Full Judgment Text
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PETITIONER:
MOOL CHAND ETC. ETC.
Vs.
RESPONDENT:
JAGDISH SINGH BEDI AND ORS. ETC. ETC.
DATE OF JUDGMENT31/03/1992
BENCH:
FATHIMA BEEVI, M. (J)
BENCH:
FATHIMA BEEVI, M. (J)
PANDIAN, S.R. (J)
CITATION:
1992 SCR (2) 425 1993 SCC Supl. (2) 714
JT 1992 (2) 376 1992 SCALE (1)741
ACT:
Indian Penal Code:
Sections 120B, 302, 307, 324-High Court meticulously
examining evidence-Recording its own finding on credibility
of witnesses-Reasonable doubt as to circumstances under
which victim received fatal shot-Held no interference with
High Court order called for.
HEADNOTE:
Kashmiri Lal, Madan Lal, Babu Ram, Jagdish Singh Bedi
and Prem Pal were tried by the Additional Sessions Judge on
charges under sections 120(B), 302, 307 and 324 read with
sections 147 and 149 I.P.C. on the ground that they entered
into criminal conspiracy on 17.11.1972 to commit the murder
to Ramesh Chand and others.
The prosection case was that Kasturi Lal and Madan Lal
were brothers, that the three others Jagdish Singh Bedi,
Prem Pal and Babu Ram were friends and associates of these
brothers. Mool Chand and Jagdish Chand were brothers.
Ramesh Chand, the deceased was the son of Jagdish Chand.
Kashmiri Lal on the one hand and Mool Chand on the other
hand were enemies and there had been complaints and counter-
complaints and other litigations between these two groups.
Kashmiri Lal was provided with a bodyguard Jaipal Singh, PW-
17.
Kiran Prabha, daughter of Kewal Kishore, another
brother of Mool Chand was getting married on 17.11.72 and
the marriage party had come from Delhi. Mool Chand, Amrit
lal, Subhash Chand, Ramesh Chand and Agya Ram were
accompanying the party. Ramesh Chand and Amrit Lal were
heading the marriage procession.
When the barat party reached the tonga stand near the
residence of Dharamvir Singh Sehrawat, an Advocate, Prem Pal
and Jagdish Singh Bedi came there on a motorcycle driven by
Prem Pal and stopped the
426
motorcycle on the roadside in front of the marriage
procession. Simultaneously, an ambassador car in which
Kashmiri Lal, Babu Ram and Madan Lal were sitting also
stopped behind the motorcycle. Kashmiri Lal and Babu Ram
fired with his gun and Ramesh Chand got injured. Babu Ram
fired simultaneously causing injury to Amrit Lal. Both
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Ramesh Chand and Amrit Lal fell down, and injury was caused
to Subhash Chand and Mool Chand. Ramesh Chand died in the
hospital on 18.11.1972 and Mool chand and Subhash Chand were
treated at the District Hospital.
The police party on receiving telephonic message from
P.W.5 Balbir Singh reached the scene. They recovered the
motorcycle with a bag hanging on its handle, a bag of
cartridges and two empty cartridges lying on the ground.
Investigation took place and the accused were arrested and
sent for trial.
At the trial, 20 witnesses were examined by the
Prosecution. Mool Chand (PW.1) Subhash Chand (PW.4), Agya
Ram (PW.6) and Jai Pal Singh (PW.7) were examined as eye
witnesses. They supported the prosecution and narrated the
prosection version.
The accused set up their version on the incident in
their statement. According to them Madan Lal was going in a
rickshaw at 9.00 P.M. and when he reached near the house of
the Advocate, Ramesh Chand abused him and fired a number of
shots at him. Kashmiri Lal happened to reach there at that
time. The deceased and others tried to assault him with a
danda. He fired at them in the exercise of the right of
private defence.
The trial court accepted the prosecution evidence,
rejected the defence version and recorded conviction.
The accused appealed to the High Court, which set aside
the findings of the Trial Court and acquitted the accused.
The High Court was not prepared to believe that Madan Lal
would have been accidentally hit by as many as two or three
shots fired by two of his companions as it appears to be
highly unnatural and improbable. It held that if the accused
had conspired to commit the murder and all of them had
proceeded to
427
the place of occurrence from the house of Kashmiri Lal, it
is difficult to understand why Kashmiri Lal and Babu Ram who
were armed with gun did not immediately fire at Ramesh
Chand who was admittedly in front of the marriage
procession.
The State aggrieved by the order of acquittal preferred
three appeals, to this Court, and the complainant, Mool
Chand filed an appeal by Special Leave.
In the appeals it was contended : (1) The eye witness
account of the incident was fully corroborated by the
medical evidence on record and that their evidence had been
discarded on the bald ground that they did not give
satisfactory explanation of the fire arm injuries on
accused Madan Lal. (2) The explanation of the fire-arm
injuries of accused Madan Lal was contained even in the
first information report which was promptly lodged by PW.1
Mool Chand. (3) The incident took place in a barat
procession consisting of over 100 persons on account of
melee and confusion, no one can be expected to give a
graphic account of the encounter as well as the exact number
of shots fired. (4) The three eye witnesses are natural
witnesses, and they have given a consistent account which
had received corroboration from other materials in evidence,
and that the evidence was sufficient to sustain the
conviction. (5) The High Court proceeded on conjectures
having lost sight of the normal human conduct especially
when it found that the accused had come to the place of
occurrence on a car and a motorcycle before the incident and
four of them were arrested soon after the incident.
On the question: Whether the approach of the High Court
was wrong or the view taken by the High Court was
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unreasonable.
Dismissing the appeals, this Court,
HELD: 1. The prosecution has not proved the case beyond
reasonable doubt. The High Court has rightly acquitted
these accused.
[438F]
2. The High Court had very meticulously examined the
evidence and recorded its own finding as to the credibility
of the same. It is rather a matter of appreciation of
evidence. If the evidence is of such a nature that two
428
views are possible and the view in favour of the accused
weighed with the High Court in acquitting them, this Court
will be slow to interfere with the order of acquittal.[434D]
3. Only when the High Court has committed grave error
in the appreciation of the evidence and misdirected itself
by ignoring legal principles or misreading the evidence and
arrived at the conclusion, the decision can be characterised
as perverse or illegal requiring the interference by this
Court under Article 136 of the Constitution of India. The
judgment of the High Court if supported by cogent reasons
has to be sustained. [434E-F]
4. Even though the eye witnesses corroborated each
other on material particulars and the presence of Mool
Chand, Agya Ram and Subhash Chand was quite probable and PW-
7 Could be considered as independent eye witness, the
intrinsic worth of their version has been carefully weighed.
In the light of the inherent infirmity in that gun shot
injuries sustained by one of the accused has not been
properly explained and the explanation offered by the
prosecution is unacceptable, the High Court entertained
serious doubt regarding the truth and credibility of the
prosecution case. [437H-438B]
5. Amrit Lal one of the injured persons has not been
examined. The account given by Subhash Chand is
inconsistent with the narration given by Mool Chand and Agya
Ram and cuts at the root of the prosecution case. The
prosecution version is wholly unbelievable. There is
suppression of material evidence. The prosecution case has
therefore been rightly discarded by the High Court and no
interference is called for.
[438D-E]
6. The testimony of PW.7 appears to be highly
artificial and does not fit in with human probabilities.
The eye-witness account of the incident as rightly pointed
out by the High Court does not reveal the truth and the
genesis of the incident which is shrouded in mystery.
Material part of the incident relating to the attack of th
e accused person is twisted or suppressed and reasonable
doubt arises as to the circumstances under which the victim
received the fatal shot. No interference with the judgment
of the High Court is therefore called for. [438G-439A]
429
JUDGMENT:
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal Nos.
688-691/1979.
From the Judgment and Order dated 20.4.1979 of the
Allahabad High Court in Crl. Appeals Nos. 1850, 1851 and
1852 of 1974.
K.G. Bhagat, Pramod Swarup, R.K. Singh, Anil Kumar
Sangal, A.S. Pundir and Prashant Chaudhary for the
Appellants.
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R.K. Garg, U.R. Lalit, V.J. Francis, N.M. Popli and Dr.
B.S. Chauhan for the Respondents.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
FATHIMA BEEVI, J. These appeals by special leave are
directed against the judgment and order dated 20.4.1979 of
the Allahabad High Court passed in Criminal Appeals No. 1851
of 1974, 1850 of 1974 and 1852 of 1974 whereby the High
Court allowed the appeals and set aside the conviction of
the respondents.
Kashmiri Lal, Madan Lal Babu Ram and Jagdish Singh Bedi
and Prem Pal were tried in Sessions Trial No. 133 of 1973 by
the Ist Addl. Session Judge on the charges under sections
120-B, 302, 307, 324 read with section 149, I.P.C., Babu Ram
and Kashmiri Lal were separately charged under section 147,
I.P.C., as well.
The charges are that the accused persons on 17.11.1972
entered into a criminal conspiracy to commit murder of
Ramesh Chand and others. Babu Ram and Kashmiri Lal armed
with guns along with the other three formed themselves into
an unlawful assembly with a common object of murdering
Ramesh Chand, Amrit Lal and Subhash Chand and causing
injuries to them. In prosecution of the common object of
the assembly, they committed the murder of Ramesh Chand
caused gunshot injuries to Amrit Lal and Subhash Chand at
about 9.30 P.M. on 17.11.1972 at Bhopa Tonga stand in front
of the house of Shri Dharamvir Singh Sehrawat, Advocate,
Muzaffarnagar, and thereby committed the aforesaid offences.
The learned Addl. Sessions Judge by judgment dated
29.7.1974 convicted Kashmiri Lal and Babu Ram under Sections
148, 120-B, 302, 307 and 324, I.P.C., all read with Section
149, I.P.C., and sentenced them to undergo imprisonment for
life under Section 302, R.I. for 7 years under Section 307,
R.I. for 2 years under Section 148. Learned Judge also
convicted Jagdish Singh Bedi, Prem Pal and Madan Lal under
Sections
430
147, 120-B, 302, 307 and 324, I.P.C., read with section 149,
I.P.C., and sentenced them to undergo imprisonment for life
under Section 302, R.I. for 2 years under Section 147 and no
separate sentence was imposed on any of the accused under
Sections 120-B and 324, I.P.C.
The prosecution case relevant for the purpose of the
appeals briefly stated thus:- Kashmiri Lal and Madan Lal are
real brothers. The other three i.e. Jagdish Singh Bedi,
Prem Pal and Babu Ram are friends and associates of these
brothers. Mool Chand and Jagdish Chand are brothers.
Ramesh Chand, the deceased, was the son of Jagdish Chand.
Subhash Chand (PW-4) and Amrit Lal, injured, are the sons of
Mool Chand. The family of Mool Chand and the accused had
strained relationship, since there had been complaints and
counter-complaints and other litigation between these two
groups, Kashmiri Lal accused was provided with a shadow of
Jaipal Singh (PW-17).
Kiran Prabha, daughter of Kewal Kishore, another
brother of Mool Chand was getting married on 17.11.1972.
The marriage party had come from Delhi and was staying at
Barat House in Gandhi Colony. The party started for the
bride’s house at about 9.00 P.M. Mool Chand, Amrit Lal,
Subhash Chand, Ramesh Chand And Agya Ram were accompanying
the party. Ramesh Chand and Amrit Lal were heading the
marriage procession. At about 9.30 P.M. when the barat
party reached Bhopa Tonga Stand near the residence of Shri
Dharamvir Singh Sehrawat, Advocate, adjacent to police
lines, Prem Pal and Jagdish Singh Bedi came there on a
motorcycle driven by Prem Pal and stopped the motorcycle on
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the roadside in front of the marriage procession.
Simultaneously, an ambassador car in which Kashmiri Lal,
Babu Ram and Madan Lal were sitting also stopped behind the
motorcycle. Kashmiri Lal and Babu Ram were armed with guns
while Jagdish Singh Bedi was armed with cudgel. The
accused got down from the car and the motorcycle. Prem Pal,
Madan Lal and Jagdish Singh Bedi went near Subhash, Amrit
Lal and Ramesh Chand and started abusing them. Jagdish Singh
Bedi gave blows to them with his cudgel. Madan Lal excited
Babu Ram to fire. Kashmiri Lal fired with his gun and
Ramesh Chand got injured. Babu Ram fired simultaneously
causing injury to Amrit Lal. Both Ramesh Chand and Amrit
Lal fell down. Kashmiri Lal and Babu Ram each fired another
round causing injury to Subhash Chand and Madan Lal accused,
and all the accused escaped leaving the motor-
431
cycle and the car on the spot.
Ramesh Chand died in the hospital on 18.11.1972. Mool
Chand and Subhash Chand were treated at District Hospital.
The Police party on receiving telephonic message from
P.W.-5 Balbir Singh reached the scene. They recovered the
motorcycle with a bag hanging on its handle, a bag of
cartridges and two empty cartridges lying on the ground.
Sub-Inspector arrested accused Kashmiri Lal, Madan Lal, Babu
Ram and Prem Lal at about 10.00 P.M. at the Roorkey Octroi
Post while they were boarding the truck. Two guns were
recovered from the possession of Kashmiri Lal and Babu Ram.
From Kashmiri Lal empty cartridges and gun licenses were
also recovered.
Written report given by Mool Chand at the police
station Kotwali at 10.25 P.M. was treated as the first
information and the investigation was carried on.
Amrit Lal was examined by Dr. Manocha at 10.15 P.M. He
had six injuries on his person including a gunshot wound.
Subhash Chand had besides the gunshot would two abrasions.
Ramesh Chand was first examined by Dr. Jai Deo Sharma (PW-
11) at 11.00 P.M. He had multiple gun pellet wounds 25 in
number in an area of 17 cm x 12 cm with alacerated wound 3
cm x 0.5 cm (depth not probed) in the centre and lower part
of chest as recorded in Ex. Ka-14 medical report. The post-
mortem examination on the dead-body of Ramesh Chand was
conducted by Dr. R.N. Pathak (PW-15) on 19.11.1972 and that
revealed about the presence of about 86 gun-shot wounds on
the right side of th abdomen and extending to back upper
part of the abdomen. On internal examination, the doctor
found pellets present in the abdominal wall. Eight pellets
were recovered. The death had occurred due to haemorrhage
and shock as a result of gun-shot in injury.
Kashmiri Lal, Madan Lal, Babu Ram, and Pram Pal were
medically examined by the Jail Doctor. Dr. K.C. Pandey, on
18.11.1972. As per injury reports Ex. Ka-4 to 7, Kashmiri
Lal and multiple contusion on right hand, left hand small
finger, right shoulder and back upper third caused by some
blunt weapon about a day before. Madan Lal and multiple
small gun pellet wounds scattered in different parts caused
about a day before. Prem-Pal
432
had two small scabbed abrasions caused by friction against
hard substance about a day old and Babu Ram had four simple
injuries of blunt weapon with traumatic swelling on left
hand fingers, duration could not be ascertained.
Twenty witnesses were examined by the prosecution.
Mool Chand (PW-1), Subhash Chand (PW-4) Agya Ram (PW-6) and
Jai Pal Singh (PW-7) were examined as eye-witnesses. They
supported the prosecution and narrated the prosecution
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version.
The accused had set up their version of the incident in
their statement. According to them Madan Lal was going on a
rickshaw from Gandhi Colony to City at 9.00 P.M. on
17.11.1972. When he reached near the house of Dharamvir
Singh Sehrawat, Advocate, Ramesh Chand abused him and fired
a number of shots at him. Kashmiri Lal happened to reach
there at that time. The deceased and the others tried to
assault him with a danda. He fired at them in the exercise
of the right of private defence.
Jagdish Singh Bedi and Prem Pal stated that they were
returning from village on a motorcycle at the time of the
incident and when they reached near the police lines, they
found a crowd and barat procession. Prem Pal who was
driving the motorcycle attempted to clear the crowd. Some
persons attacked him and both ran away leaving the
motorcycle. Prem Pal claimed that he went to the police
station to lodge a report but he was arrested.
PW-17, Radhey Shyam Mishra, the ballistic expert,
affirmed that the two cartridges were fired from the two
guns recovered from the possessions of Kashmiri Lal and Babu
Ram. The trial court accepted the prosecution evidence,
rejected the defence version and recorded conviction. The
High Court on appeal by the convicted persons set aside the
findings and acquitted them.
The State being aggrieved by the order of acquittal has
preferred three appeals. Mool Chand, the defacto
complainant, has no special leave granted filed separate
Criminal Appeal No. 688 of 1979. The grounds urged ar
these:-
The eye-witness account of th incident was fully
corroborated
433
by the medical evidence on record. The evidence of
the eye-witnesses have been discarded on the bald
ground that it was difficult to accept their
evidence as they did not give satisfactory
explanation of the fire-arm injuries on Madan Lal,
accused.
The explanation of the fire-arm injuries of
accused Madan Lal was contained even in the first
information report which was promptly lodged by PW-
1, Mool Chand, one of the eye-witnesses. The
injuries are skin deep.
The incident took place in a barat procession
consisting of over 100 persons on account of melee
and confusion no one can be expected to give a
graphic account of the encounter as well as the
exact number of shot fired. It was impossible for
the eye-witnesses to notice every detail in a
graphic manner.
The three eye-witnesses are natural witnesses.
Subhash Chand is an injured person. When deceased,
Ramesh Chand, was undoubtedly in the marriage
procession, the presence of these witnesses is also
established. They have a consistent account and
received corroboration from other materials on
evidence. The evidence was sufficient to sustain
the conviction.
Jai Pal Singh (PW-7) was admittedly the own shadow
of Kashmiri Lal. He has given a detailed account
of movements of the accused. It is fully
corroborated by the various recoveries apart from
the eye-witnesses account. No reason whatsoever
has been given to discard the evidence.
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The High Court has proceeded on conjectures having
lost sight of the normal human conduct. The High
Court has found that the accused have come to the
place of occurrence on a car and a motorcycle
before the incident and four of them were arrested
soon after the incident, and both Babu Ram and
Kashmiri Lal had fired at the complainants party
but this cannot lead to the inference that the
prosecution version of the incident is correct as
it is quite possible that a sudden quarrel took
place at the place of the occurrence and the
appellants were fired at first by the complainants’
party as a result of which Madan Lal, appellants,
received gun-shot injuries. It is argued
434
that on one will spoil his own marriage procession
by indulging in shooting at such a time on his
enemy whereas an enemy would indulge in shooting to
spoil the marriage of his enemy. The inference was
irresistible from the appearance of the accused at
the spot in a car and a motorcycle that they
intended to spoil the marriage procession and to
indulge in violence. The arrest of the accused and
the recovery immediately after the occurrence lend
assurance of the truth of the prosecution version
and there is no scope for any doubt that the
prosecution version is true.
Shri Bhagat, the senior counsel, elaborated these
grounds referring to the evidence on record.
In these appeals against the order of acquittal by the
High Court, we have to consider whether the approach by the
High Court is wrong or the view taken by the High Court is
unreasonable. The High Court had very meticulously examined
the evidence and recorded its own finding as to the
credibility of the same. It is rather a matter a
appreciation of evidence. If the evidence is of such a
nature that two views are possible and the view in favour of
the accused weighed with the High Court in acquitting them,
this Court will be slow to interfere with the order of
acquittal. If only the High Court has committed grave error
in the appreciation of the evidence and misdirected itself
by ignoring legal principles or misreading the evidence and
arrived at the conclusion, the decision can be characterised
as perverse or illegal requiring the interference by this
Court under Article 136 of the Constitution of India. The
judgment of the High Court if supported by cogent reasons
has to be sustained.
To appreciate the arguments, it may be necessary to
briefly outline the gist of the prosecution evidence. The
case projected by the prosecution is that Kashmiri Lal on
the one hand and Mool Chand on the other were arch enemies.
The accused had conspired to commit the murder of Ramesh
Chand and all of them had proceeded on the car and
motorcycle from the house of Kashmiri Lal and Madan Lal to
the place of occurrence. Jai Pal Singh (PW-7) has assumed
charge of shadow only the previous day. He was in the car
along with the accused and he was asked to get down when
they reached near the scene. Jai Pal Singh got down from
the car
435
about fifty paces from the place of occurrence from where he
witnessed the encounter. The other three eye-witnesses were
heading the procession. There had been lantern street
lights. The genesis of the incident as spoken by these
witnesses is that the assault was started by the accused and
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Madan Lal sustained the gun shot injury when the accused
themselves fired. The High Court has said that the most
damaging feature of the prosecution case is the
unsatisfactory explanation of the gun shot injuries found on
the person of Madan Lal. The High Court pointed out that
Mool Chand and Jai Pal Singh have offered no explanation
regarding the gun shot injuries found on the person of Madan
Lal. Agya Ram (PW-6) only stated that he heard Madan Lal had
also received injuries. He does not depose at to how the
gun shot injuries were received by him. Subhash Chand
depose that only three shots were fired by the accused at
the time of the incident. The first shot was fired by
Kashmiri Lal at Ramesh Chand; the second shot was fired by
Babu Ram at Amrit Lal; and the third shot was fired by
Kashmiri Lal at Subhash Chand and this also caused gun shot
injuries to Madan Lal who was near Subhash Chand.
Dr. K.C. Pandey who examined the injuries of Madan Lal
has stated that the injuries found on his person were caused
by more than one shot. Shri B. Rai, ballistic expert, was
examined by the High Court as a court witness to determine
the number of shots which could have caused the injuries
found on the person of Madan Lal and whether they could have
been caused by the same shot which caused the injuries to
Ramesh Chand, Amrit Lal and Subhash Chand. This witness
deposed that the injuries found on the person of Madan Lal
could not have been caused by the gun shots which caused
injuries to Ramesh Chand and these appear to have been
caused by three shots. Considering the location and the
number of injuries found on the person of Madan Lal, the
High Court said that they appear to have been caused by at
least tow shots if not three. The High Court was not
prepared to believe that Madan Lal would have been
accidentally hit by as many as two or three shots fired by
two of his companions as it appears to be highly unnatural
and improbable. The number of gun shot injuries found on
Madan Lal are very much larger than the gun shot injuries
found on Subhash Chand. The possibility of their being
caused by shots fired by the party of complainant in the
opinion of the High Court cannot be excluded. It is quite
possible that the sudden
436
quarrel could have taken place at the place of occurrence
when the appellants (accused) were fired at first by the
complainant’s party as a result of which Madan Lal received
gun shot injuries. The High Court said that version of the
incident given by the four eye-witnesses cannot be
implicitedly relied upon and the possibility of Babu Ram and
Kashmiri Lal having caused injuries to the deceased, Subhash
Chand and Amrit Lal in the exercise of the right of private
defence cannot be excluded.
The story narrated by Jai Pal Singh, a body guard of
Kashmiri Lal as to what transpired before actual encounter
is uncorroborated. He was appointed his body guard on
16.11.1972. He went to their house the same evening and
remained there till night. At about 9.00 P.M. on 16.11.1972
Babu Ram came to the house of Kashmiri Lal with his gun and
bandoleer of cartridges and he stayed there. Jagdish Singh
Bedi and Prem Pal came on a motorcycle. Babu Ram was also
present at that time. All the five accused sat inside a room
and PW-7 was asked to sit in the varandah. The accused
talked to each other for about an hour and they came out.
Prem Pal and Jagdish Singh Bedi went away. Kashmiri Lal
went to meet some persons at about 2.00 P.M. Babu Ram and
Madan Lal went somewhere else. PW-7 and Kashmiri Lal
returned to the house at about 7.00 P.M. Babu Ram and Madan
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Lal were present there. At about 8.00 P.M. Jagdish Singh
Bedi and Prem Pal came on the motorcycle. All the five
talked to each other inside the room. Jagdish Singh Bedi
had a small cudzel with him. At about 8.30 P.M., Madan Lal
left the house and returned in half an hour and informed
Kashmiri Lal that the barat party had started and all were
present. Kashmiri Lal then directed Jagdish Singh Bedi and
Prem Pal to bring a car and they went on their motorcycle
form the house of Kashmiri Lal. Kashmiri Lal took his gun
and a bag of cartridges. They started in the car that was
brought and when it reached near the soldier board, the
marriage procession was seen coming from the side of the
police lines. Kashmiri Lal stopped the car and PW-7 was
asked to get down and take tea in the nearby shop. PW-7 got
down and went towards Bhopa Tonga Stand in order to take
tea. Jagdish Singh Bedi and Prem Pal and the others
proceeded toward the marriage procession. When they reached
in front of the kothi of Shri Dharamvir Singh Sehrawat,
Advocate, the accused got down from the car and motorcycle.
They began to quarrel and assaulted three boys of the
marriage party. PW-7 rushed towards them but Kashmiri
437
Lal and Babu Ram began to fire towards the three boys and
all to them fell down on receiving gun shot injuries and the
third also received gun shot injuries. This is the
narration given by PW-7.
The High Court said that if the accused had conspired
to commit the murder and all of them had proceeded to the
place of occurrence from the house of Kashmiri Lal, it is
difficult to understand why Kashmiri Lal and Babu Ram who
are armed with gun did not immediately fire at Ramesh Chand
who was admittedly in front of the marriage procession.
Instead, three accused began to push them and Jagdish Singh
Bedi assaulted them with a cudzel. The evidence of the eye-
witnesses that Jagdish Singh Bedi armed with a cudzel
wielded at the time of incident was not acceptable as this
is not mentioned in the first information report. It was
also difficult to believe that Prem Pal and Madan Lal could
have gone to the place of occurrence empty handed if they
were in fact members of an unlawful assembly the object of
which was to commit the murder of Ramesh Chand.
The High Court observed thus:-
"It is also difficult to believe that Kashmiri Lal
and Babu Ram appellants would have fired at Ramesh
Chand (deceased), Subhash Chand (PW-4), and Amrit
Lal, while they being pushed by Madan Lal, Jagdish
Singh Bedi and Prem Pal appellants as there was a
great risk of causing injuries to the aforesaid
three appellants. It is also difficult to believe
that the appellants would have taken constable Jai
Pal Singh (PW-7) with them from the house of
Kashmiri Lal and Madan Lal appellants if their
common object was to commit the murder of the
deceased. It is also difficult to believe that Jai
Pal Singh (PW-7) would have got down from the car
about fifty paces from the place of occurrence on
being directed by Kashmiri Lal appellant as his
shadow and was thus not expected to leave him. The
most damaging feature of the prosecution case,
however, is the unsatisfactory explanation of the
gun shot injuries found on the person of Madan Lal
appellant which were admittedly received by him at
the time of the incident."
The High Court has thus examined the broad features and
the inherent improbabilities in the prosecution version.
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Even though the eye-witnesses corroborated each other on all
material particulars and the
438
presence of Mool Chand, Agya Ram and Subhash Chand who was
quite probable and PW-7 could be considered as independent
eye-witnesses, the intrinsic worth of their version has been
carefully weighed. In the light of the inherent infirmity
in that gun shot injuries sustained by one of the accused
has not been properly explained and the explanation offered
by the prosecution is unacceptable, the High Court
entertained serious doubt regarding the truth and
credibility of the prosecution case.
The learned counsel appearing for the respondents while
supporting the judgment of the High Court has also referred
to several other relevant features which would support the
conclusion that the incident has not happened in the manner
alleged by the prosecution and that the true and correct
account of what transpired and the circumstances under which
the deceased as well as the injured persons sustained the
injuries have not been clearly established. The learned
counsel also referred to the fact that Amrit Lal, one of the
injured persons, has not been examined in the case. The
account given by Subhash Chand is inconsistent with the
narration given by Mool Chand and Agya Ram and cuts at the
root of the prosecution case. The leaned counsel had laid
stress on the evidence of the ballistic expert which had
very much turned the scale and maintained that the
prosecution version is wholly unbelievable that there is
suppression of material evidence and the prosecution case
has been rightly discarded by the High Court and no
interference is called for.
We have carefully considered these arguments and we
agree that the prosecution has not proved the case beyond
reasonable doubt. The High Court has rightly acquitted
these accused and no interferences warranted.
It is not necessary for us to repeat the various
infirmities pointed out by the High Court. The testimony of
PW-7 appears to be highly artificial and does not fit in
with human probabilities. The eye-witness account of the
incident as rightly pointed out by the High Court does not
reveal the truth and the genesis of the incident is shrouded
in mystery. Material part of the incident relating to the
attack of the accused person is twisted or suppressed and
reasonable doubt arises as to the circumstances under which
the victim received the fatal shot. We therefore, find
ourselves unable to accept the contentions of appellant and
to restore the
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conviction recorded by the trial court. In our view, no
interference with the judgment of the High Court is called
for.
In the result, the appeals are dismissed.
N.V.K. Appeals dismissed.
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