Punjab-Haryana High Court
State Of Punjab vs Bachan Singh And Ors. on 8 April, 2002
Equivalent citations: I(2003)DMC733
Author: V.M. Jain
Bench: V.M. Jain
JUDGMENT V.M. Jain, J.
1. This is an appeal against the judgment dated 13.11.1992 passed by the Sessions Judge, Bathinda, acquitting the accused respondents of the charges Under Section 302 read with 34, I.P.C., in the alternative for the offence Under Section 304B read with Section 34, I.P.C., besides the offence Under Section 498-A, I.P.C, framed against them.
2. Facts, in brief, are that on 3.1.1990 at 3.25 p.m., Kaur Singh @ Kala, lodged FIR Ex. PD in P.S. Nehianwala, Under Section 302/34, I.P.C. It was alleged in the said FIR that he was a resident of village Mehma Sarja and that about 25-26 days earlier, son of Daler Singh son of Bachan Singh had died due to illness. It was alleged that about 9-10 months back, Smt. Palo deceased, daughter of his maternal uncle, Kaka Singh was married to accused Bagga Singh son of accused Bachan Singh and that in the said marriage, Daler Singh was the go-between and for that reason they were on visiting terms with Daler Singh. It was alleged that at night, he along with Gura Singh, P.W. had gone to the house of Daler Singh for condolence over the death of his son. It was alleged that at about 6-7 p.m., they heard the shrieks of Smt. Palo coming from the house of accused Bagga Singh, upon which he (Kaur Singh @ Kala) and Gura Singh rushed towards the house of Bagga Singh. It was alleged that they found Bagga Singh, his brother Mela Singh and Gurdev Kaur standing in the kothri, adjacent to the outer door and at that time, Smt. Palo was raising alarm of bachao, bachao. It was alleged that Bachan Singh and Mela Singh were holding her from her arms and legs while accused Gurdev Kaur was saying that she should not be spared on that day. It was alleged that within their sight, accused Bagga Singh sprinkled kerosene oil from a container of 5 litres and set her on fire with the help of a lamp, which was burning nearby. It was alleged that body of Smt. Palo caught fire in no time and that after setting her on fire, all the four accused fled away from the spot. It was alleged that he (Kaur Singh @ Kala) and Gura Singh P.W., tried to save Smt. Palo deceased, but due to burning, she succumbed to her injuries on the spot. It was alleged that the cause of the grudge was that all the four accused used to ask Smt. Palo to bring more dowry besides Rs. 10,000/- in cash from her parents. It was alleged that Smt. Palo had narrated this incident to them, but being poor, her father could not satisfy their demand of dowry and cash and on that account, all the four accused had connived with each other and had committed her murder by setting her on fire. It was alleged that after leaving Gura Singh near the dead body of Smt. Palo, he (Kaur Singh @ Kala) had gone to village Raghuana and informed the parents of Smt. Palo and other relatives regarding this incident. It was alleged that now after taking Kaka Singh (father of Smt. Palo) and her uncle Makhan Singh, along, he has come to police station to lodge the report. After recording the aforesaid FIR, SI Jarnail Singh sent copy of the FIR as special report and the Judicial Magistrate received the special report at 5.15 p.m. on the same day i.e. 8.1.1990, as per endorsement on the copy of the FIR, Ex. PD. After recording the aforesaid FIR, SI Jarnail Singh, along with other police officials and the witnesses went to village Mehma Sarja, at the house of accused Bagga Singh and found the dead body of Smt. Palo lying in the courtyard in front of kothri and at that time Gura Singh, P.W. was guarding the dead body. Sub-Inspector Jarnail Singh prepared the inquest report, Ex. PB in the presence of witnesses namely, Kaka Singh, Balwant Singh and Kala Singh. He sent the body for post mortem examination through police Constables and after spot inspection, prepared the rough site plan. He also recorded statements of prosecution witnesses. Accused Bagga Singh, Mela Singh and Gurdev Kaur surrendered in the Court on 6.1.1990 and SI Jarnail Singh arrested them on 7.1.1990. Accused Bachan Singh was arrested on 10.1.1990. After the completion of the investigation, challan was submitted in the Court.
3. After the case was received in his Court after commitment, the learned Sessions Judge charged all the accused Under Section 302 read with Section 34, I.P.C. and in the alternative for the offence Under Section 304B read with Section 34, I.P.C. Besides that, all the four accused were also charged for the offence Under Section 498A, I.P.C. All the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges framed against them. Prosecution examined P.W. 1 Dr. J.S. Sandhu, P.W. 2 Kaur Singh @ Kala, P.W. 3 Gura Singh, P.W. 4 Kaka Singh (father of the deceased), and P.W. 5 SI Jarnail Singh. Statements of the accused Under Section 313, Cr. P.C., were recorded in which they denied prosecution allegation against them and stated that they were innocent and had been falsely implicated in this case. Accused Bagga Singh stated that they had never demanded any dowry or money, much less Rs. 10,000 /- from the deceased or from her parents. He stated that his brother accused Mela Singh and his wife Smt. Gurdev Kaur accused were living separately from him for the last 20 years while his father Bachan Singh used to reside with Daler Singh. He further stated that on the day of occurrence, Smt. Palo deceased had gone to the fields, where she picked up a quarrel with him as she was insisting to go to the house of her parents for the delivery of child as she was pregnant while he did not want to send her to the house of her parents. He stated that the deceased was short tempered and that from the fields she returned to the house and committed suicide in the noon time. He further stated that Kewal Singh, Member Panchayat, Gurjant Singh, Kala Singh, Ajaib Singh, Chairman, Shingara Singh and Balwant Singh, tried to rescue her and they took out Smt. Palo from the kothri and placed her on the cot. He stated that even though they had tried to save her but could not succeed. He further stated that he was called from fields and he informed the parents of the deceased through one Kala Singh. He stated that Gurdev Singh, father of Kaur Singh, P.W. was go-between for their marriage and not Daler Singh. He further stated that Smt. Gurdev Kaur accused used to treat Smt. Palo deceased like her daughter. The other accused adopted the statement of accused Bagga Singh in this regard. Accused Mela Singh further stated that fingers of his left hand were amputated. Accused, in their defence, examined D.W. 1 Ajaib Singh, D.W. 2 Kewal Singh and D.W. 3 Balwant Singh.
4. Learned Sessions Judge, Bathinda, after hearing both sides and after perusing the record, acquitted all the four accused of the various charges framed against them, vide judgment dated 13.11.1992. Aggrieved against the same, State of Punjab had filed the present appeal against the acquittal of the accused.
5. We have heard the learned Counsels for the parties and have gone through the record carefully.
6. Learned Counsel appearing for the appellant, State of Punjab submitted before us that on the facts and circumstances of the present case, offence Under Section 304B, I.P.C. was proved against the accused respondents, besides the offence Under Section 498A, I.P.C. It was submitted that delay in lodging the FIR stands satisfactorily explained. It was submitted that from the testimony of P.W. 5, SI Jarnail Singh, it was proved that AST Resham Singh was posted in P.S. Nehianwala in those days and since ASI Resham Singh was related to the accused, F.I.R. was not earlier recorded by the police. It was further submitted that from the testimony of P.W. 2 Kaur Singh @ Kala and P.W. 3 Gura Singh, it was proved that the accused had been demanding dowry and money from the deceased and her parents and that the evidence of these witnesses finds corroboration from the testimony of P.W. 4 Kaka Singh, father of the deceased. On the other hand, Counsel for the accused respondents submitted before us that learned Sessions Judge had rightly acquitted the accused respondents of the charges framed against them, as the prosecution had miserably failed to prove its case against the accused respondents. It was further submitted that the learned Trial Court had taken a possible view while acquitting the accused respondents and that no case was made outtfor convicting accused respondents in the present appeal against their acquittal. It was further submitted that there was inordinate delay in lodging the FIR and the delay has not been satisfactorily explained. It was submitted that there is nothing on the record to show that ASI Resham Singh was in any way related to accused. It was further submitted that prosecution had failed to prove that the accused had raised any demand of dowry or cash amounting to Rs. 10,000/- from the deceased or her parents. It was submitted that the evidence of P.W. 2 Kaur Singh @ Kala and P.W. 3 Gura Singh stands contradicted from the statement of P.W. 4 Kaka Singh, father of deceased. It was further submitted that presence of P.W. 2 Kaur Singh @ Kala and P.W. 3 Gura Singh at the spot at the time of occurrence is highly doubtful, especially when they being close relatives of the deceased had not taken any steps to save the deceased, which is quite unnatural.
7. In the present case, Smt. Palo deceased had died of burn injuries on 2.1.1990. According to the case of the prosecution, all the four accused had put Smt. Palo deceased on fire at about 6.30 or 7 p.m., and that the said occurrence was witnessed by Kaur Singh @ Kala and Gura Singh, who had also tried to save her but could not and she died. On the other hand, case of the accused is that Smt. Palo had committed suicide during day time on 2.1.1990 and that Ajaib Singh, Kewal Singh, Balwant Singh and others had tried to save her but of no avail and she died of burn injuries. Learned Sessions Judge, while acquitting the accused respondents in this case, had found that there was a delay of 21 hours in lodging the FIR. As per the case of the prosecution, occurrence had taken place at 6.30 or 7 p.m. on 2.1.1990, while the FIR was lodged at 3.25 p.m. on the next day i.e. 3.1.1990. In the FIR, it was only stated by Kaur Singh @ Kala P.W. that after the occurrence, after leaving Gura Singh near the dead body, he had gone to village Raghuana to inform the father and other relatives of Smt. Palo deceased about the incident and now after taking Kaka Singh, father of Smt. Palo and Makhan Singh, her uncle along with him, he had come to the police station to lodge the report. However, when Kaur Singh @ Kala, complainant appeared in the witness box as P.W. 2, he came out with a detailed explanation for not having lodged the FIR earlier. He stated that after the occurrence, after having Gura Singh, to guard the dead body, he had gone to the nouse of Nikka Singh, Member Panchayat to apprise him about the occurrence, but he was not available in his house. He further stated that thereafter, he came to his own house in village Mehma Sarja (the occurrence had taken place in village Mehma Sarja. The accused are also residents of village Mehma Sarja). He stated that his parents and uncles accompanied him and they again came to the place of occurrence. He stated that he tried to arrange some conveyance to report the matter to the police and ultimately he came on foot to Goniana Mandi and from there he went to P.S. Nehianwala (in Goniana Mandi itself) for the registration of the case. He stated that in the police station, ASI Resham Singh met him and he told the entire occurrence to him and requested him to register the FIR, but on the contrary, he asked him to sit in the police station. He stated that after waiting for 10 minutes, he again requested ASI Resham Singh to register the case but he told him that he would do so shortly. He stayed upto 4 a.m., but ASI Resham Singh did not record FIR and finally he directed him to bring the parents of Smt. Palo and said that only then he will record the statement. He stated that thereafter, he boarded the train at 5 a.m., from Goniana Railway Station and came to village Raghuana, at a distance of two kilometres from Railway Station, Bara Gura. He stated that on reaching village Raghuana, he narrated the entire incident to the parents of Smt. Palo deceased and thereafter Kaka Singh and Makhan Singh (father and uncle respectively of Smt. Palo deceased) accompanied him and they again came to P.S. Nehianwala, reaching there at about 2 or 2.30 p.m., having left village Raghuana at about 11 or 12 noon, in a jeep, along with 4-5 ladies. He stated that he, Kaka Singh and Makhan Singh went inside police station to lodge the report and at that time, ASI Resham Singh met them. He stated that at that time he told them that accused Bagga Singh and Mela Singh were sons of his father's sister and persuaded them to compromise but they did not agree and told him that in case he would not register the case they would report the matter to SSP, Bathinda.
It was alleged that thereafter ASI Resham Singh assured them that he would do the needful and thereafter ASI Resham Singh recorded his report. He stated that at that time, SI Jarnail Singh was also present in the police station. He further stated that subsequently he had made inquiries if ASI Resham Singh was related to accused Bachan Singh and Mela Singh or not and came to know that said AS! Resham Singh was related to these accused. When Kaur Singh @ Kala P.W. appeared in the witness box as P.W. 2 and was asked to inform the Court about his profession, he had stated that he was a Constable with Punjab Police and was posted at Amritsar. During cross-examination on behalf of the accused, he stated that he was a Matriculate. He stated that he had told the police that he had gone to the house of Nikka Singh to inform him about the incident. He was confronted with the FIR, Ex. P.D, where it was not so recorded. He stated that he had told the police that his parents and uncle had accompanied him and they had gone to the place of occurrence. He was confronted with the FIR, Ex. PD, where it was not so recorded. He admitted that he had not stated in the statement Ex. PD that he had gone to PS Nehianwala on foot. He admitted that in the FIR, Ex. PD he had not stated that in the police station ASI Resham Singh had met him and he had narrated the entire incident to him and had requested him to register the case, who initially asked him to sit in the police station and later on he asked him to bring the parents of Smt. Palo deceased. He also admitted that in the FIR, he had not got it recorded that thereafter he had boarded the train and after alighting at Bara Gura, he had gone to village Raghuana and had come to police station in a jeep along with ladies. He also admitted that he had not got it recorded in the FIR that Thanedar had told him that accused Bagga Singh and Mela Singh were sons of his father's sister or he persuaded them to enter into compromise nor he had stated that they did not agree to the compromise and told the Thanedar to register the case. This witness admitted that even on 2.1.1990, when he had reached police station at about 11 p.m., SI Jarnail Singh was also present in the police station but he had not requested SI Jarnail Singh to record the statement, even though he was the SHO of the police station. He stated that PS Nehianwala was at a distance of 4 kilometres from Mehma Sarja and both these places are connected with metalled road. He stated that he had boarded a passenger train which came to Bathinda and from Bathinda, he boarded another train at about 6 a.m., which reached village Bara Gura at about 7.30 a.m.
8. From a perusal of the above, it would be clear that the story put forth by P.W. 2 Kaur Singh @ Kala, while appearing in the witness box, in order to explain the delay in lodging the FIR, had come on record for the first time while appearing in the witness box. In the FIR, nothing was stated as to why the lodging of the FIR was delayed. Furthermore, even though SI Jarnail Singh was present in the police station on the night of 2.1.1990, when Kaur Singh @ Kala had allegedly gone to police station, yet he had not met SI Jarnail Singh in this regard. Furthermore, even though ASI Resham Singh was posted in P.S. Nehianwala in those days, as admitted by SI Jarnail Singh, yet nothing has come on the record to show as to how and in what manner ASI Resham Singh was related to accused Bagga Singh and Mela Singh. The mere assertion of P.W. 2 Kaur Singh @ Kala that he had made inquiries and had found that ASI Resham Singh was related to the accused, in our opinion, would not be sufficient to hold that the accused were related to ASI Resham Singh or that ASI Resham Singh was instrumental for the inordinate delay in the lodging of the FIR. Thus, in our opinion the learned Trial Court had rightly come to the conclusion that there was delay in lodging the FIR, which the prosecution had failed to explain.
9. Furthermore, learned Sessions Judge, while acquitting the accused had found that the story regarding throwing of sand and water by Kaur Singh @ Kala and Gura Singh, in order to extinguish the fire, was not proved on the record. In our opinion learned Sessions Judge has rightly come to this conclusion. In the FIR, nowhere, it was mentioned that they had put sand and water upon Smt. Palo to extinguish the fire. However, when Kaur Singh @ Kala and Gura Singh appeared in the witness box, they came out with the story that they had put sand and water upon Smt. Palo to extinguish the fire. No explanation has come on record to show as to why these facts were not mentioned in the FIR. Even in the inquest report, there was no mention about the use of sand and water. Furthermore, the dabba and the bucket with which sand and water were put on Smt. Palo deceased had not been recovered by the police nor there is any mention in the post mortem report that sand and water were poured upon Smt. Palo deceased after the accident to extinguish the fire.
10. In the present case, P.W. 2 Kaur Singh @ Kala and P.W. 3 Gura Singh had tried to show that they had witnessed the occurrence. Both of them were closely related to deceased Smt. Palo Gura Singh is the uncle's son of Kaur Singh @ Kala. As per P.W. 2 Kaur Singh @ Kala, Smt. Palo was daughter of his maternal uncle Kaka Singh. Thus, admittedly Kaur Singh and Gura Singh were close relatives of Smt. Palo deceased. According to them they had seen Bachan Singh and Mela Singh accused having caught Smt. Palo deceased and Smt. Gurdev Kaur saying that Smt. Palo be not spared on that day, while accused Bagga Singh had put kerosene oil on Smt. Palo deceased from a tin can and had put her on fire with the help of a lamp (diva). However, both these witnesses had not taken any action in preventing the accused from putting Smt. Palo on fire. It is not possible to believe that accused persons would put Smt. Palo on fire in the presence of her close relatives, Kaur Singh @ Kala and Gura Singh. This is especially so when according to these witnesses, they had come to the house of Daler Singh, to condole the death of his son, which had taken place about 25-26 days prior to the present occurrence. Said Daler Singh is none else but another son of accused Bachan Singh. Furthermore, according to these witnesses the occurrence had taken place at about 6.30 or 7 p.m. If the accused persons were to commit the murder of Smt. Palo deceased, in the manner suggested by the prosecution, it is not possible to believe that they would do so at that time and that too, in the presence of her close relatives, namely Kaur Singh @ Kala Singh Gura Singh, who had come to the house of Daler Singh, another son of accused Bachan Singh, to condole the death of his son. In our opinion, the learned Sessions Judge has rightly come to the conclusion that presence of Kaur Singh @ Kala and P.W. 3 Gura Singh, at the time of present occurrence is not proved on the record. This is especially so when there was a delay of about 21 hours in lodging the FIR and nothing has come on the record to show that these witnesses had taken any steps to prevent the accused from committing the crime. In our opinion, the learned trial Judge had rightly found that offence Under Section 302, I.P.C. was not made out against the accused.
11. With regard to the offence Under Section 304B, I.P.C., suffice it to say that even though P.W. Kaur Singh @ Kala and P.W. 3 Gura Singh had stated that deceased had told them that the accused were demanding Rs. 10,000/-, yet when Kaka Singh, father of the deceased appeared in the witness box as P.W. 4, nowhere he had stated the accused had demanded Rs. 10,000/-. On the other hand, he stated that the in-laws of the deceased may have been demanding Rs. 10,000/- or Rs. 20,000/- from the deceased, but his daughter never told him that her in-laws had made any demand of dowry. However, he stated that his daughter was burnt to death by the accused as he could not meet their demands. This assumption raised by P.W. 4 would not be enough to hold the accused guilty in this case, even for the offence Under Section 304B, I.P.C., especially when there is nothing on the record to show that accused ever demanded Rs. 10,000/- from P.W. 4 Kaka Singh, father of the deceased. If the accused had raised any demand before Smt. Palo deceased, Kaka Singh P.W. would be the first person to know it from his daughter Smt. Palo deceased. However, as referred to above, he categorically stated that his daughter never told him that her in-laws had made any demand of money. Thus, the testimony of P.W. 2 Kaur Singh @ Kala and P.W. 3 Gura Singh that the accused had demanded Rs. 10,000/- from Smt. Palo and since her parents could not arrange the said amount, she was put to death by the accused, in our opinion, cannot be accepted.
12. In the present case, accused had examined three witnesses in their defence. D.W. 1 Ajaib Singh is an Ex-Chairman of the Marketing Committee and also an Ex.-Sarpanch of the village. He is also Lambardar of the village. He categorically stated that at about 12 or 12.30 p.m., he was present near the house of Bagga Singh accused, along with others and they were playing cards and at that time they saw smoke coming out of the house of Bagga Singh and on hearing raula, they went there and saw that wife of Bagga Singh was on fire and they tried to extinguish the fire but she succumbed to her injuries. D.W. 2 Kewal Singh is a Member Panchayat and is a neighbour of Bagga Singh accused. He also made a similar statement. D.W. 2 Balwant Singh, an Ex-Serviceman also made a similar statement and stated that they had noticed smoke coming out of the house of Bagga Singh and when they went there, they found that the wife of Bagga Singh was burning and they tried to extinguish the fire but she had expired due to burn injuries. All the three witnesses examined by the accused in defence are respectable witnesses. There is absolutely no reason to discard the testimony of these witnesses, especially when the statements of the witnesses examined by the prosecution that the occurrence had taken place in the presence of Kaur Singh @ Kala and Gura Singh and they had tried to extinguish the fire, are not worthy of any reliance. In our opinion, learned Sessions Judge has rightly come to the conclusion that the prosecution had failed to prove its case against the accused. In our opinion, the learned Sessions Judge had taken a possible view while acquitting the accused of the charges framed against them and no case is made out for interfering with the said finding of the trial Judge.
For the reasons recorded above, finding no merit in this appeal, the same is hereby dismissed.