TMI Blog2011 (7) TMI 1387X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 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 f ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... st 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. D. During the course of trial, the prosecution examined as many as 19 witnesses including injured Ajaib Singh (PW.10), and Trilok Singh (PW.9), the complainant. All the appellants were examined under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter called `Cr.P.C.'). Joga Singh, appellant, pleaded that at the time of the incident, he was present in his house which was adjoining to the house of the complainant. Ajaib Singh (PW.10) came to his house and called him saying that he was being called by someone at the `Phirni' of the village. When he came out, Gian Singh and Nishan Singh (both deceased) and Ajaib Singh (PW.10) pounced upon him and tried to drag him towards their house forcibly. Apprehending and suspecting that they would take him inside their house and kill him, he pushed Gian Singh, as a result of which, his head was struck against the wall. The other persons, namely, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ngh (PW.10) and judgments of the courts below that the place of occurrence has been tempered with by the prosecution and thus, the prosecution failed in its duty to disclose the correct facts. Injuries attributed to the deceased persons as well as Ajaib Singh (PW.10) by the witnesses do not tally with the medical evidence. There had been inordinate delay of 3 hours in lodging the FIR, though the Police Station was in close vicinity of the place of occurrence. Information of offence was sent to the Illaqa Magistrate as required under Section 157 Cr.P.C. after inordinate delay of 3 hours. Weapons used in the commission of the crime had not been shown to the medical experts for their opinion to ascertain whether the injuries on the persons of the deceased and Ajaib Singh (PW.10), injured, could be caused by those weapons. The High Court committed an error in interfering with the order of acquittal so far as the three appellants are concerned. Thus, the appeals deserve to be allowed. 5. On the contrary, Shri Rajeev Gaur Naseem , learned counsel appearing for the State of Haryana has opposed the appeals with vehemence contending that it was pre-planned attack by the appellants as Gu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in nature and sufficient to cause death in normal course of nature. II. On the same day at about 10.30 AM, Dr. Rajesh Gandhi (PW.11) and other Doctors conducted autopsy on the dead-body of Nishan Singh and found following injuries on his person:- (1) Incised wound was present in front of neck 2 cm. lateral to mid line on left side, obliquely placed and on opening there was hole in trachea and oesophagus. The size of wound was 6 x 3 cm. External carotid artery was also punctured. (2) Incised wound was present on anterior lateral aspect of right elbow. Size was 6 x 3 cm. x muscle deep. (3) Stab wound was present on the back on the right side 4 cm. below scapula, 6 cm. medial to mid axillary line obliquely placed and size was 3 x 2 cm. and deep upto lung. On opening the lung was sharply cut. (4) Stab wound was present in the mid epigastric region 6 cm. inferior to xiphisternum. Spindle shaped obliquely placed size was 4 x 2 cm. Omentum was lying outside. On opening there was incised wound on the interior surface of liver whose size 2 x 2 cm. There was collection of 800 ml. of fluid blood in abdominal cavity. III. Ajaib Singh (PW.10) was examined and following injuries wer ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... that the special report was received by the Ilaqa Magistrate at 10.45 p.m. on 6.11.2002. The occurrence had taken place in village Chhapar, which is about 6 Kms. from Police Station Safidon. Two sons of Trilok Singh (PW.9), namely, Gian Singh and Nishan Singh had died in this occurrence. Ajaib Singh (P.W.10) was seriously injured. He was shifted to the hospital. So, after making all these arrangements, Trilok Singh (PW.9) had made his way to the Police Station to lodge report with the police. In view of the above, we reach an inescapable conclusion that there is no delay in lodging the FIR with the police in this case. DELAY IN SENDING THE COPY OF FIR TO COURT 11. In Shiv Ram Anr. v. State of U.P., AIR 1998 SC 49, this Court considered the provisions of the Section 157, Cr.P.C., which require that the police officials would send a copy of the FIR to the Illaqa Magistrate forthwith. The court held that if there is a delay in forwarding the copy of the FIR to the Illaqa Magistrate, that circumstance alone would not demolish the other credible evidence on record. It would only show how in such a serious crime, the Investigating Agency was not careful and prompt as it ought ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... es the purpose that the FIR be not anti-timed or anti-dated. The Magistrate must be immediately informed of every serious offence so that he may be in a position to act under Section 159 Cr.P.C., if so required. Section 159 Cr.P.C. empowers the Magistrate to hold the investigation or preliminary enquiry of the offence either himself or through the Magistrate subordinate to him. This is designed to keep the Magistrate informed of the investigation so as to enable him to control investigation and, if necessary, to give appropriate direction. It is not that as if every delay in sending the report to the Magistrate would necessarily lead to the inference that the FIR has not been lodged at the time stated or has been anti-timed or anti-dated or investigation is not fair and forthright. Every such delay is not fatal unless prejudice to the accused is shown. The expression `forthwith' mentioned therein does not mean that the prosecution is required to explain delay of every hour in sending the FIR to the Magistrate. In a given case, if number of dead and injured persons is very high, delay in dispatching the report is natural. Of course, the same is to be sent within reasonable time ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 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 i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Singh, Mukhtiar Singh and Joga Singh on the principle of vicarious liability enunciated under Section 149 of the Code. Conviction of appellants Nishabar Singh, Mukhtiar Singh and Joga Singh on the basis of direct evidence and medical evidence is well founded and we do not find any infirmity in the impugned judgment in this regard. 21. The evidence of the stamped witness must be given due weightage as his presence on the place of occurrence cannot be doubted. His statement is generally considered to be very reliable and it is unlikely that he has spared the actual assailant in order to falsely implicate someone else. The testimony of an injured witness has its own relevancy and efficacy as he has sustained injuries at the time and place of occurrence and this lends support to his testimony that he was present at the time of occurrence. Thus, the testimony of an injured witness is accorded a special status in law. Such a witness comes with a built-in guarantee of his presence at the scene of the crime and is unlikely to spare his actual assailant(s) in order to falsely implicate someone. Convincing evidence is required to discredit an injured witness . Thus, the evidence of an i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... we are of the considered opinion that the appellants are not entitled to take any benefit of doubt. 26. Evidence of a related witness can be relied upon provided it is trustworthy. Such evidence is carefully scrutinised and appreciated before reaching to a conclusion on the conviction of the accused in a given case. (Vide: M.C. Ali Anr. v. State of Kerala, AIR 2010 SC 1639; and Himanshu @ Chintu v. State (NCT of Delhi), (2011) 2 SCC 36). 27. It has further been submitted that the High Court had no justification to reverse the judgment of acquittal so far as the three appellants are concerned. 28. This Court time and again has laid down the guidelines for the High Court to interfere with the judgment and order of acquittal passed by the Trial Court. The appellate court should not ordinarily set aside a judgment of acquittal in a case where two views are possible, though the view of the Appellate Court may be more probable one. While dealing with a judgment of acquittal, the appellate court has to consider the entire evidence on record, so as to arrive at a finding as to whether the views of the trial Court were perverse or otherwise unsustainable. Interference with the o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 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. In view of the above, we do not find any reason to accept the submissions so made on behalf of the appellants. 30. It is a settled legal proposition that while appreciating the evidence of a witness, minor discrepancies on trivial matters, which do not affect the core of the prosecution's case, may not prompt the Court to reject the evidence in its entirety. Irrelevant details which do not in any way corrode the credibility of a witness cannot be labelled as omissions or contradictions. Difference in some minor detail, which does not otherwise affect the core of the prosecution case, even if present, would not itself prompt the court to reject the evidence on minor variations and discrepancies. After exercising care and caution and sifting through the evidence to separate truth from untruth, exaggeration and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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