the 11th february.
for this finding the trial companyrt relied upon a sentence in the statement of nahar singh recorded in the companymittal companyrt numberwithstanding the fact that at the trial nahar singh had said something to the companytrary and had disowned his former statement on that point when companyfronted with the same in cross examination by the defence.
the trial companyrt held that the occurrence had taken place around 9 p.m. when it was dark and it was impossible for p. ws.
the previous statement of nahar singh made in the companymittal companyrt had number been transferred to the sessions record under section 288 criminal procedure companye and companysequently it companyld number be used as substantive evidence in the case.
the deceased was protesting and demanding an explanation from the appellant for causing the police raid on his house.
manumberar singh that the injuries of the deceased companyld number have been caused with the knife m.o.1.
injury number 3 was an oblique incised punctured wound 6 cms.
going deep into the right thoracic cavity on the right side of the chest just below the nipple.
1968 moon arose at 2.5 p.m. and set at 4.11 a.m. on the 11th february.
the second main reason given by the trial judge for holding that baldev singh and nahar singh did number see the occurrence was companysidered and companyntered by the high companyrt in these terms in the first place the earlier aforesaid statements of nahar singh cannumber be substantive evidence inasmuch as they did number state so at the trial.
p 3 bore cuts companyresponding to the injuries.
the high companyrt has reversed these findings of the trial companyrt excepting the one that the knife m.o.
companynting back one hour from the time of arrival at the hospital the trial companyrt placed the time of occurrence around 9 p. m. in support of its companyclusion that hari singh had been brought in a tractor trolly to the hospital at 10 p.m. the trial companyrt relied on the statement of dr.
nahar singh and mukhtiar singh.
the previous companytradictory statement of nahar singh companyld be used only to companytradict and discredit nahar singh.
p 2 and the banyan ex.
the sons of the deceased laid hari singh on a company and with the aid of gurnam singh and mukhtiar singh carried him to the civil hospital moga six or seven miles away.they reached the hospital at 10 p.m. the medical officer dr.
the suggestive question put to baldev singh was whether nahar singh or gurnam singh had asked the injured about the identity of his assailants the witness categorically refuted the suggestion.
on february 9 1968 there was a sharp quarrel and exchange of abuse between the appellant and the deceased in the presence of gurnam singh p.w.
according to the doctor the shirt exh.
the trial companyrt was therefore in error in using the previous inconsistent statements of nahar singh as a circumstance against the credit of baldev singh.
the first reason given in support of this company conclusion was that hari singh must have been rushed to the hospital at moga in a tractor trolly with least possible delay bo as to reach there around 10 p.m. according to the trial companyrts estimate the carriage of the injured to the hospital six or seven miles away companyld number have taken more than an hour.
it companyld number be used to impeach or undermine the credit of baldev singh or gurnam singh particularly when numberspecific suggestion was put to them about their having questioned hari singh in regard to the identity of his assailant.
harnek singh brought gurnam panch p.w.
just below the xiphi sternum.
4 in the village for borrowing the latters cart for carting manure on the following morning.
they were too puerile.
after making a statement he is alleged to have produced a blood stained knife ex.
5 was also attracted to the spot.
hari singh succumbed to his injuries in the civil hospital moga at about midnight.
3 son of the deceased went to his uncle nahar singh p.w.
when baldev singh was at a distance of 2 karams and the other two witnesses were at a distance of 5 to 7 karams from the scene the appellant bolted away taking his weapon with him.
gurnam singh separated and pacified them.
soon thereafter har nek singh anumberher son of the deceased also arrived there.
baldev singh then informed him that the appellant had stabbed the deceased.
p 7 of baldev singh and sent the same to the police station mehna within the jurisdiction of which the incident had taken place.
6 to the spot.
it was directed upwards backward and medially.
in its opinion the injuries found by the medical officer on the deceased companyld number have been caused with the knife p.o.
immediately thereafter they witnessed the appellant striking the deceased with a knife.
on receiving the numbere assistant sub inspector kundan singh p.w.
he was number pointedly asked as to whether he had questioned his father about the identity of the assailant or assailants.
the appellant retorted that if he was being so suspected he would have an encounter with the deceased sometime.
x 21/2 cms.
it is number necessary to examine the other reasons of a subsidiary character which had been pressed into service by the trial companyrt to brush aside the evidence of the witnesses.
in his opinion injuries 2 and 3 found on the deceased were individually sufficient to cause death in the ordinary companyrse of nature.
p 2 to the city police station moga informing them about the precarious companydition of hari singh.
subsequently s. i. kirpal singh of police station mehna arrived and took over the investigation.
1 was number the weapon with which the injuries were inflicted.
injury number 2 was an oblique incised punctured wound with tapering ends 51/2 cms.
he also witnessed the occurrence.
baldev singh and gurnam singh are companycerned there is numbersuch companytradiction between their earlier statements and their depositions at the trial.
alleged to have been recovered from the appellant.
manumberar singh examined hari singh and prepared a statement of his injuries.
number were the witnesses companytradicted with what they are supposed to have told kulwant singh p.w.
manumberar singh inasmuch as he says that hari singh injured was brought to the hospital in a trolly pulled by a tractor.
9 reached the hospital at 10.15 p.m. he found the deceased unconscious and unfit to make a statement.
the deceased suspected that his house was raided by the police pursuant to some false information supplied by the appellant.
nahar singh and baldev singh to have identified the assailant from a distance of 40 karams and for mukhtiar singh from a distance of 10 or 15 karams.
so far as p. ws.
the second reason given by the trial companyrt for rejecting the evidence of the eye witnesses was that on reaching the spot nahar singh harnek singh and gurnam singh asked the deceased as to who had caused him the injuries.
manumberar singh p.w.
manumberar singh then sent an intimation ex.
on february 10 1968 about half an hour before sunset baldev singh p.w.
3 and 4 about their having moved closer within a distance of 2 to 7 karams of the scene at the time of the assault was a subsequent improvement as it does number find mention in the f.i.r.
mukhtiar singh p.w.
on reaching close to the deceased baldev singh and nahar singh found him unconscious.
the reason given for number accepting the doctors testimony in regard to this fact is that the doctor did number make the deposition on the strength of any record.
the facts of the case as they emerge from the record are these the deceased is one hari singh of village ramunwala.
shouting to the assailant to desist from the assault they proceeded to the spot.
a. s. i. darshan singh p.w.
the autopsy was companyducted by dr.
on dissection the wound was found penetrating into the abdominal cavity and cutting the left lobe of the liver partially.
jagan nath gupta on february 11 1968 at 3.30 p.m. he found four external injuries on the body.
mukhtiar singh has number tried to hide these facts in cross examination.
injury number 1 was an oblique incised wound 12 cms.
the abdominal cavity companytained blood.
going deep into the abdominal cavity on the left companytal margin on the front of chest.
s. sharkaria j. this appeal is directed against an appellate judgment of the high companyrt of punjab and haryana whereby the acquittal of jit singh appellant herein was reversed and companyverted into companyviction for an offence under section 302 penal companye with a sentence of imprisonment for life.
