Amrik Singh alias Meeka vs State of Punjab

J.B. Garg, J.

Amrik Singh alias Meeka son of Lakha Singh, resident of village Ranipur Rajputan, Tehsil Phagwara, District Kapurthala, has been convicted by Shri J.C. Aggarwal, Sessions Judge, Kapurthala under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code on 31.7.1992 and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life and also required to pay a fine Rs. 1,000/ and in default of payment of fine to further undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of six months. Aggrieved against it, the present appeal has been preferred.

Briefly the story of the prosecution is that on 22.5.1989 at about 12.50 p.m. Kuldeep Singh started from Nakodar and was driving Bus No. PAB6275 which contained several passengers and it was on its way to Phagwara. At about 1.40 p.m. the aforesaid bus was at Chowk Hyderabad where a few passengers were dropped whereas truck No. PJX 9271 driven by Amrik Singh alias Meeka was coming from the opposite direction and after opening the windows it is alleged that there was exchange of words between the two. Kuldeep Singh driver alighted from the bus and was expressing his grievance as to why he was being abused by Amrik Singh, the driver of the truck. Amrik Singh took out an iron rod from his truck and allegedly gave a blow on the head of Kuldeep Singh as a result of which Kuldeep Singh fell on the ground. Thereafter, Amrik Singh drove his truck running over Kuldeep Singh while he was lying on the ground and as a consequence received injuries on head as well as on face. Besides Narinder Singh Conductor the occurrence was seen by Jasbir Singh son of Sucha Singh and Rattan Singh son of Karam Singh, who were residents of village Barha Pind and were travelling in the bus allegedly driven by the aforesaid Kuldeep Singh. Kuldeep Singh was placed in a Motor Car which was found parked at the nearby liquor vend and was taken to the Civil Hospital, Phagwara. However, Kuldeep Singh succumbed to the injuries on the way to Civil Hospital. The FIR also contains a mention at the fag end that the occurrence was also seen by Jaspal Singh who was also alleged to be a passenger in the aforesaid bus according to Narinder Singh, conductor of the bus, on whose statement FIR was recorded at 3.10/350 p.m. at Police Station, City Phagwara. However, the special report was delivered to the Ilaqa Magistrate posted at Phagwara itself at 5.50 a.m. on 23.5.1989. The post mortem examination was conducted on 23.5.1989 on receipt of the inquest report by the Medical Officer at 9.00 a.m. on 23.5.1989.

The iron rod Ex. PL was recovered at the instance of Amrik Singh as a consequence of his disclosure statement recorded on 24.5.1989 in the presence of PW''s. Jasbir Singh son of Sucha Singh and Joginder Pal, H.C. Police Station City Phagwara. Deepak Arora allegedly produced the truck on 26.5.1989.

PW1 Dr. Balbir Kaur, Medical Officer, Civil Hospital, City Phagwara conducted postmortem examination at 9.15 a.m. on 23.5.1989 on the dead body of Kuldeep Singh son of Ajaib Singh. The injuries found on the person of the deceased were as under :

Fracture on all the skull bones on the right side of the head, frontal parietal temporal and occipital. Fracture of mandible on the right side. There was bleeding from both the nostrils, both ears and mouth. Bluish area all over the cheek on right side over the right eye and right side of the forehead.

Lacerated wound of 5"x1" on right side of the abdomen (groin region) vertically downward extending to superomedial aspect of thigh.

Multiple contusions on the superolateral aspect of the right thigh bluish in colour. On dissection, scalp as described above. Duramater and meaninges were torn. Brain matter was lying outside the skull.

Stomach was full and bladder was empty. All organs were healthy. Injury No. 1 was possible with iron rod. She further told that injuries No. 2 and 3 could be on account of vehicular accident in case of run over. Besides this, in crossexamination this Medical Officer in reply to a question opined that even injury No. 1 could be the result of vehicular accident.

PW2 is Narinder Singh, Conductor of the bus, who claimed himself to be an eye witness of the occurrence and lodged the FIR at 3.00 p.m. on 22.5.1989.

PW3 Jaspal Singh, a driver of Phagwara, who also claimed himself to be a passenger travelling in the bus supported the story of the prosecution.

PW4 Tulsi Ram, Draftsman, prepared site plan Ex. PE.

PW5, Surinder Singh, A.S.I. recorded the statement of Narinder Singh, PW 2, complainant, whom he met near Civil Hospital, Phagwara. After despatching the statement of Narinder Singh, PW2 to Police Station through Constable Sardul Singh, the Investigating Officer arrived at the place of occurrence and prepared rough site plan, Ex. PF in the presence of Jasbir Singh and Rattan Singh and conducted inquest proceedings in the Civil Hospital inasmuch as the dead body of Kuldeep Singh was lying in the mortuary by that time.

Amrik Singh alias Meeka was examined under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in the trial Court and his plea was that he had gone to JCT Mills located at Chohal, Hoshiarpur and had entered its premises at 12.30 p.m. with the truck in question containing bricks and came out of the premises of the mill at 2.30 p.m. and he has been falsely implicated.

DW1 Shri Jugal Kishore Sharma, Chief Security Officer, JCT Mills, has supported the entry of truck No. PJX 9271 at 12.30 p.m. on 22.5.1989 in the premises of Mill, which was being driven by Amrik Singh. The aforesaid truck was carrying 5,000 bricks and had left the premises of the Mills at 2.50 p.m.

DW2, Harprabjit Singh, H.C. PoliceStation Goraya, has proved a subsequent FIR No. 87 dated 5.10.1991, Ex. DD which shows that Jaspal Singh son of Sohan Singh, the alleged eye witness of this case and Ram Tirath, employer of the aforesaid witness who has liquor contractor and transporter, were the victims in the case under Section 302/34 of the Indian Penal Code and Arms Act and TADA offences..

Shri R.S. Ghai, learned counsel for the appellant has rightly laid stress on the inordinate delay in the special report which was delivered to the Ilaqa Magistrate at 5.50 a.m. on the following day i.e. 23.5.1989 whereas the occurrence took place at about 1.40 p.m. on 12.5.1989 in Phagwara town itself and the place of occurrence was only 2 Kms. away from the Police Station City Phagwara and the statement of Narinder Singh complainant was allegedly recorded at 3.00 p.m. by PW5 Shri Surinder Singh ASI. It has been stressed that it was a case of vehicular accident on the road and not that it was seen by Narinder Singh PW2 or any other witnesses mentioned in the FIR at all. The inordinate delay in delivery of special report to the local Ilaqa Magistrate remained totally unexplained and it goes against the prosecution in the circumstances of the case.

The contention of the learned Deputy Advocate General, Punjab that in the year 1989, Punjab was in a turmoil and the alleged delay itself should not carry weight is not acceptable. Here the alleged occurrence took place at or about 1.40 p.m. and the fact that the FIR was delivered to the Ilaqa Magistrate at 5.50 a.m. on the following day i.e. 23.5.1989 reflects that the police was not sure as to what was really the cause of death. It was disputed from the very beginning whether it was at all a case of homicide.

The prosecution did not examine Jasbir Singh son of Sucha Singh and Rattan Singh son of Kartar Singh, the two alleged eye witnesses, who have been specifically named in the FIR and also in column No. 4 of the inquest report who were alleged to be the passengers in the bus which was being driven by Kuldeep Singh, deceased. The nonproduction of these two eye witnesses goes against the prosecution. Here the prosecution examined Jaspal Singh, the alleged third eye witness, whose name was added in the concluding lines of the FIR. The presence of this PW Jaspal Singh who supported the prosecution story in the trial Court and specifically his veracity requires scrutiny.

PW2 Narinder Singh, Conductor of the bus told in the trial Court that Jaspal Singh, PW3 had been a karinda at the liquor vend belonging to Tirath Ram of village Barba Pind, who was owner of the bus in question, and the aforesaid Tirath Ram also came to the policestation in his presence at about 4 p.m. when they were leaving for the hospital whereas, PW3 Jaspal Singh son of Sohan Singh told in the trial Court that he was never a karinda at Tirath Ram''s liquor vend and he did not know that the bus in question was owned by aforesaid Tirath Ram. All these factors together with the in ordinate delay in delivery of special report fortify the contention of learned counsel for the appellant that it was doubtful that the occurrence took place in the manner put forward by the prosecution.

Reappraisal of the medical evidence of PW 1 Dr. Balbir Kaur who conducted postmortem examination on the dead body of Kuldeep Singh shows that in her examination in chief she specifically deposed that injury No. 2 was lacerated wound measuring 5"x1" on the right side of abdomen and injury No. 3 consisted of multiple contusions on the right thigh and on dissection of the scalp the brain matter was found lying outside the skull. She told in the crossexamination that even injury No. 1 on the skull of Kuldeep Singh could be the result of vehicular accident. The position of the injuries referred to above creates a doubt that the assailant caused any head injury and that too with an iron rod.

Jasbir Singh son of Sucha Singh, an independent witness, in whose presence the iron rod was recovered on 24.5.89 was not examined by the prosecution and there was no evidence that the iron rod was blood stained. When PW5 Shri Surinder Singh ASI came to the place of occurrence even bus of the complainant was not found there. He did not take into possession any way bill or other document from the Conductor though according to the version of the investigating officer he had come to the place of occurrence immediately along with Narinder Singh and has denied the suggestion that the FIR was recorded later on after holding consultations with Tirath Ram the owner of the bus. Neither Tirath Ram the owner of the bus nor Deepak Arora who allegedly produced the truck though cited as witnesses were examined to complete the chain especially when the two original eye witnesses Jasbir Singh and Rattan Singh were also not examined though they were cited as seen above.

The presence of PW3 Jaspal Singh who totally denied and contradicted the version of Narinder Singh Conductor that Jaspal Singh had been a Karinda of Tirath Ram the liquor contractor shows that the presence and evidence of Jaspal Singh PW was not free from doubt. PW5 Shri Surinder Singh ASI admitted in his crossexamination that the name of PW3 Jaspal Singh son of Sohan Singh did not find mention in the statements of the witnesses recorded in the inquest proceedings.

In view of the evidence and reasons discussed above, we are of the view that the genesis of the occurrence that appellant caused an injury on head of Kuldeep Singh by means of an iron rod has not been established. The appeal is hereby accepted and the conviction recorded and sentence awarded by the trial Court are hereby setaside.