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Dr. B.S. CHAUHAN, J.

1. All the aforesaid three appeals have been filed against the common judgment and order dated 15.12.2006 passed by the High Court of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh in Criminal Appeal Nos. 17-DB of 2005; and 360- DBA of 2005. The High Court partly affirmed the judgment and order dated 25/26.11.2004 of the Sessions Court in Sessions Trial No. 97 of 2003 convicting three appellants, namely, Joga Singh, Mukhtiar Singh and Nishabar Singh under Sections 302 and 307 read with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, (hereinafter called `IPC'), and sentenced them to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs.10,000/-. Further, the High Court convicted accused/appellants, namely, Bhajan Singh, Puran Singh and Gurdeep Singh who had been acquitted of all the charges by the trial court and awarded the sentences similar to the other accused.

2. Facts and circumstances giving rise to these appeals are as under:

A. Prosecution version as mentioned in the complaint of Trilok Singh (PW.9) is that, at 5.00 PM on 6.11.2002, he was present in his house alongwith his sons, namely, Gian Singh (deceased), Nishan Singh (deceased), his wife Swaran Kaur, daughter Harbhajan Kaur, grandson Harbhajan Singh and maternal grandson Ajaib Singh (injured) (PW.10). Bhajan Singh armed with Neja (Spear), Gurdeep Singh armed with Mogra (Pestle), Puran Singh armed with Gandasa, Joga Singh armed with sword, Nishabar Singh armed with Gandasa and Mukhtiar Singh armed with sword, accompanied by two ladies, namely, Chinder Kaur and Manjit Kaur, entered his house and raised Lalkara that they would teach them a lesson for tethering their cattle in the street. All the accused attacked Gian Singh (deceased) and Nishan Singh (deceased). Gurdeep Singh opened the attack by giving Mogra blow on the head of Gian Singh and Mukhtiar Singh inflicted a sword blow on the waist of Gian Singh, as a result of which he fell down. Joga Singh inflicted a sword blow on Nishan Singh's chest, Bhajan Singh inflicted Neja blow on his waist, Puran Singh inflicted Gandasa blow on his right elbow, Nishabar Singh inflicted Gandasa blow on his waist and, as a result, Nishan Singh fell down on the ground. Joga Singh inflicted a sword blow on the stomach of Ajaib Singh (PW.10), Mukhtiar Singh inflicted sword blow on the neck of Ajaib Singh, and as a result, he fell down. All the assailants then fled away from the spot with their respective weapons. Gian Singh and Nishan Singh died on the spot due to injuries. Ajaib Singh (PW.10), injured, was taken to the hospital. B. On the basis of the complaint, an FIR was lodged and registered (Ex.PB-1). SI Prakash Chand (PW.18) accompanied by Surinder Kumar, Photographer and other police officials reached the place of occurrence at about 8.15 P.M. Photographs of the dead bodies etc., were taken, inquest reports were prepared on the dead bodies of Gian Singh and Nishan Singh and blood stained earth was picked up from the place of occurrence. It was sealed in separate parcels. Dead bodies were sent for post-mortem examination and site plan etc. were prepared. Post-mortem was conducted on 7.11.2002 by Dr. Rajesh Gandhi (PW.11), who opined that the cause of death of both the persons was shock and haemorrhage as a result of injuries. Ajaib Singh (PW.10), injured, was also examined on 6.11.2002 with diagnosis of multiple stab injuries in chest and abdomen. He was operated upon on 7.11.2002 and was discharged from the hospital on 20.11.2002. C. Bhajan Singh @ Harbhajan Singh was arrested on 10.11.2002, and on his disclosure statement, Neja (Spear) was recovered from his residential house. On the disclosure statement of Puran Singh - appellant, the Gandasa was recovered from underneath his box at his residential house, and on the same day, on the disclosure statement of Joga Singh - appellant, that he had kept concealed sword underneath his bed in his residential house, the sword was recovered. On 11.11.2002, Gurdeep Singh made a disclosure statement, on the basis of which, Mogra alleged to have been used in the crime was recovered from his residential house. On the same day, Mukhtiar Singh also got the concealed sword recovered from the house of Bhajan Singh. On completion of the investigation, challan was put up in the court. Charges were framed against all the six appellants for the offences punishable under Sections 148, 302 and 307 read with Section 149 IPC. The two ladies, namely, Chinder Kaur and Manjit Kaur were discharged. As all of the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges and claimed trial, they were put on trial.

The trial court reached the conclusion that it seems that accused Puran Singh was also implicated in this case along with his father Bhajan Singh alias Harbhajan Singh because he is a brother of prime accused Joga Singh. Thus, the involvement of accused Puran Singh in the incident is also doubtful.

18. This has to be examined in the light of the evidence of two eye witnesses, namely, Trilok Singh (PW.9) and Ajaib Singh (PW.10). There is no contradiction between their statements which rather corroborate each other. Ajaib Singh (PW.10) corroborates the version of Trilok Singh (PW.9). He also deposed that Gurdeep Singh was armed with `Mogra'. Joga Singh and Mukhtiar Singh were armed with swords. Puran Singh and Nishabar Singh were armed with `Gandasas'. Bhajan Singh @ Harbhajan Singh was armed with `Neja'. Gurdeep Singh inflicted a `Mogra' blow on the head of Gian Singh while Mukhtiar Singh inflicted a `sword' blow on the waist of Gian Singh. He fell down on the ground. Then Joga Singh inflicted a sword blow on Nishan Singh's chest . Bhajan Singh @ Harbhajan Singh inflicted a `Neja' blow on his waist. Puran Singh inflicted a `Gandasa' blow on his right elbow. Nishabar Singh inflicted a `Gandasa' blow on his waist and as a result, Nishan Singh fell down on the ground. Ajaib Singh (PW.10) further deposed that when he tried to rescue Gian Singh and Nishan Singh, Joga Singh inflicted a sword injury in his stomach. Mukhtiar Singh inflicted a sword injury on the back of his neck. Nishabar Singh inflicted a `Gandasa' injury on his left shoulder.

29. The High Court has reached the conclusion that the judgment of the trial Court was perverse as the trial Court held that it was a clear cut case of common object. The High Court has decided the issue as under:

"There was common object which appellants Nishabar Singh, Mukhtiar Singh and Joga Singh shared with their acquitted co-accused Bhajan Singh alias Harbhajan Singh, Puran Singh and Gurdeep Singh. They entered the courtyard of the house of P.W. Trilok Singh by raising `Lalkara' that they would teach a lesson for tethering cattle in the street. By application of Section 149 of the Code, they all the six were liable for inflicting injuries to Gian Singh and Nishan Singh, which resulted in their deaths and brutal injuries to P.W. Ajaib Singh. The trial court was not justified in acquitting Bhajan Singh alias Harbhajan Singh, Puran Singh and Gurdeep Singh on hypothetical medical evidence, by ignoring the reliable direct evidence of P.Ws. Trilok Singh and Ajaib Singh."