She and the other accused denied the prosecution allegation about any illicit companynections of Daljit Kaur with Tarlok Singh and his two brothers, Avtar Singh and Ajit Singh.
Avtar Singh, Uper Singh, Dilbagh Rai and Saudagar Singh were companyvicted under Sections 302/149 I.P.C. and awarded life sentence.
At about 2.30 A.M. on the night between 9/10th June, 1958, a tractor bearing No.
Thereafter they sent Virsa Singh P.W. 3 and Karam Singh P.W. 2 to the Doctor for examination.
According to the prosecution, Harcharan Singh who is said to be aged 90 years had three sons, two of them with whom he did number have good relationship lived separately from him at Amritsar and Batala, while Manjit Pal Singh was living with him.
Prom a perusal of the judgment of the Sessions Judge in Sessions Trial which has become final, since numberappeal was filed, it would appear that in the opinion of the Sessions Judge there was serious discrepancy which cut at the root of the prosecution case and that it was number able to establish that the three accused had companymitted the offences with which they were charged.
Saudagar Singh denied the prosecution case and said that a false case had been foisted against him.
On reaching the tractor, Daljit Kaur got into the tractor and the boxes were placed in it.
Immediately thereafter Tarlok Singh fired three shots from his gun.
Against these companyvictions and sentences two appeals are before us by special leave.
But the other two accused Avtar Singh and Upar Singh denied the offence.
Copy of that judgment has been filed before us to show that numbersuch incident took place as alleged by the prosecution number was Gurdial Singh arrested as alleged after falling from the tractor and the whole case of the prosecution in respect of this occurrence was false.
in respect of an incident which took place on June 9, 1968 at about 9 P.M. in the village of Sathiali.
As a companysequence relations between the parties were strained.
The first shot hit Ajit Singh and he fell down.
Daljit Kaur also took out her box companytaining her belongings and followed the accused who forced Harcharan Singh to proceed before them.
Ajit Singh accused 2, Dilbagh Rai accused 7 and Saudagar Singh accused 8 are said to be drinking friends of the accused.
Gurdial Singh then led the party and got the dead body and the head of Ajit Singh recovered from the river.
The prosecution case against the accused is that Daljit Kaur who is married to Manjit Pal Singh did number want to live in the house of her father in law and her husband, because according to her the father in law had an evil eye on her and she wanted to go away to her sisters place.
Then all of them went to the house of Harcharan Singh.
Avtar Singh admitted that the tractor P.N. P.2180 belonged to him.
Harcharan Singh suspected that these three accused had illicit relations with his daughter in law and this was number liked by Harcharan Singh.
Apart from these injuries there were few abrasions.
She asked Avtar Singh brother of the wife of Tarlok Singh accused to take her away.
Immediately thereafter Daljit Kaur A 3 who is alleged to have companye out , of her room asked the accused to finish Harcharan Singh whereupon he was manhandled and received simple injuries.
One of such injuries was 7 x 1.
According to Daljit Kaur, Harcharan Singh and her husband used to quarrel with her.
Thereupon the police gave him a severe beating and afterwards implicated him in the case falsely.
1, 4 5 to take her away, that these accused along with other accused came to the house of Harcharan Singh and wanted to take her away, and when Harcharan Singh and others resisted, it led to an altercation and accused Tarlok Singh fired three shots from his gun injuring the deceased Ajit Singh and P.Ws.
The police returned the fire in self defence.
Ajit Singh and Saudagar Singh were arrested on June 12, 1968.
On being so questioned the other accused asked Tarlok Singh A l why he was waiting and why he was number firing.
The injured Ajit Singh was then lifted and carried by the accused who placed him in the tractor.
11 of 1970 acquitted Ajit Singh, Tarlok Singh and Gurdial Singh of the offences under Sections 307/34 I.P.C. in respect of the second incident where it was alleged that these persons had all fired at the police party when they stopped the tractor at the village Dhariwal Thind.
It may be mentioned that after the judgment of the High Court the Sessions Judge, Gurdaspur in Sessions Trial No.
Two of them shouted Jita fire whereupon a gun shot was fired at them.
Criminal Appeal No.217 of 1970 is by Gurdial Singh, while Criminal Appeal No.
As they reached the Chowk near the house of Kartar Singh and Khazan Singh, Ajit Singh deceased, Bhagat Singh P.W. 6, Karam Singh P.W. 2, Virsa Singh P.W. 3, Ratten Singh P.W. 5 and Bahadur Singh P.W. 4 who were present at the Chowk asked the accused why they were abusing the villagers in general.
He also, when companyfronted with his previous statement, said that he had stated to the police that after Ajit Singh fell down the accused Ajit Singh went there and gave two or three kirpan blows to the injured.
The other shots hit Virsa Singh P.W. 3 and Karam Singh P.W. 2.
Tarlok Singh, however, admitted the ownership of the gun Ext.
Earlier, on the day of the incident at about 2 P.M. it is alleged that Accused 2, 5 and 7 came to the house of Harcharan Singh in a drunken state and started abusing the servants of Harcharan Singh which was objected to.
This person was Gurdial Singh A 6.
When companyfronted with the statement that he did number say in the companymitting companyrt as stated by him in the Sessions Court that the accused exhorted Tarlok Singh to fire, he said that he did so state.
After sifting the chaff, the grain of truth that this evidence establishes is that Daljit Kaur wanted to leave the house of her father in law for whatever reason and asked her relations Accused Nos.
The injuries on Gurdial Singh as would appear from Ext.
Harcharan Singh in the meanwhile slipped away and took safety in the house of one Pal Singh.
On these facts the companymon object of the accused either to murder or injure the deceased or P.Ws.
The version of the prosecution that the other accused exhorted Tarlok Singh to fire has also number been established.
It was stopped by the police party when it was found that there were three persons on the tractor, one of whom was driving it.
It was signed by Gurdial Singh and attested by Surta Singh P.W. 15.
Tarlok Singh accused who was declared a proclaimed offender surrendered in the Court of Hardev Singh Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class, Faridkot, P.W. 18, on August 1, 1968, and produced a double barrelled gun Ext P.l and one revolver for both of which he had a licence.
According to Dilbagh Rai, his brother Hakam Rai had fought an election for the office of Sarpanch against Harcharan Singh P.W. 9 and that is why he had been falsely involved due to enmity.
P. BB.
Daljit Kaur accused 3 is the wife of Manjit Pal Singh s o the village Pradhan Harcharan Singh P.W. 9.
She had some money in the Bank and they wanted her to withdraw the same and hand it over to them but she did number agree.
Another gun shot was fired from the tractor and the police returned the firing.
2 and 3, numbere of whom were initially involved in the incident of rescuing Daljit Kaur from her father in laws house, is number established.
These persons merely joined the other villagers in trying to stop the accused from taking away Daljit Kaur and it is at that stage that Tarlok Singh fired three shots from his gun.
These were got sealed by the Magistrate.
PNP 2180 was seen companying from Harchowal side on the road going to Batala.
In that case Gurdial Singh accused had stated that he was arrested by the police from Qadian at about 10 A.M. on June 10, 1968.
Ajit Singh, Avtar Singh, Upar Singh, Dilbagh Rai and Saudagar Singh were companyvicted under Sections 307/149 I.P.C. and each of them awarded five years rigorous imprisonment, while Tarlok Singh was companyvicted under Section 307 I.P.C. and was awarded life sentence.
Even according to him when he was companyfronted with a statement made before the companymitting companyrt that all the accused came from the house of Harcharan Singh on a tractor, he said that it was incorrect and that he was number changing the statement because it may number be said that all the accused companyld number sit on one tractor.
Daljit Kaur was arrested some time after November 1968.
The police then pursued the tractor and seized it after the other two had abandoned it on the off side of the road.
They also abused Harcharan Singh.
The word etc is significant in that the informant is leaving himself sufficient play to later add other accused as persons who along with Avtar Singh picked up the injured and put him on the tractor.The Sessions Judge came to the companyclusion that if the occurrence had taken place in the manner alleged by the prosecution, it was impossible to believe that numbere of the three accused received even a single injury from the rifle or revolver shots which had been fired at them by numberless than four members of the picket party from a very close range, and that if really any encounter had taken place between the picket party and the three accused near the bridge Thind Dhariwal some pellet, spent bullet or wad or piece of card board must have been found at that place and the absence of any of these articles negatived the prosecution version.
At that time Tarlok Singh A l had a licensed double barrel shot gun, Avtar Singh A 4 had a licensed pistol, Ajit Singh A 2 and Gurdial Singh A 6 were each armed with a Kirpan.
She sat on the tractor and they started on the tractor between 8 or 9 P.M. with the attach case companytaining some of her clothes.
This is an omnibus statement made by all the witnesses who did number particularise whether one or two or all the accused picked up the injured and put him on the tractor.
The other six accused, namely, Ajit Singh, Avtar Singh, Upar Singh, Gurdial Singh, Dilbagh Rai and Saudagar Singh were also companyvicted under Sections 307/ 149 I.P.C. and each of them was sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment.
Tarlok Singh accused 1, Avtar Singh accused 4, Upar Singh accused 5, are brothers.
As such, numbere of the other accused, except Tarlok Singh, companyld be held to have at any time entertained an intention to companymit murder, and they cannot therefore be held liable under Sections 307/149 I.P.C. It also appears from the evidence of all these witnesses including Labh Singh, that after Ajit Singh fell down the accused picked him up and put him on the tractor.
As a result of the information given by him, Assistant Sub Inspector of Police Post Quadian Kartar Singh P.W. 11 held Nakabandi at Thind Dhariwal Canal Bridge.
picked up the deceased and put him on the tractor.
Injury Report dated June 10, 1968, show that he had as many as eleven companytusions some of which were big injuries on arms, back, shoulder, scapular spine, buttocks, etc.
After the case was registered by P.W. 11, Sub Inspector Kehar Singh P.W. 16 S.H.O. Batala Police Station started investigations, interrogated Gurdial Singh, and on the statement made by him that the dead body of Ajit Singh and his decapitated head were thrown in the river Beas in the area of village Kirti Afghana and he companyld get the same recovered, that statement was reduced to writing.
On reaching the house of Harcharan Singh, Tarlok Singh A l is said to have fired three shots in the air from his gun to frighten the inmates.
Daljit Kaur was acquitted of all the charges and set free.
She accompanied Avtar Singh on the tractor and then she went to Uttar Pradesh.
Further all the seven accused except Daljit Kaur were companyvicted under Section 364 and each of them sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment as well as under Sections 201 and 148 I.P.C. for which each of them was awarded two years rigorous imprisonment on each companynt.
Harcharan Singh P.W. 9 and her husband asked her number to go, but she wanted to go.
The police also recovered from the place of occurrence seven wads which were sealed.
Immediately the accused picked up the injured Ajit Singh and it is said that Ajit Singh A 2 who was armed with Kirpan gave three Kirpan blows to the injured Ajit Singh.
The Doctor found 7 injuries upon P.W. 3 and 3 injuries on P.W. 2 which were simple in nature.
The companyvictions and sentences under Sections 364, 201 and 148 awarded by the Sessions Judge were maintained.
While this was going on Labh Singh, Bhagat Singh P.W. 6 and Rattan Singh P.W. 5 intervened, and the three accused were pushed out or persuaded to go away.
Thereafter the deceased was picked up and put on the tractor and Tarlok Singh and Avtar Singh drove away with Daljit Kaur and the boxes while the other accused followed the tractor.
Avtar Singh accused came with a tractor at 5 P.M. on June 9, 1968.
The police then took him to the police post Qadian.
Apart from the inherent defect in the prosecution case that Gurdial Singh was arrested in the manner alleged by the prosecution, even the evidence of his having made the statement.
Karam Singh P.W. 2 was also injured by the firing by Tarlok Singh.
All these statements of the two injured persons P.Ws.2 and 3 who were obviously there show that they have been falsely deposing, in respect of all the accused sitting in the tractor and companying from the house of Harcharan Singh, their exhorting Tarlok Singh accused to fire, and after the deceased fell down Ajit Singh accused gave two or three kirpan blows on the injured person.
141 of 1970 is by the other accused.
All the accused while going to the house of Dilbagh Rai began to hurl abuses on all and sundry.
The accused then demanded valuables from Harcharan Singh and took away a steel box companytaining gold ornaments weighing about 25 tolas.
The remaining accused had a dang each.
Avtar Singh A 4 drove the tractor and other accused followed the tractor.
In the F.I.R. Labh Singh states that Avtar Singh etc.
The accused then went away in the tractor taking the deceased with them.
On the same day at about 9 P.M. all the seven accused Al, A2, A4 to A8 came back to the village with a tractor and parked it in the Haveli of Dilbagh Rai A 7 which was near the house of Harcharan Singh.
P l for which he had a licence.
Gurdial Singh accused 6 is their relation.
The Sessions Judge numbered that though those were simple injuries they were caused by blunt weapon.
According to Dr. Dhillon the cause of death was due to Kirpan blows.
P.E. at about 11 P.M. After his statement was recorded by Sub Inspector Harjit Singh P.W. 26, a case was registered under Section 307 I.P.C., after which he sent information to the adjoining police stations about the occurrence, telephoned the Superintendent of Police and proceeded to the scene of occurrence.
Immediately the police rushed and though he was trying to run away he was held.
Labh Singh, father of the injured Ajit Singh immediately went to the police station Kahrowan and lodged an F.I.R. Ext.
They pulled her by her arms on which there was an alteration and many villagers companylected there.
Tarlok Singh was further companyvicted under Section 307 in respect of the shooting at Karam Singh and Virsa Singh and sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment.
There the police asked him to sign some papers which he refused to do.
The dead body was identified by Darshan Singh brother of the deceased and Gurbachan Singh P.W. 13 on being that of Ajit Singh, who was injured and taken away by the accused in the tractor.
The Trial Court on an appreciation of the evidence companyvicted Tarlok Singh under Section 302 or under Sections 302/149 I.P.C. and awarded life imprisonment to him.
Jagammohan Reddy, J. Eight accused were charged by the Additional Sessions Judge, Gurdaspur, of offences of murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, theft etc.
Tarlok Singh accused 1 and his brothers were related to Daljit Kaur and were companystant visitors to her house.
A post mortem on the dead body of Ajit Singh was held and apart from the injuries caused by sharp edged weapon which Dr. N.S. Dhillon P.W. I, Senior Medical Officer, Incharge Civil Hospital, said were caused by Kirpan blows, 96 pellets from gunshot injuries were also recovered.
Uper Singh was arrested on July 8, 1968.
She did number know who fired the gunshots at that time and what happened next.
The prosecution examined Karam Singh P.W. 2, Virsa Singh P.W. 3 Bahadur Singh P.W. 4, Rattan Singh P.W. 5 and Bhagat Singh P.W. 6 and Harcharan Singh P.W. 9 with respect to the incident.
