It was observed that the common intention stood proved from the fact that accused Ishwar, Krishana Devi and Sandeep had exhorted accused-Pardeep and, on their instigation, accused-Pardeep went to the roof of the house, armed with Pistol and fired at the deceased.
We now come to the role played by the other accused in the transaction.
The role ascribed to Ishwar and Krishana, the parents of accused-Pardeep was of initial exhortation.
The parents were stated to have exhorted the sons; accused-Pardeep and accused-Sandeep to teach a lesson to the deceased-Surender.
It is upon such exhortation that accused-Pardeep had gone inside, collected the firearm and reached the rooftop; and while he was there at the rooftop, the crucial exhortation came from the accused-Sandeep. Thus, all three accused are said to have exhorted accused-Pardeep
but the exhortation given by accused-Sandeep was immediately before the shot was fired and of a greater impact in as much as he had seen accused-Pardeep at the rooftop along with the firearm and then made the exhortation.
Considering the entirety of the circumstances, in our view, accused Ishwar and accused Krishana Devi are entitled to benefit of doubt whereas the involvement of accused Sandeep stands completely proved beyond reasonable doubt.
while Criminal Appeal No.1615 of 2018 preferred by accused Ishwar and Criminal Appeal arising out of Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No.8789 of 2014 preferred by Krishana Devi are allowed.
The accused Ishwar and Krishana Devi be released forthwith unless their custody is required in connection with any other offence.
1
NON-REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.1613 OF 2018
SANDEEP ...APPELLANT
VERSUS
STATE OF HARYANA …RESPONDENT
WITH
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.1614 OF 2018
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.1615 OF 2018
AND
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. OF 2021
[Arising out of Review Petition (Crl.) No.______of 2021 (D.No.6662 of 2020)]
(Arising out of Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No.8789 of 2014)
J U D G M E N T
UDAY UMESH LALIT, J.
1. Delay in filing Review Petition (Crl.) Diary No. 6662 of 2020 in
Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No.8789 of 2014 is condoned. The Review
Petition is allowed and the order dated 15.12.2014 passed by this Court
dismissing Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No.8789 of 2014 is recalled. The
Special Leave Petition is restored to the file of this Court. Leave granted.
2
2. These appeals arise out of the common judgment and order dated
30.05.2014 passed by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at
Chandigarh dismissing Criminal Appeal No.D-372-DB of 2009 and
thereby affirming the conviction and sentence of all the appellants in
respect of the offences punishable under Section 302 read with Section
34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short, “the IPC”) and under Section
25 of the Arms Act, 1959 qua Appellant-Pardeep.
3. The appellants namely; (i) Pardeep son of Sh. Ishwar Singh, (ii)
Ishwar Singh son of Sh. Ram Singh, (iii) Sandeep son of Sh. Ishwar Singh
and (iv) Krishana wife of Sh. Ishwar Singh, R/o Vill. Lehrara, Distt.
Sonepat were tried in the Court of Additional Sessions Judge/ Fast Track
Court, Sonepat, Haryana in Sessions Case No.14-RBT of 2007-2008 for
having committed the aforementioned offences.
4. The crime was registered pursuant to First Information Report
No.62 of 2007 lodged with Police Station Sadar, Sonepat at about 1.30
pm on 13.4.2007. The information given by Rajbir Singh son of Sia Ram
who was later examined as PW-1 in the trial, was to the following effect:
"…. The residences of mine and that of Ishwar s/o Ram Singh
are adjacent to each other. Ishwar is the son of my uncle
(Tau). Behind our houses there is a common street, which
had been tried to be encroached many times by Ishwar's
family. Last time said street was unblocked with the
intervention of the previous panchayat. Four days earlier, my
3
sister is law (Bhabhi) and Ramesh Kumar got replaced the
karies of their old house, waste material of which was kept
back side in the street. Owing to keeping of this material in
the street, there was altercation between the two families,
since Ishwar was pressing for picking up the material at once.
Today on date 13.4.07 at about 7.15 AM Ishwar and Pardeep,
Sandeep s/o Ishwar and Krishana w/o Ishwar r/o same village
started abusing my sister in law Kaushalya. I, my mother
Harkaur, my brother Surinder and his wife Preeti tried to
console them that why they are abusing Kaushalya. Labours
have been called at 8.00 AM. We would then remove the
material, but on hearing so, they then were shouted and
Ishwar and his wife Krishana told their sons Pardeep and
Sandeep to teach a lesson for quarrelling with us and for
putting material in the street and to shoot them. On saying
so, Pardeep stood at his room with weapon. Then Sandeep
told to shoot them. Pardeep fired a shoot with his weapon to
Surender, which hit Surender at the left side of his head, with
that fire Surender fell down there and succumbed at the spot.
I took him to Government Hospital in my vehicle of my
brother, where the doctors declared him dead and dead body
was house in mortuary…..”
5. The post mortem was conducted on the body of the deceased –
Surender by Dr. S.P. Sharma, M.O., Civil Hospital, Sonepat (later
examined as PW-5 in the trial) who found the following ante-mortem
injuries:
“i. A penetrating lacerated wound over left temporal
areas of the skull of size 2.5 cm x 1.5 cm with inverted with a
collar of abrasion at its upper part and going posteronedialy
and downwards to right occipto parital area (on Probing)
oozing blood. On dissection the tract was penetrating through
the left temporal bone, brain covering i.e. dura and brain
matter up to the right occupatable lobe. The cranial cavity
was full of semi clotted blood. A metallic bullet was lying in
the right occipital lobe of brain with deformed shape. Bullet
was removed and sealed in a glass vial bearing two seals.
4
ii. Blood was coming out of mouth and both nostrils.
Rest of the organs are healthy and pale.”
6. After arrest, the statement of the accused – Pardeep led to the
recovery of the firearm. Said firearm and the projectile recovered from
the body of the deceased, among other things, were sent for analysis to
the Forensic Science Laboratory, Madhuban, Karnal, Haryana. The
relevant portion of the report which was placed on record in view of
Section 293 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and exhibited in the
trial was to the following effect:
“RESULT
1. The country-made pistol marked W/1 (chambered for .315"
cartridges) is defined in Arms Act 54 of 1959. Its firing
mechanism was found in working order.
2. The .315" fired bullet marked BC/1 has been fired from
country-made pistol marked and not from any other firearm
even of same make and bore, because every firearm has got
its own individual characteristic marks."
7. The prosecution examined 14 witnesses in support of its case.
PW-1, Rajbir Singh son of Sia Ram, PW-2 Kaushalya wife of Ramesh
Kumar, (Sister-in-Law of the deceased), and PW-3, Preeti wife of Late
Surender (widow of the deceased) were examined as eye-witnesses to the
occurrence. Their version was identical to that stated in the First
Information Report and nothing substantial could be drawn by the
Defence from their cross-examinations. It was, however, projected by the
5
Defence that accused-Pardeep had taken the deceased to the hospital for
medical attention and that his name figured in the Post Mortem Report
as well as in the Inquest Report.
8. Accepting the case of the prosecution, the Trial Court by its
judgment order dated 18.03.2009 found all the accused guilty of the
offences with which they were charged. It was observed that the common
intention stood proved from the fact that accused Ishwar, Krishana Devi
and Sandeep had exhorted accused-Pardeep and, on their instigation,
accused-Pardeep went to the roof of the house, armed with Pistol and
fired at the deceased.
9. The Trial Court, thus, convicted and sentenced all the accused to
suffer life imprisonment for having committed offences under Sections
302 read with 34 IPC and imposed fine in the sum of Rs.5,000/- each
with default sentence of six months. Accused-Pardeep was separately
convicted under Section 25 of the Arms Act, 1959 and was awarded
sentence of one year with the imposition of fine with a sum of Rs.500/-
with a default sentence of 10 days.
10. All the accused filed a common appeal being Criminal Appeal No.D372-DB of 2009, which was dismissed by the High Court vide its
judgment and order dated 30.05.2014. While confirming the view taken
6
by the Trial Court, the High Court dealt with the issue whether Pardeep
was present during the Inquest Proceedings and how his name had
appeared in the Post Mortem Report. Paragraph 30 of the judgment dealt
with these issues and finally, it was found by the High Court that the
presence of Pardeep in the Government Hospital, Sonepat was not at all
established and the defence taken by him stood falsified.
11. Krishana Devi being aggrieved by the order of conviction and
sentence approached this Court by filing Special Leave Petition (Crl.)
No.8789 of 2014, which was dismissed by this Court vide order dated
15.12.2014 as stated above.
12. Thereafter, the petitions preferred by the co-accused namely;
Sandeep, Pardeep, and Ishwar came up and this Court was pleased to
grant Special Leave to Appeal.
13. The Review Petition filed by Krishana Devi against the dismissal of
her Special Leave Petition was then ordered to be heard along with the
appeals preferred by co-accused.
14. In these circumstances, all four appeals are being considered by
us.
7
15. Mr. B. Adinarayan Rao and Mr. Siddhartha Dave, learned Senior
Advocates appearing for the appellants submitted:
(A) All the eyewitnesses came out with a parrot-like version and
considering the enmity between two sides, their version could not have
been relied upon.
(B) The presence of accused Pardeep at the Hospital was established
through the Inquest Report and the Post Mortem Report.
(C) It would be impossible to believe that if Pardeep was the assailant,
he would have taken the deceased for medical attention.
(D) The disclosure statement of accused-Pardeep as well as all the
relevant documents were attested by PWs 1, 2, and 3 and no independent
witness was associated with the recording of any such statement or
recoveries.
16. Mr. Deepak Thukral, learned Deputy Advocate General appearing
for the State submitted:
(A) The First Information Report was lodged within few hours of the
incident.
(B) The reasoning given by the High Court while rejecting the
submission about the presence of accused Pardeep was sound and
correct and did not call for any interference.
8
(C) The earliest version given by the witnesses was corroborated by the
medical evidence.
(D) The weapon of offence recovered at the instance of accused-Pardeep
was associated with the offence as per the report of the Forensic Science
Laboratory.
17. We have considered the rival submissions and have gone through
the record. In our view, the statements of the eyewitnesses are quite
cogent and consistent with the earliest version recorded in the form of
the First Information Report. The trajectory of the entry of the bullet as
found in the Medical Report is also quite consistent with the version that
the deceased was shot from a height i.e. the roof of the house.
18. Considering the material on record including the eyewitness’s
account as well as the corroborative pieces of material, it is firmly
established that the accused Pardeep fired the fatal shot from the roof of
the house. The involvement of accused-Pardeep is thus beyond any
doubt.
19. We now come to the role played by the other accused in the
transaction. The role ascribed to Ishwar and Krishana, the parents of
accused-Pardeep was of initial exhortation. The parents were stated to
have exhorted the sons; accused-Pardeep and accused-Sandeep to teach
9
a lesson to the deceased-Surender. It is upon such exhortation that
accused-Pardeep had gone inside, collected the firearm and reached the
rooftop; and while he was there at the rooftop, the crucial exhortation
came from the accused-Sandeep.
20. Thus, all three accused are said to have exhorted accused-Pardeep
but the exhortation given by accused-Sandeep was immediately before
the shot was fired and of a greater impact in as much as he had seen
accused-Pardeep at the rooftop along with the firearm and then made the
exhortation.
21. Considering the entirety of the circumstances, in our view, accused
Ishwar and accused Krishana Devi are entitled to benefit of doubt
whereas the involvement of accused Sandeep stands completely proved
beyond reasonable doubt.
22. We thus find that that the case of prosecution stands proved
against accused-Pardeep and accused-Sandeep and their appeals
deserve to be dismissed while the appeals preferred by accused-Ishwar
and Krishana Devi deserve acceptance.
23. Consequently, Criminal Appeal Nos.1613 and 1614 of 2018
preferred by accused-Sandeep and Pardeep respectively are dismissed
10
while Criminal Appeal No.1615 of 2018 preferred by accused Ishwar and
Criminal Appeal arising out of Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No.8789 of
2014 preferred by Krishana Devi are allowed. The accused Ishwar and
Krishana Devi be released forthwith unless their custody is required in
connection with any other offence.
24. Ordered accordingly.
…..……........................J.
(UDAY UMESH LALIT)
…...…….......................J.
(AJAY RASTOGI)
NEW DELHI,
AUGUST 27, 2021
