Karan Singh and Another vs State of U.P.

K.G. Balakrishnan and P.P. Naolekar, JJ.—The Appellants were tried for the offence of murder for having caused the death of five persons. All the three were sentenced to death by the Sessions Court. The High Court in the death reference confirmed the death sentences of Karan Singh and Kanwar Bahadur Singh, Appellants 1 and 2 respectively, but as regards the third Appellant Phool Singh, it was commuted to life imprisonment. The Appellants challenged their conviction and sentence. We have heard the Appellants and also counsel for the Respondent State.

The incident had happened at 8.30 p.m. on 12.4.1999 in the district of Hamirpur in the State of Uttar Pradesh. There was a long standing enmity between the Appellants, on one hand and the deceased Malkhan Singh and Ors., on the other hand. In the year 1982, one Channa Singh, father of Malkhan Singh was murdered. The present Appellant Karan Singh and his father Sewa Singh were prosecuted for the murder. At that time, the deceased Malkhan Singh as only 7 to 8 years old and the Appellant Karan Singh had a grievance that the properties were being enjoyed by Malkhan Singh and Ors. On the date of the incident, the deceased Malkhan Singh along with one Mohd. Idris, P.W. 2 were engaged in thrashing of wheat. After the work, they went to take bath near the common pump. At that time, all the Appellants came down armed with axe and other weapons. As soon as they reached near Malkhan Singh, the second Appellant Kanwar Bahadur Singh tried to give a blow on him but the blow fell on Mohd. Idris. Thereafter Malkhan Singh tried to run away but all the Appellants gave axe-blows and the attempt of P.W. 2 Mohd. Idris to save him was not successful. Mohd. Idris raised an alarm and on hearing that, Ramesh Kumar, brother-in-law of Malkhan Singh came to the place. The Appellants then killed Malkhan Singh, his mother Ram Murti and his daughter Km, Sadi. To save his life, Ramesh Kumar hid himself and saw the Appellants going towards his house and he heard crying sounds from the house and later he found the dead bodies of Guddu and Sobit, the children. The Appellants then ran away. P.W. 1 Ramesh Kumar with the help of one Akhlesh Kumar wrote a complaint and lodged an F.I.R. before the Muskhara Police Station.

P.W. 2 sustained some injuries which were examined by P.W. 4 Dr. R. S. Verma. The dead bodies were subjected to post-mortem examination and almost all the deceased had sustained five to six injuries on their bodies. From the side of the prosecution P.Ws. 1 and 2 were examined as key witnesses who deposed the incident in detail. P.W. 2 had described as to how Malkhan Singh was done to death while P.W. 1 Ramesh Kumar deposed as to how the Appellants killed Ram Murti, Sadi, Guddu and Sobit.

The Sessions Judge as well as the High Court examined the evidence in detail and came to the conclusion that these witnesses were credible witnesses. They also reached a finding that the evidence of the two witnesses is creditworthy. In view of these facts, the convictions of these Appellants for the offences tried has to be confirmed.

Counsel for the Appellants made a fervent appeal that the death sentence imposed on Karan Singh and Kanwar Bahadur Singh may be commuted to life imprisonment. It is also submitted that these murders had been committed due to some property dispute and the Appellants were related to the deceased and there was no motive for the murder and it may not be considered the rarest of the rare incidents to warrant the death penalty. Counsel also pointed out that one of the Appellants, namely, Phool Singh has already been sentenced to life imprisonment only and the same reasons may be applied in the case of the other Appellants also.

We are unable to accept the contentions advanced by the Appellants' counsel. The Appellants killed as many as five persons one by one and the nature of the injuries sustained by the deceased persons shows that almost all of them were butchered with axes and other weapons in a very dastardly manner. The Appellants after killing three of them even went to the house of the deceased and killed the children who were in no way involved with the property dispute with the Appellants. It seems that the Appellants wanted to exterminate the whole family. On reappraisal of the entire facts and circumstances of the case, we are not inclined to commute the death sentences imposed on the Appellants Karan Singh and Kanwar Bahadur Singh. The sentences imposed on them are confirmed and the interim stay granted by this Court on 12.3.2004 on the execution of the sentence is hereby vacated.

The appeals are dismissed.