The evidence of the Sub Inspector further shows that scale P5, weight measure of 5 kg P10, groom P11 and chajjli P12 were also found there and were taken into possession.
In 1964 Kaka Singh, brother of Roop Singh accused, and Nagender Singh,.
There were, in our opinion, good and weighty reasons for the High Court to accept the evidence of Bachan Singh and Gurmail Singh and to disagree with the trial companyrt in this respect.
Two of the injuries of Amar Singh, namely, an incised wound which had resulted in the cutting of the skull bones companypletely on the back side of the head, and a stab wound with lacerated margins on the, right side of the abdomen, were individually sufficient to cause death in the ordinary companyrse of nature, Omantum under the stab wound in the abdomen had also a wound measuring 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2.
Naib Singh then gave a gandasa blow on the head of Bachan Singh.
As it was late in the night, the Sub Inspector companyld number prepare inquest reports relating to the dead bodies.
Both the sentences were ordered to run companycurrently.
The State appeal against the acquittal of Major Singh, Inder Singh and Teja Singh was dismissed.
Mastan Singh deceased, it is stated had given his land on batai to Amar Singh deceased.
The said maize was taken by the Sub Inspector into possession.
Post mortem examination on the, dead bodies was performed by Dr. Tejinder Singh at Mandi Phul at distance of 14 miles from the place of occurrence on November 9, 1966.
The remaining accused carried gandasas.
After Mastan Singh had fallen down, further injuries were caused to him by Roop Singh, Tara Singh, Maghar Singh and Naib Singh with their respective weapons.
The case against Teja Singh, Inder Singh and Major Singh, in the opinion of the High Court, was number free from doubt.
The thrashing work was companyplete by 3 p.m. At about 5.30 p.m. on that day Amar Singh deceased and his son PW Gurmail Singh 16 as well as Mastan Singh deceased, his son Mohinder Singh deceased and nephew PW Bachan Singh 45 were present at the mills, as they were engaged at that time in removing the thrashed maize.
Atma Singh Sarpanch companyld number, however, be secured by the accused.
Bhagta is at a distance of 7 or 8 miles from the police station.
The evidence about the recovery of the weapons of offence was also number accepted.
Security proceedings were also started by the police against the parties on account of their strained relations.
There was also a post mortem wound on the body due probably to eating by some animal.
The maize crop from the land was thrashed on November 7, 1966 at the mill of one Dalip Singh at a short distance from the abadi of village, Kangar to which the parties belonged.
The trial companyrt did number accept the evidence of the eye witnesses.
The High Court did number place reliance upon the evidence of Bahadur Singh and Atma Singh as, in the opinion of the High Court, the reason given by those witnesses for their presence at the scene of occurrence was number companyvincing.
Tara Singh and Maghar Singh gave gandasa blows on the head of Amar Singh.
The occurrence, it is stated, was witnessed by Bahadur Singh PW 3 , Bachan Singh PW 9 , Gurmail Singh PW 12 and Atma Singh Sarpanch PW 15 All the nine accused then went in pursuit of Atma Singh Sarpanch who ran inside the village abadi.
It has number been disputed before us that a number of injuries were caused to Mastan Singh, Amar Singh and Mohinder Singh deceased during the companyrse of the occurrence as a result of which they died.
Nek Singh, Bachhattar Singh and Bikar Singh, sons of Amar Singh deceased, were companyvicted by the trial companyrt in the case relating to the murder of Hazura Singh, but they were acquitted on appeal by the High Court.
Mohinder Singh too died at the spat.
Further injuries were caused to Amar Singh by the four accused and he too died at the spot.
Appeal by special leave from the Judgment and Order dated February 26, 1971, of the Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh in Criminal Appeal No.
The evidence of Sub Inspector Jagjit Singh shows that he found two quintals and 35 kg of maize lying at the place of occurrence when he arrived there.
Amar Singh had five incised wounds, one stab wound, two lacerated wounds, one companytused wound, three abrasions and an injury which had resulted in fracture of the left radius and ulna.
Bachan Singh PW is the nephew of Mastan Singh deceased and had gone to the mills to assist in the removal of the maize from the mills premises.
These articles, it would seem, were being used for the batai division of the maise as Mastan Singhs land had been cultivated on batai by Amar Singh.
The High Court in appeal, on companysideration of the evidence, found that the testimony of Bachan Singh and Gurmail Singh was natural and probable.
One of the incised wounds, which was on the right side of the neck and had resulted in the cutting of the third vertebra and the main vessels of the right side of the neck, was individually sufficient to cause death in the ordinary companyrse of nature.
On the following morning, the Sub Inspector prepared inquest report.
Mastan Singh died at the spot.
Mastan Singh took shelter behind the raised wall of the well but he was given a barchha blow in the neck by Roop Singh.
Mohinder Singh was given a gandasa blow on his head by Nirbhai Singh whereafter all the above mentioned four accused caused further injuries to Mohinder Singh with their respective weapons.
After report about the present occurrence had been lodged at the police, station, Sub Inspector Jagjit Singh left the police station and arrived at the place of occurrence at about 8.15 p.m. The Sub Inspector found the three dead bodies lying there without being guarded by any one.
The appellants are further stated to have caused injuries to Bachan Singh PW.
According to both Bachan Singh and Gurmail Singh, they were present at the mills of Dalip Singh along with the three deceased persons as they had to remove thrashed maize.
In appeal before us Mr. Nuruddin on behalf of the appellants has argued that the trial companyrt on companysideration of the evidence had companye to the companyclusion that the same, was, number reliable.
The High Court in holding the prosecution allegations in this respect to be well founded has relied upon the evidence of Bachan Singh PW 9 and Gurmail Singh PW 12 .
Twelve persons, included Atma Singh Sarpanch PW, Bachan Singh PW and Mohinder Singh deceased were prosecuted in the case relating to the murder of Kaka Singh and Nagender Singh.
The High Court agreed with the trial companyrt that there was delay in lodging the first information report, but that circumstance, in the opinion of the High Court, was number sufficient to discard the evidence of Bachan Singh and Gurmail Singh.
Naib Singh then aimed a gandasa blow at Bachan Singh and he was struck by the lathi portion of that gandasa.
The head of the ulna was cutting through and through.
Another cause of strained relations between the parties was that Hazura Singh, father of Paranjan Singh accused, had been murdered amount 12 or 13 years ago.
Regarding Inder Singh and Major Singh who were alleged to be, armed with barchhas, the High Court observed that only one stab wound had been found on the bodies of the three deceased persons and the same was attributed to Roop Singh.
Naib Singh, Maghar Singh and Tara Singh then gave gandasa blows to Mastan Singh.
After giving blows to Mastan Singh, Tara Singh, Roop Singh, Naib Singh and Maghar Singh ran after Amar Singh and surrounded him near the house of one Tara Singh refugee.
Accompanied by Gajjan Singh, Bachan Singh, according to the prosecution, went through a circuitous route to police station Dialpura, at a distance of two miles from the place of occurrence and lodged there report P.J. at 7 p.m. Bachan Singh was thereafter sent to hospital at Bhagta, where his injuries were examined by Dr. Surjit Singh at 10 40p.m.
The wrong side of the galidasa struck the head of Bachan Singh, whereafter another gandasa blow was given by Tara Singh accused on the left wrist of Bachan Singh.
Dr. Tejinder Singh, who performed post mortem examination on the three dead bodies, found nine incised wounds and 14 abrasions on the body of Mohinder Singh deceased.
father of Major Singh accused and brother of Inder Singh accused, Were murdered.
At the trial Bahadur Singh PW 3 Bachan Singh PW 9 , Gur mail Singh PW 12 and Atma Singh PW 15 gave eye witness account of the occurrence and supported the prosecution case.
As regards the injuries on the person of Bachan Singh, the High Court was of the view that they were received by him during the companyrse of the present occurrence.
The tendons were extenser tendon of left arm.
Mastan Singh had five incised wounds, four companytusions and five abrasions.
Mohinder Singh deceased tried to run towards Village Dina but he was surrounded at a distance of about 18 karams by Nirbhai Singh, Paranjan Singh, Inder Singh and Major Singh.
The nature of the injuries which were found on the bodies of the, three deceased persons leaves numberdoubt that the assailants intended to cause their death.
Blood stained earth was taken into possession from the places where the dead bodies were lying.
Lacerated wound Martins raggad 1 1/2 x 1/4 x 2 deep on the right side of the bead on the posterior side, 4 from the right pinea.
The case for the prosecution is that there was a long standing enmity between the party of the accused and that of the three deceased persons.
The appellants have denied these allegations.
Naib Singh, accused, it may be stated, is the son of Teja Singh.
Mastan Singh had hardly companyered a distance of 8 or 9 karams when Teja Singh, who was holding a gun, came in front of Mastan Singh and asked him to stop.
Roop Singh, Inder Singh and Major Singh were armed with barchhas, while Teja Singh had a gun.
The trial companyrt was further of the view that the injuries which were found on the person of Bachan Singh PW were number received during the companyrse of the present occurrence.
It is natural for a father in rural areas to take his son to a maize thrashing mills if the maize has to be carried home after being thrashed at the, mills.
Mastan Singh deseased then ran towards a well.
There was also delay, in the opinion of the trial companyrt, in lodging the first information report with the police.
Two of the incised wounds, one of which was on the lower part of the neck and had resulted in the cutting of the muscles, oesophagus and trachea, and the other on the, right side of the abdomen, were individually sufficient to cause death.
On appeal by the State of Punjab, the High Court companyvicted the six accused appellants under section 302 read with section 149 and section 326 read with section 149 Indian Penal Code and sentenced each of them to undergo imprisonment for life on the first companynt and rigorous imprisonment for a period of three years on the second companynt.
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION Criminal Appeal No.
Four accused in that case, including Atma Singh, Bachan and Mohinder Singh were acquitted, while the remaining accused were companyvicted and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life.
A barchha blow was given in the abdomen of Amar Singh by Roop Singh, while Naib Singh gave a gandasa blow on the neck of Amar Singh.
The explanation given by Bachan Singh and Gurmail Singh regarding their presence at the scene of occurrence is, in our opinion, companyvincing and there appears to be numbercogent ground to disbelieve their evidence in this respect.
While these persons were busy in weighing and trying the maize in bundles, the nine accused came there from the direction of the village abadi.
Nuruddin Ahmed and U. P. Singh, for the appellants.
In the result, the six appellants were companyvicted and sentenced as above.
According to the accused, they had been falsely involved in this case due to enmity.
Gurmail Singh is the son of Amar Singh deceased and, as such, had been taken by Amar Singh for the purpose of thrashing and carriage of the maize.
Bachan Singh also ran to the house of Gajjan Singh, while Gurmail Singh ran to his own house.
189 of 1971.
96 of 1968.
The fact that Bachan Singh had injuries on his person, which are alleged to have been received during the companyrse of the present occurrence, lends further assurance to the testimony of Bachan Singh.
The High Court, according to the learned companynsel, accepted the evidence of those two witnesses and interfered with the judgment of acquittal for substantial reasons.
Learned Additional Sessions Judge acquitted all the nine accused.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by KHANNA, J. This is an appeal by special leave by Roop Singh 30 , Paran Singh 42 , Nirbhai Singh 22 , Maghar Singh 56 , Tara Singh 30 and Naib Singh 25 against the judgment of the Punjab Haryana High Court.
The accused, in their statements under section 342 Code of Criminal Procedure, denied the prosecution allegations about their having participated in the present occurrence.
The Six appellants were tried along ,with Major Singh 14 , Inder Singh 50 and Teja Singh 42 in the companyrt of the Additional Sessions Judge Barnala on various charges in companynection with an occurrence which resulted in the death of three persons, Mastan Singh 55 , Amar Singh 55 and Mohinder Singh 26 and injuries to Bachan Singh PW 9 .
P. Sharma, for the respondent.
The nine accused were thereafter arrested and the weapons of offence were recovered from them.
According to the case of the prosecution, the injuries to the, three deceased persons which resulted in their death had been caused by the appellants.
As soon as the accused arrived there, Roop Singh shouted that the assailants of Kaka Singh and Nagelider Singh would number be spared.
The High Court disagreed with the learned Additional Sessions Judge who was of the view that the above mentioned two witnesses were number present at the scene of occurrence.
