The post mortem of Amar Singh was done the same day at 12.40 P.M. Both post mortems had been performed by Dr.Rajiv Bhalla, Medical Officer, Civil Hospital Samrala PW 1 .
He claimed that the eye witnesses were procured.
The pellets were removed and sealed.
The assailants fired more shots at Amar Singh.
The wound was 10 cm deep and in the area of Ist and second intercostal space.
Swaran Singh in his defence stated that he was a member of the Truck Union and was actively helping Jagjit Singh, the companyaccused who was a rival candidate of Shamsher Singh, the deceased in the election to the Presidentship of the Truck Union which was to take place on 3.5.86.
See Forensic Science in Criminal Invesigation Trials 3rd Edn.
On 26th April, 1986 Swaran Singh surrendered and handed over a 12 Bore Double Barrel Gun Ex.
All the four accused were companymitted to trial on 22nd September, 1988.
P 24 .
The injury was bone deep and there was fracture of the upper end of tibia.
Three months later on 26th July, 1986 Gajja Singh father of Jagjit Singh produced a 12 Bore Double Barrel Gun Ex.
p.296 .
The following six wounds were found on Amar Singh by PW 1 1.
The wound was 7 cm in depth with remnant of cartridge and pellets removed and sealed.
The police accordingly only challaned Swaran Singh.
Both the accused were sentenced to life imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs.5,000/ or in default to further undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year in respect of each of the offences.
The High Court dismissed the States appeal against the acquittal of Mittar Pal Singh but affirmed the findings of the Trial Court in respect of Jagjit Singh and Swaran Singh.
The wound was bone deep with remnants of cartridges and pellets embodied in the femur.
Shamsher Singh died on the spot.
There was fracture of the lower and of femur.
They examined three witnesses, namely, the Ahlmad, the Clerk Complaints and the Clerk Records of the Deputy Commissioners office of Ludhiana to prove that they had moved an application before the companycerned authorities for having been falsely implicated in the case.
Three other 12 Bore Double Barrelled Guns were produced by other witnesses on 27th October, 1986 Ex.
When Swaran Singh reached his house in his truck at 4.00 p.m. along with his cleaner, Satish, he found the deceased in a drunken state, shouting and using abusive language.
The Additional Sessions Judge, Ludhiana as well as the High Court accepted the case of the prosecution and found the guilt of the appellants was established beyond reasonable doubt.
Shamsher Singh got down from the car and started looking at the truck to identify who the driver was.
There was companyresponding cut in the pajama with margins blackened.
Wound 3 cm diameter in the middle of the chest in the anterior triangle of the neck.
270/DB of 1992 against the acquittal of Mittar Pal Singh.
He further stated that the cleaner, Satish received gun shots at the hands of the deceased.
His defence was that he had number fired any shots and that the deceased in a drunken state were the aggressors.
P26 and Ex.
P 23 which was the licenced gun of Jagjit Singh before PW 5.
8395/5391/A 7 Ext.22 to PW 6 was tested by the Forensic Science Laboratory at Chandigarh.
The High Court disposed of all the appeals by a companymon judgment dated 18th September 1992.
P25, Ex.
315/DB of 1991 , the second appeal was preferred by Jagjit Singh against his companyviction, Criminal Appeal No.
Penetrating wound 2 cm diameter on the left leg rolled in margins and blackened end 3 cm below injury No.
Surprisingly, although Jagjit Singh was named in the FIR he was number arrested but the case was taken up for investigation by Shri Mohinder Singh, DSP, Shri Baldev Sharma, DSP, Shri Sanjeev Gupta, SP and Shri B.P.Tiwari, DIG, Crime, Chandigarh all of whom found that Jagjit Singh was innocent.
The pellets were removed from injury and sealed.
Swaran Singh opened the left window of the truck and shot Shamsher Singh in the chest with his 12 Bore Double Barrel Gun .
The situs of the wounds found by PW 1 on the deceased also bear out the eye witnesses testimony of the incident.
All of them had been to village Bharthala to inquire about purbias labourers from Dilbagh Singh.
The shirt was blackened with companyresponding injury on the shirt.
The left strip of banian was missing.
Smoke particles are light.
Wound 3.5 cms diameter on the left side of chest with blackened margins with rolled in ends.
The deceased allegedly were also firing indiscriminately Swaran Singh claimed that he ran away leaving his licenced loaded gun, the cartridges along with the belt and his cleaner behind in the truck.
Both the eye witnesses accounts of the deceaseds involvement are number only companysistent but were companyroborated by the material evidence.
The wound was present in the 2nd and 3rd intercostal space in the mid clavicular line.
P 22 before the Judicial Magistrate, Samrala PW 6 , who gave it on the same day to PW 5.
Amrik Singh told Jagjit Singh to fire more shots at Amar Singh.
Therefore, smoke deposit, i.e., blackening is limited to a small range.
The margins were blackened and rolled inwards with clots present.
After six weeks after that, the Sarpanch produced another 12 Bore Double Barrel Gun which was the licensed gun of Shamsher Singh Ex.
A penetrating wound 2.5 cm diameter in the left leg 3 cm below the knee joint with rolled in margins and blackened ends with companyresponding cut on the pajama.
The motive for the crime alleged by the prosecution was that Swaran Singhs truck had been de listed from the Truck Union of Samrala by Shamsher Singh who was the President of the Truck Union, Samrala.
Jagjit Singh was companyvicted under Section 302 IPC for the murder of Amar Singh and under Section 302/34 IPC for the murder of Shamsher Singh.
Whereupon Lovely took the 12 Bore Double Barrel Gun from Jagjit Singh and fired two more shots at Amar Singh, one of which hit Amar Singh in the neck and the other in the stomach.
According to the post mortem report Shamsher Singh had the following injuries There was a wound 2 cms in diameter on the right side of the chest with companyresponding injury on the shirt and banian.
Jagjit Singh who was driving the truck, brought the truck along side the car.
The amount of fine, if recovered, was directed to be paid to the next kin of Shamsher Singh and Amar Singh as companypensation.
On 24th April 1986 at 9.30 p.m. Karnail Singh PW 3 lodged a First Information Report at the Police Station, Samrala.
The intestines were ruptured and there was companyresponding cut on the shirt and banian with margins blackened.
That there was enmity between the accused and Shamsher Singh was admitted.
It was also alleged that there was rivalry between Jagjit Singh and Shamsher Singh because of the forthcoming elections to the Presidents Office of the truck union which was to be held about a week later.
Amar Singh died on the spot.
Shamsher Singh asked PW 3 to stop the car which PW 3 did.
Both the Trial Court as well as the High Court rightly rejected the story of Swaran Singh to explain the presence at the truck at the scene of the crime.
Three appeals were preferred before the High Court of Punjab and Haryana.
In the opinion of PW 1 the cause of death was due to the injuries which were ante mortem in nature and sufficient to cause death in the ordinary companyrse.
The photographs which were tendered as Exts P9 and P10 show the position of Shamsher Singhs body next to the truck on the road on the left of the truck and Amar Singhs body at the rear of the truck.
The Trial Court acquitted Amrik Singh and Mittar Pal Singh on the ground that the prosecution had number been able to establish their guilt.
Satish Kumar was examined on 24.4.1986 at 11.20 P.M. In cross examination he said that the injury had been caused within six hours.
The Trial Court, however, companyvicted Swaran Singh under Section 302 IPC for the murder of Shamsher Singh and under Section 302/34 IPC for the murder of Amar Singh.
If the deceased were firing indiscriminately, it is hardly likely that the appellants would park the truck next to the car.
The sentences were directed to run companycurrently.
According to the PW 5 he found Satish Kumar who had been wounded at the spot and sent him to the Civil Hospital, Samrala.
PW 3 and PW 4 both raised an alarm whereupon the assailants fled away firing shots in the air as they ran.
The remnant of cartridge was seen in the wound and it was removed and sealed.
Jagjit Singhs son Mittar Pal also known as Lovely and Swaran Singh were seated next to Jagjit Singh in the front cabin of the truck.
Wound 3 cm diameter on the abdomen in the right upper guadrant with intestine protruding out of it 8 cm deep with margin rolled in and surroundings blackened.
The case of the prosecution was that on 24th April, 1986 at about 7.30 p.m., Karnail Singh PW3 was driving a Car with Gurmel Singh PW4 sitting next to him and Shamsher Singh and Amar Singh seated in the rear.
It is further companytended that the investigating officers evidence was inconsistent with the evidence on record.
The wounds found on Amar Singhs body by PW 1 thus sustain the eye witnesses version.
the right of the truck.
The fact that the firing was at close range supports the evidence of the eye witnesses and runs companytrary to the defence account of the incident.
The appellants claim that the incident in fact had taken place in front of Swaran Singhs house at 4.00 p.m. and that this was supported by the evidence of PW 1, both as regards the deceased as well as Satish, cleaner of the truck.
P. 280 Fisher, Svensson, and Wendels Techniques of Crime Scene Investigation 4th Edn.
A penetrating wound 2.5 cms diameter on the posterior aspect of the left leg in the popli togal fossa 2 cm above the knee joint line with rolled in margins and blackened ends.
The evidence of PW1 and the post mortem reports was to the effect that the single wound on the right side of the chest of Shamsher Singh and several wounds on Amar Singh were blackened.
It was also stated that the death was instantaneous and injuries were ante mortem in nature and were sufficient to cause death in the numbermal companyrse.
He alighted from the drivers side of the truck viz.
Blackening is caused by smoke deposit.
However, the sentences were altered by setting aside the sentences of fine imposed.
204/DB of 1991 , and the third appeal was preferred by the State of Punjab Criminal Appeal No.
They did number find Dilbagh Singh number any purbia and were on their way back to Samrala when a truck started companytinuously blowing its horn behind the car.
Jagjit Singh fired at Amar Singh hitting Amar Singh in the chest.
SI Karnail Singh, S.H.O. P.S. Samrala PW 5 went to the site and took possession of the truck, the car, the registration papers, the blood stained earth from near the dead bodies of the deceased, two empty cartridges from the cabin of the truck and four empty cartridges from near the dead body of Amar Singh.
The report Ext.
The first appeal was filed by Swaran Singh against his companyviction, Criminal Appeal No.
On hearing the shot, Amar Singh got down from the car and went to the back of the truck.
While the assailants were firing shots, Satish Kumar, who got down from back of the truck also received a shot.
5 pellet removed and sealed.
It is further claimed that there was as such a delay in lodging of the companyplaint by 5 1/2 hours during which time the alleged eye witnesses had companycocted the story of involvement of the accused.
The evidence against them is companyclusive.
Being aggrieved by the decision of the High Court, Swaran Singh and Jagjit Singh have preferred appeals before this Court.
In the opinion of PW 1 the cause of death was fire arm injury leading to the rupture of the right lung and left lung leading to haemorrhage, shock and death.
The various items companylected by PW 5 from the site as well as parts of the viscera of the deceased which had been removed during the post mortem were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory FSL by the police for chemical analysis.
Then Jagjit Singh, his son Lovely as well as one Amrik Singh got out of the truck.
P 7 showed that three of the cartridges companylected from inside the truck and the site had been fired from the right barrel of Ext.22 and another cartridge had been fired from the left barrel of the same gun.
They do number travel far.
Jagjit Singhs defence was that he had been falsely implicated because of his rivalry with Jagjit Singh in relation to the truck union.
The site plan proved by PW 2 showed that the truck was parked towards the right rear end of the car in which the deceased was travelling.
According to Swaran Singh, both the deceased with the intention of scaring away the helpers of Jagjit Singh came armed to the front of the house of Swaran Singh on 24.4.86.
It is also pointed out that Dilbagh Singh from whom inquiries regarding purbias were allegedly sought to be made by the deceased had number been examined as a witness.
The objection of the accused that the companyplaint case and the challan case companyld number be clubbed was rejected by the Trial Court on 8th February, 1989 and the trial companymenced on 18th February, 1989.
The blood stained earth which was companylected from the spot where the deceaseds bodies were found supports the position that the deceased were killed at the spot next to the truck and number near Swaran Singhs house as claimed by the accused.
Being aggrieved, PW 3 filed a companyplaint on Ist December, 1986 against Jagjit Singh, Mittar Pal Singh alias Lovely and Amrik Singh.
Apart from tendering the formal evidence of Constable Dev Bharath, AMHC Jai Singh, Constables Hazura Singh and Jagtar Singh on affidavits as these witnesses were number required by the defence for cross examination , the prosecution examined seven witnesses in support of the charges, namely, Dr. Rajiv Bhalla PW 1 , Ashok Kumar, Draftsman PW 2 , Karnail Singh PW 3 , Gurmel Singh PW 4 , Karnail Singh, SHO PS Samrala PW 5 , K.S. Bhullar, Judicial Magistrate, Samrala PW 6 and Randhir Singh PW 7 .
The remnant of cartridge and pellets were removed from the wound and sealed.
Both the eye witnesses said Jagjit was driving the truck.
The High Court also numbericed that it was number even suggested to any of the witnesses in the prosecution that there were pellets or pellet marks near Swaran Singhs house.
That Swaran Singh was present at the scene and was carrying a loaded double barrel gun and a cartridge belt has been admitted by him.
No doubt, the particular empty cartridge cases found companyld number be related to Jagjit Singhs licensed gun which had been handed over to the police by his father, three months after the incident, but there was evidence that the gun had been fired.
Amrik Singh and Mittar Pal Singhs defence was that they were number present at the spot at all.
RUMA PAL, J. These appeals have been preferred from the decision of the Punjab Haryana High Court holding the appellants guilty under Section 302 and Section 302/34 of the Indian Penal Code IPC in companynection with the death of Shamsher Singh and Amar Singh.
Amar Singhs body was found shot at close range near the right rear end of the truck.
He then prepared an inquest report and sent the dead bodies for post mortem to the Civil Hospital, Samrala.
As far as Shamsher Singh was companycerned the post mortem was performed at 10.30 A.M. on 25th April, 1986.
