Chattar Pal Singh vs State
2010 Latest Caselaw 570 Del

*       IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

%                      Judgment Reserved On: 27th January, 2010
                      Judgment Delivered On: 2nd February, 2010

+                   CRL.APPEAL NO.180/2003

       CHATTAR PAL SINGH               ......Appellant
                Through: Mr.Sumeet Verma, Advocate

                                Versus

       STATE                                  ......Respondent
                    Through:   Ms.Richa Kapoor, Advocate

       CORAM:
       HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PRADEEP NANDRAJOG
       HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SURESH KAIT

     1. Whether the Reporters of local papers may be
        allowed to see the judgment?

     2. To be referred to the Reporter or not?             Yes

     3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the
        Digest?                                        Yes

PRADEEP NANDRAJOG, J.

1. Vide impugned judgment and order dated

24.1.2003 appellant Chattar Pal Singh has been convicted for

the offence of having murdered his wife Laxmi Devi by firing at

her with a pistol. He has been sentenced to undergo

imprisonment for life and to pay a fine in sum of Rs.10,000/-;

in default of payment of fine he has been sentenced to

undergo simple imprisonment for a period of 5 months.

Appellant has also been convicted for the offence punishable

under Section 27 of the Arms Act for which offence he has

been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period

of 1 year and to pay a fine in sum of Rs.1,000/-; in default of

payment of fine he has been sentenced to undergo simple

imprisonment for a period of 2 months.

2. It is not in dispute that on 2.9.2000 at about 7:00

PM Smt.Laxmi Devi received gun-shot injury while she was

present at her matrimonial house bearing Municipal No.H-19,

Harkesh Nagar. It is further not in dispute that Smt.Laxmi Devi

was married to appellant Chattar Pal Singh for about 7-8 years

prior to her death and from the said wedlock two children

being a son and a daughter were born.

3. The learned Trial Judge has convicted the appellant

for the offence of murder on the basis of an oral dying

declaration made by the deceased to the police officials;

namely SI Sunil Mittal PW-15, HC Jagat Kumar PW-14, HC

Balwan Singh PW-3 and ASI Ramji Lal PW-2 who reached the

spot on getting information of the crime. The dying

declaration was made at the spot soon before the deceased,

then lying injured was removed in the PCR van by ASI Ramji

Lal PW-2. The recovery of a country made revolver Ex.P-1,

stated to be the weapon of offence, at the instance of the

appellant, pursuant to his disclosure statement Ex.PW-3/C has

also been held to be further incriminating evidence. Though, a

bullet was also recovered from the dead body of the deceased,

but the pistol and the bullet could not be linked as the striation

marks present on the bullet were insufficient for comparison.

However, as per the FSL report Ex.PW-15/D, the bullet

corresponded to the bullet of 8mm/.315" cartridge and could

have been fired through a country made pistol like the one

recovered at the instance of the appellant. For the purpose of

establishing a motive for the crime, the learned Trial Judge has

held that the testimony of the father of the deceased i.e. Shiv

Charan Singh PW-7 and brother of the deceased i.e. Ranbir

PW-8 prove a matrimonial dispute and discord between the

appellant and his wife and hence the motive for the husband

to kill the wife.

4. Process of criminal law was set into motion when at

7:15 A.M. on 2.9.2000 information was received at PS Okhla

Industrial Area about a gun-shot being fired in House No.H-19,

Harkesh Nagar, New Delhi and DD No.31 Ex.PW-12/A was

recorded. SI Sunil Mittal PW-15 was entrusted the

investigation of the DD and accompanied by HC Jagat Kumar

PW-14, HC Balwan Singh PW-3, he reached the spot. ASI Ram

Ji Lal PW-2, who was posted in the PCR van stationed near the

place of occurrence also reached there as his van received

said information over the wireless. Smt.Laxmi Devi was lying

injured in the house and upon being queried as to how she got

injured, she responded that her husband, appellant Chhattar

Pal fired at her. In the PCR van of ASI Ramji Lal, SI Sunil Mittal

removed Laxmi Devi to All India Institute of Medical Sciences,

where she was declared brought dead. SI Sunil Mittal collected

the MLC Ex.PW-10/A of the deceased. He prepared an

endorsement Ex.PW-15/A under the copy of DD No.31 and sent

the same for registration of an FIR through HC Jagat Singh.

5. On the same day, SI Sunil Mittal arrested the

appellant Chhattar Pal, interrogated him and recorded his

disclosure statement Ex.PW-3/C. Pursuant to his disclosure

statement, he got recovered a country made revolver

consisting of a live cartridge Ex.P-2 and an empty cartridge

Ex.P-3, which was seized vide memo Ex.PW-3/D.

6. On 3.9.2000, at 12:00 noon Dr.Sunil Kumar PW-11

conducted post-mortem on the dead body of Laxmi Devi and

prepared his report Ex.PW-11/A. He noted the following injury

on the person of the deceased:-

"(1) Firearm entry wound on the left side of the posterior chest wall placed in the 5th intercostal space 12 cm left to midline and 116 cm above the left heel, measuring 2 cm in length and 1 cm in breadth - cavity deep. Tattooing present.

Tract - The firearm missile has passed through upper border of the lower lobe after piercing through skin, subcutaneous tissue and muscle, then it went through whole thickness of upper lobe of left lung which came out at the apex; then it reached the left side of the neck causing laceration of left jugular vein anteriorly. There was haematour around."

7. Dr.Sunil Kumar also recovered a bullet from the

body. The post-mortem report records as under:-

"Bullet was recovered from right atrium. Bullet approached the heart through venous circulation."

8. It is obvious that the opinion qua the death of Laxmi

Devi was her dying due to haemorrhagic shock resulting from

the firearm injury.

9. SI Sunil Mittal sent the pistol recovered at the

instance of the appellant and the bullet recovered from the

dead body to FSL ballistics for comparison. As per the FSL

report Ex.PW-15/D, the country made pistol had an 8 mm bore

and the bullet recovered from the body of the deceased

corresponded to 8 mm cartridge but due to insufficient

striation marks no opinion could be given that the bullet was

fired from the firearm in question.

10. The appellant was put to trial and 15 witnesses

were examined by the prosecution. Relevant amongst those

are father of deceased i.e. Shiv Charan Singh PW-7 and

brother of deceased i.e. Ranbir PW-8 and SI Sunil Mittal PW-15,

HC Jagat Kumar PW-14, HC Balwan Singh PW-3 and ASI Ramji

Lal PW-2.

11. Shiv Charan Singh PW-7 deposed that deceased

was his daughter. She was married to appellant about 7 years

back and had two children; being a son and a daughter. After

2 to 4 years of her marriage, appellant started harassing the

deceased and started demanding money from her. Being fed

up of the harassment by the appellant the deceased left her

matrimonial house and stayed with them for a year. After

that, on assuring them that the deceased would not be

troubled the appellant took back the deceased to his house.

However, after sometime of her going back, the appellant

again started demanding money and threatening to harass the

deceased if the demands were not fulfilled. Within a few days

of PW-7 expressing his inability to fulfill the demands of the

appellant, he learnt about the death of his daughter.

12. Ranbir PW-8 deposed pari materia and in harmony

with his father.

13. SI Sunil Mittal PW-15 deposed that at about 7.15

P.M., on 2.9.2000 he was entrusted the investigation of DD

No.31. When he reached the spot H-19, Harkesh Nagar, he

found a lady lying in injured condition. Lady told him that her

husband had fired on her. In the meantime, PCR van also

reached the spot and he took the lady to All India Institute for

Medical Sciences, where the doctor declared him brought

dead. On being cross-examined, he stated that he received a

call at 7:15 P.M., and he reached the spot within 5 minutes of

the same. PCR van reached within a fraction of second after

his reaching there.

14. HC Jagat Kumar PW-14 deposed that on 2.9.2000,

he accompanied SI Sunil Mittal to H-19 Harkesh Nagar for

investigation of DD No.31. On reaching there they found a

lady lying injured. On enquiry she disclosed her name as

Laxmi Devi wife of Chhattar Pal Singh and told them that her

husband shot at her and thereafter fled away. PCR van also

reached the spot and SI Sunil Mittal removed Laxmi Devi to the

hospital, where she was declared brought dead. On being

cross-examined, he stated that they reached the spot within 5

minutes of their receiving information, and the PCR van

reached the spot immediately after their reaching.

15. HC Balwan Singh PW-3 deposed that at about 7.15

P.M., on 2.9.2000 on receipt of DD No.31, he accompanied SI

Sunil Mittal to H-19 Harkesh Nagar. They found a lady lying

injured there. On enquiry, she stated "mere pati Chhattar Pal

ne mujhe goli maar di". She disclosed her name as Laxmi

Devi. PCR van took her to the hospital where she was

declared dead.

16. ASI Ramji Lal PW-2 deposed that on 2.9.2000, he

was posted in PCR van. At about 7.15 P.M., on 2.9.2000, he

received information about a firing incident at H-19 Harkesh

Nagar, whereupon he reached said place. Chowki Incharge

along with staff also reached there. They found a lady lying

injured with a gun-shot injury, groaning in pain and learnt that

her name was Laxmi Devi wife of Chattar Pal Singh. The lady

told them that her husband Chhattar Pal had fired at her. He

removed the lady to the hospital in the PCR van, where the

lady was declared dead.

17. At the hearing of the appeal, referring to a decision

titled Pawan Kumar @ Sonu Vs. State Crl.A.No.30/2006

delivered on 27.2.2009 by a Division Bench of this Court of

which one of us, namely, Pradeep Nandrajog, J. was a Member,

counsel urged that the Medical Jurisprudence guides that the

collapsing of a lung of a person causes instant death of the

person. Counsel urged that in the instant case, since the

bullet travelled through the left lung to the left side of the

neck, the lung ought to have got punctured and resulted in the

instant death, thereby preventing the deceased from being

conscious to be able to make a dying declaration to anybody

who reached the spot soon after her receiving the bullet injury.

Counsel urged that in this view it is apparent that PW-2, PW-3,

PW-14 and PW-15 have stated incorrect facts.

18. In Pawan Kumar's case (supra) the issue of the

deceased in said case being conscious and in a position to

make an oral dying declaration to his wife came up for

consideration with reference to the testimony of the wife of the

deceased that she was present in her house which was about

500 meters away from the spot in the market where her

husband was fatally stabbed and information of the fight being

given to her by a small boy who came to her house. Holding

that it was apparent that the young boy would consume some

time to reach the house of the witness i.e. the wife of the

deceased, who would require further time to walk/run from her

house to the spot and that this would reasonably eat away 10

minutes to 15 minutes when the quarrel commenced, question

posed was whether the injured would be conscious at the time

when his wife reached him. Noting that injury No.1 had

pierced the right lung, injury No.2 had pierced the liver and 7

more injuries being injuries No.3 to 9 had pierced the

intestines resulting in excessive loss of blood in the lungs, the

liver and the small intestines, it was held that it was apparent

that the deceased could not have survived for the next 15

minutes, in any case so acute was the blood loss that it was

improbable that the injured was conscious. In the facts of the

said case medical jurisprudence was noted pertaining to the

collapse of the lungs and the resultant disability to speak.

19. The present case is clearly distinguished from the

aforenoted case cited by the counsel for the appellant. The

reason being, Laxmi Devi received only a single firearm injury.

The bullet entered her body through the left side of the chest

and piercing through the upper lobe of left lung, exited at the

apex of her lung and reached the left jugular vein on the left

side of her neck. The bullet was recovered from the right

atrium of the heart, and the post-mortem report clearly states

that the bullet approached the heart through venous

circulation. Obviously, the bullet could have reached the heart

through the venous circulation, only if the heart continued to

pump blood, till the bullet reached the heart. This, rules out

the deceased suffering an instant death, as had she died

instantaneously, the heart would have immediately stopped

pumping and the bullet could not have reached the heart.

20. In any case, we may note here that as per Modi‟s

„Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology‟ 23rd Edn. at page 821 it

is opined:-

"Wounds of the lungs may be immediately fatal from profuse haemorrhage, or from suffocation due to respeiratory embarrassmnent on account of the presence of blood in the pleural cavity or in the air- passages, or may result in death subsequently from septic pneumonia."

21. Clearly, there is no rule that a puncturing of the

lung would definitely lead to an instant death. Even in Pawan

Kumar‟s case (Supra), it was only with reference to the fact

that the deceased in said case had received in all 9 injuries, all

on vital parts of the body being lung, liver and intestines, that

it was held that it was unlikely that the deceased would have

survived for the next 5 to 10 minutes to be able to make a

dying declaration to his wife, on her arrival.

22. Having stated so, now the question arising for

consideration is that in the instant case for how long could the

heart have continued to pump. We note here, that both PW-15

and PW-14 have stated in their cross-examinations that they

reached the spot, within 5 minutes of their receiving

information. Now, the first information received at PS Okhla

Industrial Area was by way of DD No.31. Said DD merely

records about a firing incident having taken place. It does not

record as to who fired at whom. Clearly, whoever informed the

police station, had only heard the fire shot and without having

gone inside the house to check as to who had shot or who was

shot, had informed the police station. Thus, the information

must have reached the police post, immediately after the fire

was shot and as stated by PW-15 and PW-14, within 5 minutes

of receiving of information, they reached the spot. Thus, all

that requires to be seen is, could Laxmi Devi have survived for

this 5-7 minutes of the information being conveyed to the

police post and the police officials reaching there, so as to be

able to tell the said police officials that her husband had killed

her.

23. A reading of the post-mortem report evidences that

the bullet reached the left side of the neck causing laceration

of left jugular vein anteriorly, and thereafter through the

venous circulation, the bullet approached the heart. We have

gone through medical jurisprudence on Venous circulation and

jugular veins. From an article titled "A small internal Jugular

Vein" authored by B.R.Stickle and H.McFarlane, we find that

Jugular Veins are of two kinds: External Jugular Vein (EJV) or

Internal Jugular Vein (IJV). The EJV forms part of the superficial

venous system of the head and neck. With its tributaries it

drains the superficial structures of the face, scalp and

posterolateral neck. The IJV is part of the deep venous

drainage system of the head and neck and collects blood

chiefly from the brain, with a smaller contribution from

superficial parts of the face and anterior neck. A statistical

analysis was carried out with the aid of the Statistical Package

for The Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows, in which fifty

patients were studied of whom 19 were women and 31 were

men. The study was conducted only after anaesthetizing all

the patients. The results of the study show that mean IJV

diameter was 17.4 mm and mean EJV diameter was 9.3 mm.

There was no correlation between weight, height or neck size

and IJV diameter. However, there was a significant negative

correlation between EJV diameter and IJV diameter, meaning

that those who had EJV of diameter 7 mm or greater, had IJV of

less than or equal to 15 mm. Those who had EJV of diameter

less than 7 mm had an IJV of minimum 20 mm or greater.

24. From the afore-stated, we know that usually either

of the Jugular veins; be it internal or external, would be of at

least a diameter of 7mm.

25. Now, from the FSL report, Ex.PW-15/D, we know

that the bullet recovered from the body corresponded to a

bullet of 8mm/.315" cartridge. The measure 8 mm refers to

the diameter of the cartridge and the projectile, both of which

make a bullet. Whenever a fire is shot, the part of the bullet

that usually enters the body is the projectile and the cartridge

gets retained within the pistol or falls at the spot. Since

cartridge is the outer covering of the projectile, the projectile

ought to have a diameter less than the diameter of the

cartridge. Thus, assuming that the projectile which entered

the body was anything less than 8mm in diameter, we see

every possibility of the bullet having reached either of the left

IJV or EJV in the neck of the deceased, and from there of

reaching the right atrium of the heart through the circulation

of blood through veins.

26. Unfortunately, we do not know whether the vein

through which the bullet approached the heart was IJV or EJV.

But, be it either of these, we know that the mean EJV is 9.3

mm and the mean IJV is 17.4 mm. Thus, unless the deceased

fell in an extraordinary category, there is every possibility that

the bullet reached the heart, slowly through the venous

circulation and till it reached the heart, the deceased remained

alive.

27. We see no reason to hold that the deceased could

not have stayed alive and should have died an instant death.

Why should 4 police officers tell a lie? No motive has been

suggested for the same. We thus hold that the testimonies of

the police witnesses PW-2, PW-3, PW-14 and PW-15 are true

and the oral dying declarations made to them is sufficient

evidence to convict the appellant for the murder of his wife.

The motive for the appellant to do so also stands proved by

the testimony of PW-7.

28. We find no merit in the appeal.

29. The appeal is dismissed.

(PRADEEP NANDRAJOG) JUDGE

(SURESH KAIT) JUDGE FEBRUARY 02, 2010 mm