Full Judgment
Criminal Appeal No.463-DB of 2009 (O&M) -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Crl. Appeal No.463-DB of 2009 (O&M) Date of Decision: September 16, 2013. Nafe Singh ..Appellant(s) Versus State of Haryana ...Respondent(s) CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.JEYAPAUL HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE ANITA CHAUDHRY1 Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment?. Yes/No 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not?. Yes/No 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the digest?. No Present: Mrs. Anju Arora, Advocate for the appellant. Mr. Dhruv Dayal, Deputy Advocate General, Haryana for the respondent-State. ***** ANITA CHAUDHRY, J.
1. The appellant was convicted in FIR No.88 dated 13.05.2008, registered at Police Station Pillukhera (Jind) for commission of offence punishable under Section 302 IPC by the then Sessions Judge, Jind vide its judgment of conviction dated 03.02.2009 and order of sentence dated 07.02.2009. He was sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life along with a fine of ` 10,000/-. In default of payment of fine, he was to further undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one year. Sunil 2013.09.23 14:20 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Criminal Appeal No.463-DB of 2009 (O&M) -2- 2. Before we dwell into the merits of the appeal, the facts which are necessary for disposal of the appeal may be set out. It is a case where the father had done to death his own son in the house which is considered a safe haven. The son objected to his father's addiction. The complaint was made by Balkar Singh, son of the appellant. He works as a mechanic in a tractor shop. The occurrence took place at 12:00 noon on 13.05.2008. Balkar Singh received a telephone call from his uncle, Shekhar around 1:30/2:00 P.M. He asked him to return to the house immediately as an incident had taken place. He reached home and found his brother Balraj lying dead. There were injuries on the face, cheek. He was soaked in blood. Bimla Devi, mother of the complainant told Balkar Singh that Nafe Singh had killed Balraj when she had gone out of the house to answer the call of nature. On her return, she found Nafe Singh coming out of the house carrying an axe in his hand. The matter was reported to the police. The FIR was registered at 5:10 P.M. Nafe Singh was arrested on the same evening. He suffered a disclosure Ex.PK and got the axe recovered. It was sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory, Madhuban who detected blood on the axe. On completion of investigation, a report was laid against the appellant under Section 302 IPC.
3. Charge was framed against the appellant under Section 302 IPC to which he pleaded not guilty and claimed trial. Sunil 2013.09.23 14:20 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Criminal Appeal No.463-DB of 2009 (O&M) -3- 4. The prosecution besides the official witnesses examined Bimla - PW6 who had seen Nafe Singh coming out of the house. He was carrying an axe immediately after the occurrence. She had also spoken about the motive. PW7 - BalKar Singh spoke about the information given to him by his uncle on the telephone as well as about the information given by his mother. He had also spoken about the motive and the conduct of his father. Shekhar - PW8 deposed that on receipt of information, he went to the house of Nafe Singh and found the dead body of Balraj and he immediately informed Balkar Singh. PW9 - Dhanpat Singh, brother of Nafe Singh appellant had reached the house after receipt of information. He had identified the dead body. PW10 - Krishan is a witness to the disclosure statement suffered by the appellant and to the recovery of the axe. Parveen Kumar, Record Keeper - PW2 brought three files relating to separate FIRs registered against the appellant under the Punjab Excise Act. He stated that in all the three cases Nafe Singh was convicted and sentenced. Dr. Rajesh Gandhi - PW3 had carried out the postmortem examination on the dead body of Balraj Singh and had noted the following injuries:- 1. Incised wound of size 10 x 4 cms x bone deep on left side of forehead, placed horizontally going from midline to left side and lying on eyebrow and left eye. Sunil 2013.09.23 14:20 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Criminal Appeal No.463-DB of 2009 (O&M) -4- On dissection, underlying bone was found fractured, eyes were missing from socket. Clotted blood was present in cranial cavity.
2. Incised wound of size 6.4 x 0.7 cms oral cavity deep was present, 2.2 cms below injury no.1 and horizontally placed.
3. Incised wound of size 14 x 2.2 cms x oral cavity deep was present just below injury No.2 on left cheek and nose. On dissection, mandible was found fracture and nasal bone was also found fracture. Clotted blood was present.
4. Incised wound of size 14 x 2.8 cms x bone deep was present below injury No.3. Clotted blood was present. On dissection, upper jaw was found fractured into many pieces and on fragment was lying outside. Injury was present on left side of face, front and little on right side.
5. Incised wound 13 x 3 cms x bone deep was present on left side of face and 3 cms below injury no.4. Clotted blood was present. Underlying mandible and lower jaw were found fractured.
6. Incised wound of size 6 x 2 complainant x muscle deep was present on left lateral side of neck, 3 cms lateral to adam's apple, lying horizontally. Clotted blood was present. On dissection, some muscle fibers were cleanly cut.
7. Incised wound of size 2 x 1 cm x bone deep was present on left upper chest over clavicular area 6 cms lateral to midline on left side. Clavicle was found fractured.
8. Incised wound of size 2.5 x 0.9 cms x depth (?.) was present on chest, 3 cms lateral on Sunil 2013.09.23 14:20 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Criminal Appeal No.463-DB of 2009 (O&M) -5- midline on left side and 3 cms below upper end of sternum. On dissection, the wound was found going into chest cavity and there was incised wound on upper part of left lung measuring 1 x 0.5 cms. Approximately 250 ml. Of blood was present in cavity. The cause of death was stated to be shock and hemorrhage as a result of injuries disclosed in the postmortem report which were ante mortem in nature and were sufficient to cause death.
5. After the close of the evidence, the incriminating evidence was put to the accused in his statement recorded under Section 313 Cr.P.C., he pleaded false implication. In defence, he examined his sister Premo Devi DW1 who deposed that Nafe Singh was a good human being and did not drink.
6. The trial Court convicted the appellant and sentenced him to the punishment mentioned herein before.
7. We have heard the submissions made on behalf of both the sides and with their assistance have minutely examined the record.
8. It was contended on behalf of the appellant that there is no eye-witness to the occurrence and Balraj was lying on a wooden cot which was placed near the wall and if the boy was murdered in the room, the wall would have some blood stains. It was urged that the clothes of the appellant were not blood stained neither he was under the influence of liquor nor he was got medically examined and Sunil 2013.09.23 14:20 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Criminal Appeal No.463-DB of 2009 (O&M) -6- the police had not lifted any finger prints from the axe. It was urged that the record produced by the prosecution with respect to his past record relate to convictions recorded decades ago and the appellant had been sentenced to imprisonment till the rising of the Court and for possessing liquor of small quantity. It was contended that the postmortem report would show that some digested food was found in the stomach of deceased which goes to show that the occurrence did not take place at the time indicated by the prosecution and virtually it was a case of no evidence. Per contra, the submissions of the counsel representing the State was that though the case was based upon circumstantial evidence but the prosecution story was supported by the statement given by the wife of the appellant who had seen him emerging out of the room immediately after the occurrence and he was carrying an axe which later on he got it recovered from his hut. It was urged that the appellant used to drink excessively which was objected to and when the mother had left the house to ease herself, Nafe Singh killed the son with an axe and the number of injuries noted by the medical officer go to show that the appellant had brutally assaulted his son.
9. The case of the prosecution is based upon circumstantial evidence. The incident had occurred in the house during the day. The report was lodged within two hours of the incident. There is no delay in reporting the Sunil 2013.09.23 14:20 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Criminal Appeal No.463-DB of 2009 (O&M) -7- matter. It is the son of the appellant who reported the matter to the police. Balkar Singh was called to the house by his uncle Shekhar. Bimla Devi, mother of the complainant had told him about the incident. The motive has also been spoken off in the First Information Report. There is no reason to doubt the authenticity of the FIR nor there is delay in reporting the incident. The trial Court had relied upon the testimony of Bimla PW6. She is wife of the appellant. She has spoken about the motive and the circumstances. She had stated that she had left the house to ease herself and on her return, she saw her husband emerging out of the house and he was carrying an axe. Immediately on entering the room, she noted that her son was lying dead and who had received several injuries. To support her version, Balkar Singh complainant has spoken about the motive. The evidence produced by the prosecution shows that Nafe Singh had been convicted in Excise Act cases for possessing liquor. The family has spoken about his addiction which was the cause of the disagreement. The appellant did not like his son questioning him regarding his addiction.
10. The family members i.e. the wife and the son have spoken about the behaviour of the appellant. They have accused him of hurling abuses under the influence of liquor. The entire family would not have turned against the appellant unless there was genuinely some complaint. No son would lodge a false complaint against his father. The family Sunil 2013.09.23 14:20 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Criminal Appeal No.463-DB of 2009 (O&M) -8- had no enmity. No one would have dared to enter the house during day time without anyone noticing his presence. Nafe Singh did not state that he was not present in the house that day or he was at a different place at the time of the incident.
11. A perusal of the injuries show that they are on the vital part of the body. Balraj would not have got a chance to save himself as he was sleeping when he was attacked. It would have immobilized him. Blood was found splattered all over the place. The clothes were soiled with blood. The bed- sheet and the bichhona had blood stains.
12. The accused was arrested the same evening and during interrogation he suffered a disclosure and got the axe recovered. The disclosure statement and thereafter, the recovery of the axe by the accused completely nails the accused. The axe was sent for scientific examination to the FSL, Madhuban. The report Ex.PH clearly states that the axe had blood stains. PW3 Dr. Rajesh Gandhi stated that possibility of injuries on the dead body by the axe recovered from the accused cannot be ruled out.
13. The presence of the accused with the axe had been established from the statement of Bimla PW6 and her deposition against his husband is important. Bimla had seen the deceased lastly in the company of the appellant. Bimla had left the house for a short period and when she returned she found the accused coming out of the house with the weapon. He in fact ran away from the house. Sunil 2013.09.23 14:20 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Criminal Appeal No.463-DB of 2009 (O&M) -9- 14. All the witnesses which include the wife and the son have unassailingly deposed against the accused and have supported the prosecution case. The chain of circumstances is complete and unerringly point towards the guilt of the accused. The trial Court had rightly convicted the appellant. The judgment of the lower Court is affirmed and the appeal is dismissed. Lower Courts record be sent back. (M.JEYAPAUL) (ANITA CHAUDHRY) JUDGE JUDGE September 16, 2013 sunil Sunil 2013.09.23 14:20 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document