Punjab-Haryana High Court
Sachin Kumar vs State Of Haryana And Ors on 2 September, 2024
Author: Jasjit Singh Bedi
Bench: Jasjit Singh Bedi
Neutral Citation No:=2024:PHHC:114130-DB
CRM-A-2117-2019 (O & M)
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH
CRM-A-2117-2019 (O & M)
Date of decision: 02.09.2024
Sachin Kumar
...... Appellant(s)
V/s
State of Haryana and ors. ...Respondent(s)
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SUDHIR SINGH
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JASJIT SINGH BEDI
Present: Mr. Amaninder Preet, Advocate, as Amicus Curiae.
Mr. Dushyant Sharan, AAG, Haryana, for respondent No.1.
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JASJIT SINGH BEDI, J.
The present application under Section 378(4) of Cr.P.C. has
been filed for grant of leave to appeal against the judgment of acquittal dated
11.04.2019 passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Karnal.
2. In brief, the prosecution case is that on 30.06.2016 at 9:15 A.M.
S.I./SHO Manoj Kumar received information to the effect that on
29.06.2016 Amit son of Jagdish was admitted in Trauma Centre, Civil
Hospital, Karnal after a quarrel. After receiving the information SI Manoj
Kumar alongwith H.C. Mukesh Kumar reached Government Hospital,
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Trauma Centre, Karnal where the doctor had already referred the patient to
higher centre i.e. PGI. On the same day, SI Manoj Kumar alongwith H.C.
Mukesh reached Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32,
Chandigarh, and got information that injured Amit, who was admitted, vide
C.R No. 160620583, had already expired. After receiving this information,
S.1. Manoj Kumar alongwith H.C. Balraj and Constable Kuldeep went to
Sector 32, PGI Chandigarh and received a ruqa and thereafter, reached the
mortuary where the dead body of Amit Kumar was found lying. Sachin
Kumar was found present near the dead body, who got recorded his
statement to the effect that he hailed from village Rindal, P.S. Kunjpura
District Kamal, and he was serving in a private medicine company at
Yamuna Nagar. On 29.06.2016 at about 9.00 P.M. he came to know that his
cousin Amit son of Jagdish had been given knife blows and was admitted in
Karnal Trauma Centre. After receiving the information, he reached Trauma
Centre Karnal, where he met Naresh Kumar son of Jagdish Sharma, who
told him that he was going to village Baragaon for personal work and at
about 8.45 P.M. he received a telephonic call from Amit that six accused
persons had inflicted him the knife blows. He shifted Amit Kumar with the
help of other persons to Trauma Centre, Karnal and thereafter, he and his
family members met Amit and then Amit disclosed that when he was going
to his house after closing his shop in Sector 9, then, as he reached Rindal
Road from Baragaon, then, from the front side, his motor cycle was stopped
by six persons, who were riding on three motorcycles and that one of
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accused inflicted a DANDA blow on his head and the remaining accused
started inflicting knife blows on him whereupon he fell down in the fields.
He further disclosed that the accused persons inflicted the blows on the head,
trunk, abdomen and neck and thereafter, they fled away. Out of the above-
said persons, one of the accused was Jony son of Rameshwar and another
was Rameshwar Pandit, resident of village Rindal, who resides in Balaji
Temple Rindal, whereas the remaining four accused could not be identified
by him. Thereafter, he made a telephonic call to Naresh Pandit, who shifted
him to the hospital. The motive behind the occurrence was that the wife of
Amit, his Bhabhi namely, Pinki, used to go to the temple and by using Black
Magic the accused Jony took her under his control. As they objected to the
same, then Pinki had gone to her parental house and came back after about
10-12 months. Prior to that, accused Jony Pandit had come to meet Pinki in
the night and for that a Panchayat was also held and the matter was got
compromised. Due to the above-said fact, accused Jony and his father
Rameshwar Pandit were having a grudge against him. Accused Jony had
also threatened him with dire consequences. As accused Jony and his father
Rameshwar had inflicted knife blows causing serious injuries to Amit, they
were to be arrested and punished accordingly. After recording his statement,
it was duly read over and explained to the complainant Sachin and in token
of its correctness, Sachin put his signatures in English. After obtaining MLR
bearing No. AB/187/016/ KCGM, offences punishable under Sections 148,
149, 342, 302 and 506 IPC were found to have been made out and a ruqa
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was sent to Police station through Constable Kuldeep, on the basis of which,
the formal FIR was registered. Copy of special reports were sent to Senior
Police Officers and Ilaqa Magistrate. Thereafter, the FSL team was called on
the spot and SI/SHO alongwith his colleagues conducted the proceedings
under section 174 Cr.P.C. and thereafter, the law was set into motion.
During the course of further investigation, post-mortem on the
dead body was got conducted. Inquest proceedings under section 174 Cr.P.C.
were conducted. Rough site-plan of the place of occurrence was prepared at
the spot and thereafter, the accused persons were arrested and their
disclosure statements were recorded. Recovery memos in pursuance to the
disclosure statements were also prepared and the sketches of BINDA and
knife were also prepared. The case history was received from the
Government Medical College, Sector 32, Chandigarh. A rough site-plan of
the place of occurrence was prepared. Call details were collected. Scene of
crime visit report was prepared and rough site-plans of the place of recovery
of articles at the instance of accused persons were also prepared. Sanction of
prosecution was also obtained. Statements of witnesses under sections 161
Cr.P.C. were recorded. After completion of investigation, the challan was
prepared and submitted in the Court.
3. As the case was triable by the Court of Sessions, the case was
committed to the said Court and the charges came to be framed under
Sections 148, 149, 342, 302 and 506 IPC.
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4. To prove its case, the prosecution examined PW-1 Rajbir Singh
Patwari, PW-2 Babu Ram, PW-3 H.C.Surender Kumar, PW-4 H.C.Balraj
Singh, PW-5 Sachin Kumar, PW-6 Dr.Ashish Verma, PW-7 Naresh Kumar,
PW-8 H.C. Rishi Pal, PW-9 Rajesh Kumar, PW-10 H.C. Rajesh Kumar, PW-
11 Dr. Harvinder Singh, PW-12 Inspector Manoj Kumar, PW-13 Bheera
Ram, PW-14 EHC Santar Pal, PW-15 S.I. Surender Singh, PW-16 Parvesh
Kumar, PW-17 C. Parmod Kumar and PW-18 Dr. Surjit Kumar, Senior
Scientific Officer, and tendered the following documents.
Sr. No. Exhibits Documents
1. Ex.P-1 FSL Report
2. Ex.P-2 Site Plan
3. Ex. P-3 Demarcation memo
4. Ex.P-4 Sketch of knife
5. Ex.P-5 Recovery memo of knife
6. Ex.P-6 Recovery memo
7. Ex.P-7 Recovery memo
8. Ex.P-8 Demarcation memo
9. Ex.P-9 -Ex.P-13 Disclosure statements
10. Ex.P-14 -Ex. P-18 Recovery memos
11. Ex.P-19 Statement of Sachin Kumar
12. Ex.P-20 Copy of MLR
13. Ex P-21 Ruqa
14. Ex.P-22 PMR
15. Ex.P-23 Endorsement
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16. Ex.P-24 Statement of Naresh Kumar
17. Ex.P-25 Endorsement
18. Ex.P-26-P-28 Disclosure Statements
19. Ex. P-29-P-30 Rough Sketches of wooden Binda
20. Ex.P-31 & P-33 Applications
21. Ex.P-32 PMR
22. Ex.P-34 Police Proceedings
23. Ex.P-35 Inquest Proceedings
24. Ex.P-36 Site plant
25. Ex.P-37 & P-38 Call details
26. Ex.P-39 Recovery memo
27. Ex.P-40 Crime scene visit report
28. Ex.P-41 Disclosure statement
29. Ex.P-42-P-45 Site Plants of places of recovery
5. Based on the evidence led, the private respondents No.2 to 6
came to be acquitted of the charges framed against them.
6. The learned counsel for the applicant contends that there was
sufficient evidence on record to establish the guilt of the respondent-accused
and the Trial Court had erred in acquitting them of the charges framed
against them. The judgment of acquittal had been recorded on the basis of
conjectures and surmises and on the basis of presumptions. In fact, the
evidence led was sufficient to establish the culpability of the respondents.
He, therefore, prays that the leave to appeal be granted.
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7. The learned counsel for the respondent No.1-State while
supporting the case of the applicant/complainant contends that the offence
was established beyond reasonable doubt inasmuch as the medical evidence
was consistent with the prosecution case and the recoveries of weapons had
also been effected. Therefore, leave to appeal ought to have been granted.
8. We have heard the learned counsel for the applicant and the
State and have gone through the record.
9. In order to establish the guilt of the accused, the prosecution
examined as many as 18 witnesses in this case. The present case is based on
circumstantial evidence and prosecution was duty bound to prove that all the
above-said accused had caused the death of Amit by hatching a criminal
conspiracy and with their common intention had caused the death of Amit.
The most important witness in this case was PW-7 Naresh Kumar son of
Jagdish to whom a telephonic message was received that Amit had suffered
injuries with a knife on Rindal Road and Naresh reached on the place of
occurrence and shifted Amit to Trauma Centre, Kanal. He categorically
deposed that at that time Amit was unconscious and he did not disclose
anything about the incident and even this witness refused to identify any of
accused in the Court. The prosecution declared this witness hostile and the
witness denied his statement Ex.P-24 but the counsel for the accused
re-cross-examined this witness who again stated that he could not tell who
had informed him telephonically. When he reached on the spot, blood was
oozing out from the injuries of Amit who was lying in the field in an
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unconscious condition and was not in a position to speak or to utter any
word and even in the hospital, the condition of injured was the same and he
was not in a position to speak anything. He further said that he had
accompanied the injured to Chandigarh and even on the way he remained
unconscious and during that period also he did not utter any word nor was he
in a condition to speak to anyone.
10. Dr. Ashish Verma PW-6 in his cross-examination categorically
stated that the brother of deceased Amit namely, Rajesh, resident of village
Rindal, was alongwith him at the time of medical examination. At the time
of examination, the patient was disoriented, which means that the patient
was not responding to commands. He further stated that the patient was not
in a position to speak when he was medico-legally examined and due to that
reason he did not disclose to him as to who caused injuries to him. The
patient was semi-conscious and dis-oriented, so, there was no question of his
speaking to anybody. Ruqqa was sent under his supervision and till the time
the patient was dis-oriented and semi-conscious and in a state of shock
because of which he was not in a position to speak at all. Some relatives of
the injured had come to the Trauma Centre but at that time also the condition
of the patient was critical and he was unable to speak and that is why he was
referred to a higher centre. The patient was not in a position to recognize
anybody nor could he talk to anybody coming to see him as long as he
remained in the hospital at Karnal. The patient had arrived in the hospital at
9-9.15 P.M. and soon after he was taken to the OT for applying stitches.
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During that first treatment, the condition of patient was critical without any
improvement and that is why he was referred to a higher centre for proper
management.
11. In view of the statements of PW-6 Dr. Ashish Verma and PW-7
Naresh Kumar, statement of PW-2 Babu Ram can be seen according to
which he was told by Naresh that he (Naresh) received a call from Amit that
he has been given injuries by six persons, who were on three motorcycles.
They also gave DANDA blows on his head and thereafter, gave knife blows
and he fell down in the fields. After receiving this message, he (Babu Ram)
met Amit who disclosed that six persons had attacked him out of which he
could recognize Jony son of Rameshwar and Rameshwar. The police after
investigation declared Rameshwar as innocent. PW-2 Babu Ram admitted
that some unknown person had made a call to Rajesh and not deceased
Amit. This witness also tried to improve his version by saying that Amit was
crying due to pain because of the injuries throughout from Karnal to
Chandigarh and they had left Karnal at about 10:15 PM. for Chandigarh and
Amit was in senses and had been talking to them but again this version is
contradictory to the statement of Naresh Kumar, the material witness in this
case, who had categorically stated that on the way from Karnal to
Chandigarh, the patient was unconscious and his condition was very critical
and he was not in a position to speak to anybody. PW-2 is not the eye-
witness and he was told about the occurrence by PW-7 Naresh but PW-7
Naresh has already resiled from his statement. So, there are material
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contradictions in the statement of PW-2, which are not in consonance with
the prosecution case.
12. Similarly, the statement of PW-9 Rajesh Kumar that his brother-
Amit was naming the accused is totally contrary to the statement of PW-6
Dr. Ashish Verma and PW-7 Naresh Kumar as per which the deceased was
not in a position to speak.
13. As regards the recovery of the weapons of offence are
concerned, Inspector Manoj Kumar-PW-12 stated that the knife recovered
was blood stained. However, as per the report of the FSL, no blood could be
detected on the said knife. Interestingly, according to the prosecution
version two knives were taken into possession, i.e. one from the place of
occurrence and the other was recovered in pursuance to the disclosure
statement of accused-Jony. However, only one knife was produced before
the Court which was not blood-stained and was admitted to be a new one.
Similarly, the danda purportedly to be recovered at the instance of accused-
Ankit did not have any specific identification marks and was one that could
be easily procured in the market. Further, no person was joined in the
investigation at the time of the recovery of the danda making the entire
recovery process doubtful.
14. Further, there is no evidence to suggest that any call was made
from the mobile phone of the deceased. Some unidentified person had made
a call whose voice could not be identified by any of the prosecution
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witnesses. Thus, the prosecution version on this aspect also becomes
doubtful.
15. The motive of the murder of Amit, which has been sought to be
proved by the prosecution is that all the accused with their common
intention alongwith Pinki caused the murder of Amit but as per the evidence
available on the file nothing has been proved that accused Jony or his father
Rameshwar were having any knowledge of Black Magic and no villager had
ever moved any complaint against the accused Jony or his father to the
police or to the Gram Panchayat of the village.
16. So far as the illicit relation of Jony with Pinki are concerned,
although it has been alleged by PW-2 Babu Ram and PW-9 Rajesh Kumar
that Pinki was under the influence of Black Magic, used to visit Bala Ji
temple and fell in love with accused Jony and one day Jony was seen in the
house of Pinki for which Amit had questioned him and one Panchayat was
convened in which Jony had begged pardon and due to that he was having a
grudge against Amit and his family, however, not even a single person of the
Panchayat who attended that Panchayat for that complaint or even a Panch,
Sarpanch, Nambardar, Chowkidar or any relative of complainant or the
relative of accused Pinki who had attended the Panchayat appeared before
the Court to say that Pinki was having any relation with Jony. So, the
motive of murder could not be established in this case.
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17. As to how an appeal against a judgment of acquittal is to be
dealt with, the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Kallu @ Masih & Ors. Vs. State
of Madhya Pradesh 2006(1) RCR (Criminal) 427 has held as under:-
" 8. While deciding an appeal against acquittal, the power of
the Appellate Court is no less than the power exercised while
hearing appeals against conviction. In both types of appeals,
the power exists to review the entire evidence. However, one
significant difference is that an order of acquittal will not be
interfered with, by an appellate court, where the judgment of the
trial court is based on evidence and the view taken is
reasonable and plausible. It will not reverse the decision of the
trial court merely because a different view is possible. The
appellate court will also bear in mind that there is a
presumption of innocence in favour of the accused and the
accused is entitled to get the benefit of any doubt. Further if it
decides to interfere, it should assign reasons for differing with
the decision of the trial court."
18. In view of the aforementioned discussion and keeping in view
the law laid down in Kallu @ Masih & Ors. Case (supra), we find no reason
to interfere with the well reasoned judgment of acquittal dated 11.04.2019
passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Karnal. Therefore, the application
for seeking grant of leave to appeal stands dismissed.
( JASJIT SINGH BEDI ) ( SUDHIR SINGH )
JUDGE JUDGE
September 02, 2024
sukhpreet Whether speaking/reasoned : Yes/No
Whether reportable : Yes/No
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