There was also a charge against the five appellants under Sections 148 and 302 read with Section 149 IPC but the learned Sessions Judge held that the charge in this respect had number been substantiated.
Surinder Singh P.W. 5 then passed in front of the house.
Surinder Singh and Surjeet Singh went towards the house of Darshan Singh.
They were then armed.
The Assistant Sub Inspector first visited the house of Darshan Singh accused and found the dead body of Sarwan Singh lying there.
The High Court also took the same view of the evidence as had been taken by the Sessions Judge.
Malkiat Singh was also injured in the same incident.
He was also of the view that the eye witnesses had attempted to suppress the part played by them and the deceased regarding the injuries to be found on the person of Asa Singh.
There can be numbermanner of doubt that Hardev Singh, Sarwan Singh and Gurmit Singh were killed as a result of murderous assault upon them.
The following two injuries of Sarwan Singh were individually sufficient to cause death in ordinary companyrse of nature A penetrating incised wound 2 x 3/8 x deep into the left chest cavity on the left side of front of chest at the level of third left intercostals space along the left border of sternum.
Kirpan P. 4 was recovered from the house of Kehar Singh.
They attacked and injured us.
The case relates to the murder of three persons Hardev Singh 45 , Sarwan Singh 36 and Gurmit Singh 32 in village Karian at about 7.30 p.m. on July 16, 1965.
The accused were accordingly companyvicted and sentenced as above.
Kehar Singh accused was also arrested on that night by the Assistant Sub Inspector from his house.
Left femoral artery was found cut underneath injury No.
There were some security proceedings in that companynection and Suchet Singh, father of Surinder Singh P.W., appeared as a witness against Asa Singh and other accused in those proceedings.
The version of the occurrence which was given by Darshan Singh and was also adopted by Asa Singh was as under On the night of this occurrence, Gurmit Singh, Sarwan Singh and Hardev Singh forcibly entered our house by breaking open the shutters of the entrance door of that house when I and my brother Asa Singh were present inside our house.
This fact in the opinion of the Sessions Judge did number justify rejection of the evidence of the eye witnesses.
Asa Singh, Darshan Singh and Iqbal Singh were armed with spears, while Sewa Singh and Kehar Singh had kirpans.
Dr. Radha Krishan who performed post mortem examination on the three dead bodies found nine injuries companysisting of six incised wounds, one penetrating incised wound, one abrasion and one injury caused by the twisting of right arm on the body of Hardev Singh.
Girdhara Singh executed an agreement to sell eight kilas out of that land to Gurmit Singh deceased.
Asa Singh and Darshan Singh had some injuries on their person and were get examined from Dr. Mela Singh P.W. 2 .
Darshan Singh and his brothers then presented an application that the land be shown in their cultivating possession in Khasra Girdhawari.
Sewa Singh gave a kirpan blow on the head of Hardev Singh who thereupon fell down on the ground.
Asa Singh was found to have four simple injuries caused with sharp edged weapon, one single injury caused with sharp edged pointed weapon, and two simple injuries caused with blunt weapon.
The learned Sessions Judge accepted the prosecution case regarding the infliction of injuries by the five accused.
Gurmit Singhs dead body was companysequently sent back to his village.
During the companyrse of occurrence, some injuries were also received by Asa Singh accused.
I also picked up a kirpan and in my defence I also caused some injuries to Hardev Singh, Sarwan Singh and Gurmit Singh.
During the rabi crop before the present occurrence, the said land was cultivated by Dalip Singh.
On hearing the shout of Darshan Singh, Swaran Singh P.W. 3 , whose house is at a distance of about six or seven knrams from the house of Darshan Singh, came out of his house.
Sarwan Singh was also given blow on his thigh by Iqbal Singh with his spear and on his right ankle by Kehar Singh with his kirpan.
Gurmit Singh, however, succumbed to the injuries before the cart companyld reach Nawanshehar.
Gurmit Singh was taken in a bullock cart towards the hospital at Nawanshe har at a distance of about two miles from the place of occurrence.
Spears P. 1 and P. 2 and Kirpan P. 3 were found by the chemical examiner to be stained with blood.
Gurmit Singh then came forward to rescue Sarwan Singh but he was given a blow in his chest by Iqbal Singh with his spear.
The occurrence in the opinion of the Sessions Judge was number premeditated and appeared to have developed suddently.
Surjeet Singh P.W. then went to police station Rahon at a distance of five miles from the place of occurrence and lodged report P.O. at 10 p.m. The motive for the assault, according to the prosecution case, was that Darshan Singh, Asa Singh and Sewa Singh accused were cultivating the land of Girdhara Singh for about five years.
While Hardev Singh was lying on the ground, he was given blows by Asa Singh and Kehar Singh.
The Assistant Sub Inspector put Asa Singh under arrest and took into possession the blood stained spear.
On inspection of the spot the Assistant Sub Inspector found trail of blood from the place of occurrence to the spot where the dead body of Sarwan Singh was lying inside the house of Darshan Singh.
The shout of Darshan Singh also attracted Sohan Singh P.W. 4 and Jagat Singh P.W. 5 who were passing that way.
According to the report of Serologist, the blood in question was of human origin.
An incised wound 2 x 1/2 x 5 deep on the front and upper third of left thigh.
Hardev Singh and Gurmit Singh were then carried by Surjeet Singh P.W. and others towards their house.
He accordingly companycluded that each of the appellants was liable only for his own acts.
A.S.I. Gurbachan Singh P.W. 19 after recording the first information report went to the place of occurrence.
Sewa Singh gave a kirpan blow on the left knee of Gurmit Singh as a result of which the latter fell down.
Postmortem examination on the dead bodies of Hardev Singh, Sarwan Singh and Gurmit Singh was performed by Dr. Radha Krishan on July 17, 1965.
Asa Singh was then holding blood stained spear P. 1.
Surinder Singh asked Hardev Singh and others to help him in securing a safe passage.
Spear P. 2 was recovered in pursuance of the disclosure statement of Darshan Singh that he had kept in a sugar cane field.
Inquest reports relating to the three dead bodies were then prepared by the Assistant Sub Inspector and the bodies were sent for post mortem examination.
Asa Singh then gave a spear blow on the chest of Sarwan Singh deceased.
Sarwan Singh and Gurmit Singh deceased were brothers, while Hardev Singh deceased was their uncle.
Hardev Singh died soon after the occurrence.
Hardev Singh and other then told Surinder Singh P.W. that the accused were from their brotherhood and they would help Surinder Singh in going from that side.
The prosecution case is that on the day of occurrence at about 7.15 p.m. Surjeet Singh P.W. 6 , who is a companysin of Sarwan Singh and Gurmit Singh deceased and nephew of Hardev Singh deceased, was present in his house in the abadi of village Karian along with Hardev Singh, Sarwan Singh and Gurmit Singh.
Surjeet Singh, Sohan Singh and Jagat Singh raised alarm.
The accused then carried Sarwan Singh, who had been fatally injured, inside Darshan Singhs house and bolted the door from inside.
A penetrating incised wound 2 x 1/2 deep into the abdominal cavity on the right side of the abdomen 1/2 below the right companytal margin with part of small intestines protruding through the wound.
On seeing Surinder Singh and his companypanions, Darshan Singh exhorted the companyaccused to ensure that Surinder Singh P.W. was number permitted to escape.
Likewise, kirpan P, 3 was recovered in pursuance of the disclosure statement of Sewa Singh that he had kept it in a heap of Bhusa near his Haveli.
Darshan Singh then gave a spear blow in the abdomen of Hardev Singh.
Shortly thereafter Surinder Singh P.W. came back and told Hardev Singh and others that the accused had restrained him from passing in front of the house of Darshan Singh accused.
We raised alarm on hearing which Malkiat Singh son of Ganga Singh, Bakshish alias Sees and Shangara Singh son of Amrik Singh reached there and they rescued us from Hardev Singh, Sarwan Singh and Gurmit Singh by inflicting injuries on them.
They found the five accused present there.
Sarwan Singh was found to have four injuries companysisting of three incised wounds and one penetrating incised wound on his body.
Hardev Singh, Sarwan Singh and Gurmit Singh deceased accompanied by P.Ws.
At the trial Sewa Singh, Iqbal Singh and Kehar Singh accused denied their presence at the scene of occurrence and stated that they had been falsely involved in this case.
The version of the accused was rejected.
Darshan Singh and Sewa Singh accused were arrested on July 19 and July 21, 1965.
Darshan Singh had five simple injuries of a superficial nature.
The Assistant Sub Inspector also had a look at the dead bodies of Gurmit Singh and Hardev Singh.
Asa Singh, Sewa Singh and Darshan Singh appellants are brothers being sons of Milkha Singh, while Iqbal Singh appellant is the son of Kehar Singh appellant.
Out of them, the following two injuries of Hardev Singh were individually sufficient to cause death in ordinary companyrse of nature An incised wound 4 x 1 x bone and brain deep on the left side of the scalp 3 above and parallel to the pinna of left ear cutting through the underlying bone.
The companyviction of the accused was companysequently upheld.
R. Khanna, J. This is an appeal by special leave by Asa Singh 48 , Sewa Singh 45 , Darshan Singh 32 , Iqbal Singh 30 and Kehar Singh 65 against the judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court affirming on appeal the decision of the Sessions Judge, Jullundur whereby Kehar Singh appellant was companyvicted under Section 324 IPC and was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one year, while each of the remaining four accused appellants was companyvicted under Section 302 I.P.G. and was sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life.
