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In the morning at about 6.30 (on September 7, 1972) Vir Singh (PW6) who came out of the police station told Joginder Singh (PW4) and his companions, who were still waiting outside the police station, that the three appellants and Ram Kishan had continuously beaten Balwant Singh inside the police station for the whole night and that he was not sure whether Balwant Singh was alive or not and that the appellants were conspiring to some how or other dispose of the dead body. At the instance of Joginder Singh (PW4), Amarjit Singh (P.W.12) went to the Sub Divisional Magistrate's Court, Panipat and got an application (Ex. PM) drafted and presented it to the Sub Divisional Magistrate, who marked it to the Station House officer, Sadar Panipat (appellant No. I) for report. Smt. Harnam Kaur (P.W.13) mother of Balwant Singh deceased, after waiting in vain for her sons to come back till 11 a.m. herself went to the police station Panipat and met Joginder Singh (PW4) and others outside the police station and after hearing about the beating of Balwant Singh in the custody of the police station, at the instance of Joginder Singh (PW4), she sent a telegram (Ex. PL) to the Superintendent of Police Karnal to the effect that Station House officer, Sadar Panipat and five constables and Havildar Baljeet Singh raided her house on the previous night and took her son Balwant Singh and servant Harnam Singh (PW5) to the police station, that Balwant Singh had been beaten ruthlessly and taken to an unknown place and that his life was in danger and she prayed for an early action to save the precious life of Balwant Singh. At about 7 or 7.30 p.m. On September 7, 1972, Joginder Singh (PW4) contacted Dy. S.P. Iqbal Singh (PW16) and narrated to him all that had happened and Iqbal Singh assured him that justice would be done in the case. By this time it had become that Balwant Singh had succumbed to the injuries received by him and therefore Joginder Singh requested the Dy. S.P. to have the autopsy on the dead body done by Chief Medical officer Karnal instead of by the local Medical officer.

Meanwhile, as per the direction of the Sub Divisional Magistrate, endorsed on Ex. PM (Amarjit Singh's application), appellant No. 1 submitted his report (Ex. DE) on September 9, 1972, stating his version as to what had transpired, which substantially became the defence version at the trial. In his report it was stated that on September 7, 1972 at about 5.30 a.m. Bhim Singh (D.W.2) reported that at night two thieves entered his residential Kotha for committing theft which he noticed on returning from the field and on finding the thieves there he raised an alarm "thief, thief". Both the thieves opened an attack on him with lathis which they were carrying but many persons of the village also gathered there carrying lathis; that one of the thieves who was a Sikh succeeded in running away while the other was knocked down by the people who gave him many lathi blows. Later on he was found to be Balwant Singh; consequently a case under s. 458 IPC had been registered at the police station Sadar Panipat on the information given by Bhim Singh (DW2) and that during this operation currency notes worth Rs. 2260/- alongwith one gold ring belonging to Bhim Singh had been stolen; the investigation was still in hand and the search for the second accused was being made. Appellant No. I denied that Balwant Singh deceased and Harnam Singh (PW5) had been asked to attend the police station. The appellants also pleaded that they were falsely implicated in this case by the complainant and others who were not merely related to and interested in the deceased but were inimical to them, being people of shady character and were aggrieved by the appellant No. l' s strict surveillance over their illegal activities. Appellant No. 1 and Ram Kishan also Raised pleas of alibi suggesting that on the night in question they were not at police station Sadar Panipat but were away on duty elsewhere and examined defence witnesses to support their case.

As regards Som Nath (P.W. 14), aged about 18 years, who is alleged to have brought Harnam Singh and Balwant Singh in his tempo to the Police Station in the company of the police officials, the learned Judge found that though the witness asserted that he was driving the tempo for the last about 5 years, he was not in possession of any licence till the date of his evidence, that it was surprising how he could remember the date 6th of September, 1972 as the date on which he brought Balwant Singh in his tempo to the police station when he could not remember other dates of other occasions when his tempo had been requisitioned by the police and who were the police officials who had travelled in his tempo on those occasions and that his statement had been recorded by the police as late as on 17th September, 1972 though he was shown to have remained in Panipat throughout. For these reasons the learned Judge was not prepared to accept Som Nath's evidence and if that be so the very A basis of the prosecution story that deceased Balwant Singh was taken to the police station on the night in question, was kept in custody there and was assaulted by the appellants, would fall to the ground. As regards the other prosecution witnesses mentioned above, the learned Judge referred to the admitted position that each one of them had past antecedents and history of shady character to his credit and being inimical towards the police attached to Panipat Police Station had shown anxiety to involve the Police officials in the case. With this background he examined their evidence with great care and caution and came lo the conclusion that none of them was worth relying upon and their evidence hopelessly fell short of connecting any of the appellants with the offences charged. The learned Judge further pointed out That in Ex. PM dt. 7th September, 1972, the earliest application made by Amarjeet Singh (P.W.

12) to the Sub Divisional Magistrate, the names of appellant No. I (Ram Chander) and Ram Kishan had not been mentioned at all and this fact assumed importance especially when it was immediately after getting information about the assault on Balwant Singh from Vir Singh (PW 6) in the morning at 6.30 a.m. Amarjit Singh made that application as directed by Joginder Singh (PW 4). The learned Judge further pointed out that in the telegram Ex. PL sent by Harnam Kaur (PW 13), to the Superintendent of Police, Karnal, it was stated that S.H.O Sadar Panipat alongwith five constables and Hawaldar Baljeet Singh had taken away her son Balwant Singh and servant Harnam Singh to the police station whereas it was never the case of the prosecution that S.H.O. Ram Chander (appellant No. 1) was among those police officials who had gone to the Dera of Balwant Singh. In view of these facts and the other material on record the learned Judge came to the conclusion that Ex. PG, the regular First Information Report lodged by Joginder Singh as late as on 9th September, 1972 had been got drafted after holding deliberations and consultations in which detailed allegations were made against the appellants mentioning even the sections of the Penal Code. One more crucial circumstance was referred to by the learned Sessions Judge and that was that Joginder Singh (PW 4), Amarjeet Singh (PW 12) had claimed that they had not allowed the dead body of Balwant Singh to be taken away from the police station and that it was brought out in the morning in the immediate presence of hundreds of persons and if that were so there should have been no dearth of independent persons, who could have been examined for substantiating the prosecution case that at some stage of the other the dead body of Balwant Singh was at the police station but nothing of the kind was done. What is more, Amarjit Singh (P.W. 12) had stated before the Dy. S.P. Iqbal Singh (PW 16), with which portion he was confronted, that he had seen the dead body of Balwant Singh for the first time at the morgue. The learned Sessions Judge, therefore, concluded that there was no satisfactory proof that the deadbody of Balwant Singh had ever remained in the police station of Sadar Panipat either during the night intervening between 6th and 7th September, 1972 or any time subsequently and prior to its post mortem. As regards the two injured witnesses Banta Singh and Harnam Singh, the learned Sessions Judge pointed out that neither in Ex. PM dt. 7th September 1972 the fact that Banta Singh too had received injuries while at police station was mentioned and further, since Dr. R. S. Naiyar, who had examined Banta Singh's injuries had stated that Banta Singh could have received those injuries within 3 to 7 days of his examination, which was done on 13th September, 1972, it could not be pin-pointed with certainty that he had received those injuries during the night of the occurrence. As regards injuries on Harnam Singh, the learned Judge observed that the possibility of Harnam Singh being the other thief alongwith Balwant Singh during the theft that occurred on the night in question at the house of Bhim Singh (D.W. 2) and he being the thief who had escaped on that occasion with minor injuries at the hands of the villagers could not be ruled out. It was for this state of evidence and for the reasons indicated above that the learned Sessions Judge acquitted the appellants of the charge of murder. Consequently, the other charge under s. 218 also failed.