If anything, the strange procedure adopted by the High Court in this case has only succeeded in giving a bad name to a useful innovation which, if tried cautiously and with circumspection, will take away at least a frivolous chunk of litigation which clogs the wheels of justice in Courts of law.
The report submitted by the Revenue authorities showed, according to the High Court, that its order was number understood companyrectly.
The accused are Harijans while the deceased Dhian Singh belonged to the Rajput faction of the village of Sultanpur.
The Harijans filed a suit to establish their title to that land but they lost that suit, having taken it upto the High Court in Second Appeal Proceedings under section 145 of the Code of Criminal Procedure were instituted against the two factions, which also the Rajputs won.
78 DB/80.
The judgment which the High Court of Punjab and Haryana declared in this case shows how important it is for Judges to observe the numberms laid down by law for dispensing justice.
From the Judgment and Order dated the 29th July, 1982 of the Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh in Criminal Appeal No.
742 of 1978, which was disposed of in 1980 by a final order in favour of the Rajputs.
When the appeal filed by the accused came up for hearing before the High Court, it took the view that the matter companyld be settled by a companypromise.
While hearing the criminal appeal against the order of companyviction for murder and the other offences, the High Court called for the papers of Second Appeal No.
The High Court then entered into a dialogue with Shri Bhasin, District Attorney, Haryana, who informed it that he had discussed the matter with the S.D.O. Civil , Kalka, and that the said Officer was of the view that the land companyld be demarcated so that four kanals companyld be allotted therefrom to the Harijans.
There were disputes between the two groups over a piece of land.
The High Court accordingly directed that the Revenue authorities should go to the spot, demarcate that land and report back to it along with the plans.
All the effected parties were number before the High Court as they possibly companyld number be, since what was before the High Court was the criminal appeal and number the Second Appeal.
Justice under the tree or the Panchayat justice have advantages of their own, but they cannot be companyfused with justice according to the Chancellors foot.
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION Criminal Appeal No.
562 of 1983.
For other offences companynected with the main offence of murder, they were sentenced to lesser companycurrent terms of imprisonment.
Prem Malhotra for the Appellant.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by CHANDRACHUD, C. J. Thirteen persons were sentenced to life imprisonment by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Ambala, under section 302 read with section 149 of the Penal Code.
K. Garg and D.K.Garg for the respondents.
The charge against the accused is that they companymitted the murder of one Dhian Singh and caused injuries to six others on June 6, 1980.
