Punjab-Haryana High Court
State Of Haryana vs . Dharambir And Others on 20 March, 2009
Author: Daya Chaudhary
Bench: Mehtab S. Gill, Daya Chaudhary
Crl. Appeal No. 372 DBA of 1998 [1]
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH.
Crl.Appeal No. 372 DBA of 1998
State of Haryana Vs. Dharambir and others
AND
Crl.Appeal No. 208 SB of 1998
Dharambir and others Vs. State of Haryana
AND
Criminal Revision No. 978 of 1998
Sumer Singh Vs. Dharambir and others
Date of decision: 20.3.2009
CORAM : HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE MEHTAB S. GILL.
HON'BLE MRS.JUSTICE DAYA CHAUDHARY.
PRESENT: Mr.Kulvir Narwal, Addl. Advocate General, Haryana.
Mr. R.S.Rai, Sr. Advocate with
Mr. Deepinder Brar, Advocate and
Mr.Karan Pathak, Advocate.
***
DAYA CHAUDHARY, J.
This judgment shall dispose of Crl.Appeal No. 372-DBA-1998, Crl.Appeal No. 208 SB of 1998 and Crl.Revision No. 978 of 1998, as these have arisen out of the same judgment of conviction dated 24.2.1998 and order of sentence 3.3.1998 passed by Additional Sessions Judge (I), Faridabad.
Vide judgment dated 24.2.1998 and order dated 3.3.1998 of Additional Sessions Judge (I), Faridabad, in Sessions Case No. 115 of 1993, accused Dharambir was held guilty for offence under Section 304 Part-I IPC Crl. Appeal No. 372 DBA of 1998 [2] and sentenced to imprisonment for seven years and a fine of Rs.5000/-; in default of payment of fine to undergo further RI for six months, accused Dhan Singh was held guilty under Section 326 IPC and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for three years and a fine of Rs.5000/-, accused Lakhbir and Charan Singh were held guilty under Section 324 IPC and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 1 year and a fine of Rs.3000/- each; in default of payment of fine to further undergo RI for two months, accused Charan Singh, Ganga Ram, Prem Singh, Kamal Singh and Phool Singh were held guilty under section 323 IPC and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 6 months and a fine of Rs.1000/- each; in default of payment of fine to further undergo RI for one month.
State of Haryana has filed Crl.Appeal No. 372 DBA of 1998 for enhancement of sentence of nine accused, namely, Dharambir, Phool Singh, Chandan Singh, Charan Singh, Ganga Ram, Kamal Singh, Dhan Singh, Lakhbir and Prem Chand passed by the trial Court. Crl.Revision No.978 of 1998 has been filed by complainant Sumer Singh for enhancement of sentence, whereas Crl.Appeal No.208-SB of 1998 has been filed by Dharambir and others for setting aside the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 24.2.1998 and 3.3.1998 passed by Sessions Judge (1), Faridabad.
The facts of the case are being taken from Crl.Appeal No.372 DBA of 1998 titled "State of Haryana v. Dharambir and others" filed by the State of Haryana.
In nut-shell, the facts of the prosecution case are that on 27th June, 1993, at about 9.30 p.m., accused Dharambir, Phool Singh, Chandan Singh, Charan Singh,Ganga Ram, Kamal Singh, Dhan Singh, Lakhbir and Crl. Appeal No. 372 DBA of 1998 [3] Prem Chand armed with deadly weapons like lathis, jelli, darati, axes, and palkati had committed the murder of Karan Singh, besides causing grievous injuries on the person of Dhir Singh by sharp edged weapon and simple injuries on the person of Dhir Singh, Ramesh, Sumer and Ishwar Singh by blunt weapons as there was some dispute over putting earth in the plot of Karan Singh deceased. On objection being raised by Karan Singh, the accused started calling bad names to Karan Singh deceased. The accused-respondents armed with their respective weapons came at the spot. On hearing the alarm, Ramesh Chand and his brothers Dhir Singh (PW6), Sumer Singh (PW-7) and Ishwar Singh also came there. Dharambir accused inflicted a blow by means of a palkati which fell on the left side of the head of Karan Singh, as a result of which, he fell down. When complainant Ramesh, Sumer Singh, Dhir Singh and Ishwar Singh came forward to save Karan Singh deceased, then accused Chandan Singh inflicted a lathi blow on the left side of the head of Ramesh Chand, Phool Singh accused inflicted two lathi blows on the left arm of Ramesh, Charan Singh accused inflicted a blow with a sickle on left palm near middle finger of Ramesh. Kamal Singh accused inflicted a lathi blow on left knee of Ramesh, as a result of which, he fell down. The accused also caused injuries to Dhir Singh, Sumer Singh and Ishwar Singh. When Dhir Singh came forward to save his father Karan Singh, then Dhan Singh accused gave a kassi blow to Dhir Singh which hit on his left hand. Chandan Singh accused gave a lathi blow on the head of Dhir Singh. Prem Singh accused gave lathi blow on the back of Dhir Singh and Lakhbir Singh accused gave a kulhari blow on the right hand of Dhir Singh. Ganga Ram accused gave jelly blow on the back of Ishwar Singh and Chandan Singh, Prem Singh and Kamal Singh accused Crl. Appeal No. 372 DBA of 1998 [4] gave lathi blows on the person of Ishwar Singh. When Sumer Singh came forward and tried to save the injured person, then accused Ganga Ram gave a jelly blow on the face of Sumer Singh witness. Prem Singh and Charan Singh accused gave lathi blows to Sumer Singh on his back side and on head. Thereafter, Rajender Singh and Lakhan Singh, eye-witnesses, reached at the spot and removed the injured to B.K.Hospital, Faridabad. Injured Karan Singh was referred to AIIMS, Delhi by B.K.Hospital and he died on 3rd July, 1993 due to the injuries suffered by him.
On the basis of the statement of complainant Ramesh Chand (Exhibit PO), a formal FIR Exhibit PO/2 was recorded by HC Chander Bhan on 28th June, 1993. Statement of Prem Chand was also recorded by the Investigating Officer. The injured, including Karan Singh, were medico- legally examined by Medical Officer B.K.Hospital, Faridabad. The medical report of Karan Singh is Ex.PB. Exhibit PC is the medical report of Ramesh Chand. Exhibit PD is the medical report of Dhir Singh, Exhibit PE is the medical report of Sumer Singh and Ex.PF is the medical report of Ishwar Singh injured. Exhibit PG is the medical ruqa regarding the admission of the injured. As per medical report of Dr.V.K.Aggarwal, Radiologist, injured Dhir Singh was having fracture of ulna in the left elbow and his report is Ex.PA to this effect. Ex.PA/1 to Ex.PA/3 are the skiagrams and on the basis of x-ray report, injury No.2 on the person of Dhir Singh was declared grievous. Dr. Sudesh Parkash, medical Officer, AIIMS, Delhi, who conducted the post mortem examination on the dead body of Karan Singh opined that the cause of death in this case was coma as a result of head injury and nature of injury could not be given as nature of wound was already altered during operation. The rough site plan Ex.PX was prepared Crl. Appeal No. 372 DBA of 1998 [5] by Lal Chand draftsman. Accused Phul Singh, Lakbir Singh, Kamal Singh Ganga Ram were arrested on 12th July, 1993 by ASI Hoshiar Singh and accused Prem Chand and Dhan Singh were arrested on 13th July, 1993. They suffered disclosure statements Exhibits PGG, PHH and PJJ respectively. On the basis of their disclosure statements, recoveries of sickle, lathi and kassi were recovered from the places pointed out by them. Accused Dharamvir and Chandan Singh were arrested on 14th July, 1993 and they also suffered disclosure statements Exhibits PKK and PLL on the basis of which the recoveries of palkati and lathi were recovered. The articles were made into parcels and sealed with the seal 'JS'. The case property was deposited by ASI Hoshiar Singh with MHC Nand Ram.
After completion of investigation, the accused were sent up for trial for offence under Sections 147/149/323/324/326 and 302 IPC. As the offence under Section 302 IPC was exclusively triable by the Court of Session, so this case was committed to the Court of Session vide order dated 9.9.1993 of JMIC, Faridabad. The accused were charge-sheeted for offence under Sections 148/302/326/323 read with Section 149 IPC. They pleaded not guilty to the charge and claimed trial.
In order to prove its case, the prosecution examined as many as 10 witnesses namely, Dr.V.K.Aggarwal PW-1, Dr.A.K.Gupta PW-2, Lal Chand PW-3, Ramesh Chand PW-4, SI Inder Singh PW-5, Dheer Singh PW-6, Sumer Singh PW-7, HC.Chander Bhan PW-8, Dr.Sudesh Parkash PW-9 and ASI Hoshiar Singh PW-10. Statements of accused were recorded under Section 313 Cr.P.C. They pleaded innocence and false implication in the case. It was stated by the accused that the initiation was taken by the complainant party and they were more aggressive. It was also stated that Crl. Appeal No. 372 DBA of 1998 [6] accused also sustained injuries and the complainant party sustained only minor injuries. Accused Prem Chand, Charan Singh, Chandan Singh and Ganga Ram also got injuries at the instance of complainant party.
The trial Court after hearing both the parties and going through the evidence on record, convicted and sentenced the accused -respondents, as mentioned above.
Mr.Kulvir Narwal, learned Additional Advocate General, while appearing for the State of Punjab, argued that the trial Court has acquitted the co-accused under Sections 302/148/149 IPC and held guilty Dharambir for offence under Section 304 Part-I IPC, accused Dhan Singh was held guilty for offence under Section 326 IPC, accused Lakbir and Charan Singh were held guilty under Section 324 IPC and remaining accused, namely, Chandan Singh,Ganga Ram, Prem Chand, Kamal Singh and Phool Singh were held guilty under Section 323 IPC.
Mr. Narwal further argued that it was clear cut case of murder committed by an unlawful assembly in prosecution of common object but the trial Court while acquitting the accused under Section 302/148/149 IPC, evolved a new theory describing the occurrence as 'free fight'. There is ample evidence on record that all nine accused were armed with lathis, palkati, kassi, axes, sickle and jelli and in prosecution of common object caused the death of Karan Singh, who died at the hands of accused Dharambir. Counsel for the State further contended that every member of an unlawful assembly with a common object had attacked the complainant party due to which the death of Karan Singh occurred and other persons sustained injuries and all the accused should have been convicted for offence under Section 302 instead of section 304 Part-I IPC, 326,324 and Crl. Appeal No. 372 DBA of 1998 [7] 323 IPC respectively.
Mr. R.S.Rai, learned Senior Counsel, appearing for accused- respondents, pointed out that accused Dharambir has since expired after his conviction and as far as the role of other co-accused is concerned, only simple injuries were caused to the complainant party and the injuries received by the complainant party were simple in nature. Moreover, the complainant party was more aggressive and initiation was on their part. Ramesh Chand (PW-4), Dhir Singh (PW-6) and Sumer Singh (PW-7) received five injuries each, whereas Ishwar Singh received three injuries.
Mr. Karan Pathak, learned counsel for the complainant party argued that death of Karan Singh has been proved on the basis of medical evidence and his death occurred on account of injuries caused by accused Dharambir and his conviction should have been under Section 302 IPC instead of 304 Part-I IPC.
He further argued that the prosecution has proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt on the basis of statement of the witnesses and the ocular evidence has been corroborated by medical evidence. The injuries sustained by Karan Singh resulted into his death. The intention of accused Dharambir was clear to commit murder as the single injury was sufficient to cause death. As per statement of Dr.A.K.Gupta (PW-2), who conducted medico-legal examination of Karan Singh found one incised wound 2-1/2 x 1 cm. bone deep, on left temporal region of scalp. Profused bleeding was present. This injury was declared dangerous to life. The said injury was caused with sharp edged weapon. As far as injuries caused to Ramesh Chand were 5, out of which, injuries No. 1, 2,4 and 5 were with blunt weapon, while injury No.3 was by sharp weapon. Injuries No. 1 and 3 Crl. Appeal No. 372 DBA of 1998 [8] caused to Dhir Singh were by blunt weapon, while injuries No. 2, 4 and 5 were by sharp weapon. Injuries to Sumer Singh were in total 5 and all injuries were by blunt weapon. Ishwar Singh injured received total 3 injuries and all the injuries were by blunt weapon. Similarly, Chandan Singh received five injuries and all were by blunt weapon. Charan Singh injured was found a lacerated wound 1 cm x ½ cm muscle deep on posterior aspect of left elbow joint with bleeding. Ganga Ram injured received 5 injuries whereas Prem Chand injured received one lacerated wound 2.5 cm x 1 cm skin deep on right parietal region of scalp, with bleeding. All the accused were fully armed with their respective weapons and were more aggrressive and the complainant party received more injuries than accused party. It has been proved from the statements of the prosecution witnesses that all the accused formed an unlawful assembly and they attacked the complainant party with respective weapons and caused various injuries with sharp edged weapons as well as blunt weapons.
We have heard the arguments of learned counsel for the parties and also perused the documents on record and other evidence available on the record.
As per prosecution story, on 27th June, 1993 at about 9.30 p.m., both the parties constituted an unlawful assembly after arming themselves with deadly weapons like lathis, jeli, sickle, palkati etc with the object of committing riots and murder and in prosecution of the common object of the unlawful assembly committed murder of Karan Singh besides causing grievous and simple injuries on the persons of Dhir Singh, Ramesh, Sumer and Ishwar Singh. Both the parties were related by a common ancestor. Both sides received injuries in the incident. Some injuries on Crl. Appeal No. 372 DBA of 1998 [9] both sides were grievous and some injuries were simple. The injury on the person of Karan Singh caused by Dharambir proved fatal due to which the death of Karan Singh occurred. As per version of the accused-respondents, the complainant party was more aggressive and they were fully armed with their respective weapons. The initiation was on the part of the complainant party. As per version of the complainant party, all the nine accused constituted unlawful assembly and inflicted grievous injury on the person of Karan Singh. Simple injuries were caused on the person of Ramesh Chand (PW-4), Dhir Singh (PW-6), Sumer Singh (PW7) and Ishwar Singh by blunt as well as sharp weapons. Ramesh Chand (PW4) received 5 injuries, out of them, 4 injuries were found to be caused by blunt weapon and one was by sharp edged weapon. As per statement of Ramesh Chand PW4, he was given a lathi blow by accused Chandan, Phool Singh and Kamal on his head, hand and finger. Dhir Singh (PW-6) received 5 injuries out of which, injuries No. 1 and 3 were caused by blunt weapon and rest by sharp edged weapon. Injury No.4 on his person was declared grievous in nature. As per statement of Dhir Singh PW-6, when he was rescuing his father Karan Singh, Dhan Singh accused caused kassi blow on his left elbow from sharp edged side. It was further stated by Dhir Singh that Chandan Singh accused inflicted lathi blow on his head, Prem Chand inflicted a lathi blow which hit on his back, Lakhbir gave a kulhari blow on his right hand, Charan Singh gave a darati blow from sharp side on his left knee. Sumer Singh (PW-7) also suffered as many as 5 injuries on his person. These injuries were caused by Ganga Ram by using jelly and lathi blow by Prem Chand and Kamal Singh. Ishwar Singh received 3 injuries which were simple in nature and these injuries were caused by Chandan Singh and Prem Crl. Appeal No. 372 DBA of 1998 [10] Singh accused.
The trial Court on the basis of respective roles of the accused- respondents and medical evidence held Dhan Singh accused guilty under Section 326 IPC for causing grievous injury. Lakhbir Singh and Charan Singh accused were held guilty under Section 324 IPC for causing simple injuries on the person of Dhir singh and Ramesh Chand by sharp edged weapons. Accused Chandan Singh, Prem Chand, Ganga Ram, Kamal Singh and Phul Singh were held guilty for commission of offence under Section 323 IPC for causing simple injuries on the person of Dhir Singh, Sumer Singh, Ramesh Chand and Ishwar Singh. The main accused Dharambir to whom vital injury on the head of Karan Singh has been attributed, held guilty under Section 304 Part-I, IPC.
The solitary injury caused to Karan Singh was sufficient to cause death which was given by sharp edged weapon by Dharambir accused. Dr.Sudesh Parkash (PW-9) who conducted the post mortem examination on the dead body of Karan Singh, opined that the said injury was sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature but the doctor who had performed the operation upon the deceased was not examined in the witness box. According to Dr. Sudesh Parkash , the cause of death in this case was comma as a result of head injury, the nature of injuries could not be given as nature of wound was already altered during operation.
From the facts mentioned above, it is clear that both the parties received injuries and from both sides, some injuries were found grievous and some injuries were found simple in nature, except one injury on the person of Karan Singh deceased which was proved fatal and resulted into his death. The accused Dharambir has now expired after his conviction Crl. Appeal No. 372 DBA of 1998 [11] under Section 304 Part-I IPC.
There was some dispute of properties between the parties and their relations were strained. The complainant party received 18 injuries whereas accused-respondents received 12 injuries. It is clear from the statements of the prosecution witnesses that both the parties were alleging allegations that the other party was more aggressive but from the statements of the witnesses one thing is clear that it was a case of free fight and in case of free fight, every accused has been convicted and sentenced by the trial Court on the basis of their respective roles. The trial Court after considering all the evidence, including the medical evidence, held the accused- respondents guilty under various sections of IPC on the basis of their respective roles. The FIR was registered on the statement of the complainant party. The accused-respondents in their statements under Section 313 Cr.P.C. stated that they also received injuries and some of the injuries were grievous in nature and some of the injuries were simple. The trial Court has rightly arrived at the conclusion that accused-respondents formed an unlawful assembly and in furtherance of their common object, had caused injuries to the complainant party and convicted and sentenced them on the basis of their respective roles.
Mr. R.S.Rai, learned Senior Counsel for the accused- respondents, pointed out that since Dharambir accused has already expired after his conviction, so the appeal qua him has been abated. Therefore, the appeal qua Dharambir accused-respondents is abated. He also pointed that the other accused have already undergone approximately two months of sentence during trial, so the sentence of the accused-respondents may be reduced to the period already undergone. Therefore, the sentence of all Crl. Appeal No. 372 DBA of 1998 [12] accused, except Dharambir is upheld. The appeal qua Dharambir accused stands abated.
Both the parties are closely related to each other and they are directly related to a common ancestor and the dispute between the parties was over a trivial issue and the intention of the accused-respondents was not to commit murder or to cause grievous /simple injuries to the prosecution witnesses Keeping in view the facts and circumstances of the case and relationship of the parties, we deem it appropriate to reduce the sentence of accused Dhan Singh from 3 years to 1 years RI under Section 326 IPC, whereas accused Lakhbir Singh and Charan Singh from 1 year to 3 months under Section 324 IPC. The sentence of accused Chandan Singh, Ganga Ram, Prem singh, Kamal Singh and Phool Singh is reduced from 6 month to 3 months RI under Section 323 IPC. However the sentence of fine shall remain the same.
The above-said two appeals and revision stands disposed of in the above terms.
( DAYA CHAUDHARY) JUDGE (MEHTAB S. GILL) JUDGE March 20, 2009 raghav