BALWANT SINGH AND ANR. ETC. ETC versus STATE OF HARYANA

Citation: [1994] 3 S.C.R. 136 · Decided: 18-03-1994 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: A.S. ANAND · Disposal: Disposed off

Judgment (excerpt)

A 
BALWANT SINGH AND ANR. ETC. ETC. 
1·. 
STATE OF HARYANA 
MARCH 18, 1994 
B 
[DR. AS. ANAND AND FA!ZAN UDDIN, .1.l.J 
!11dia11 Pe11a/ Code, l86(}--Sectio11s 302/34-Cm1victio11s 1111de1-Ap-
pn:cia1io11 of ei'idenc~Eye 1vitncsscs-lndepcndcnc and re!iable--<Jcu/ar les· 
ti111011y conoborated by medical evide11ce-F!R promptly lodged-Complicity 
C of accused proved beyond reaso11able doubt-I7zeir co11victio11s legally ms-
tainable. 
D 
Appellants, father and son along with their brothers were prosecuted 
for an offence of murder. The trial Court convicted one accused for an 
offence u/s 302 IPC and other three including appellants were convicted 
for the offences u/s 302/34 IPC. Each of the accused was sentenced to suffer 
imprisonment for life. In appeal, the High Court acquitted two co-accused 
by giving them benefit of doubt \\o'hile maintaining convit;tion and sentence 
of appellants. They filed an appeal on special leave being granted, against 
their conviction and sentence. The State and the complainant filed appeals 
E against the acquittal of two co-accused. 
F 
G 
According to the prosecution case, there \\'as pervious ehfuity and 
some litigation \\'as also pending between parties; that on the date of 
incident when PWS and deceased, were proceeding on foot, accused M 
armed with a gandasi, accused L armed with a jailley, appellants armed 
with a lathi each, came running from behind and assaulted deceased; that 
M and L inflicted injuries on the head of deceased with their respective 
weapons, on receipt of which he fell down and thereafter appellant and his 
son gave numerous lathi blo\\'S on the 11erson of' deceased; that on an alarm 
being raised by PW8, PWlO, who had his house at a distance of about 1 
km. front the place of occurrence rushed to the place of occurrence and all 
the four accused sped away; that PWS and PWlO then removed the 
deceased in an injured condition to the Primary Health Center; that SI 
PWll, on receipt of rukka proceeded to the Primary Health Center and 
on reaching there recorded the statement of PWS which formed the basis 
H of the first information report; that all the four accused later on sur· 
136 
BALWANTSINGll >: STATEOFllARYANA 
137 
rendered in the Court and \\'ere arrested; that on the disclosure statement A 
made by accused l'\I, a gandasi \\'as recoYered and on the disclosure 
statement of accused L, a jailley \\'aS recoYered, \\'hile la this \\·ere recovered 
on the disclosure statement made by appellants. 
The gr!iund ,;n which the High Court acquitted accused 1\1 and L was 
the alleged absence of any injury by the weapons alleged to have been 
carried and used by these accused . 
. Tiie appellants accused categorised the testimony of PW8 and PWlO 
B 
as unreliable and ·not trustworthy and argued that PW8 was a relation of C 
deceased and had been called from his home, at a far off place, to be a 
\litness because nobody in the locality, where the occurrence allgedly took 
place and from· where the blood stained earth was collected, was prepared 
to support the prosecution case regarding the alleged assault by the 
accused party; that the absence of blood stains on the clothes of PWS and 
PWIO, who deposed to having personally lifted and removed deceased in D 
an injured condition \lith Meeding injuries to hospital showed that they 
were in fact not present at the place of occurrence; that the medical 
evidence belied the ocular testimony inasmuch as none of the injuries, on 
the deceased could correspond be the weapons alleged to have been used 
by the accused part}; that the first information report bad been ante· dated E 
and ante·timed, there being no entry about the arrival of injured in the 
Primary Health Center; that witnesses in whose pres~nce recovery of 
gandasi was alleged to have been made in the disclosure statement of 1\1 
accused, had not been examined, the evidence relating to the 3IIeged 
recoyery of gandasi became doubtful and therefore, thC High Court was 
fully justified in recording an order of acquittal of 1\1 and L. 
F 
····The complainant as well as State submitted that· the promptness 
with which the first information ~eport had been lodged and the sequence 
of events deposed to by PWS and P\~IO showed that the prosecution had 
established the case against all the accused beyond a reasonable doubt; G 
that from the .,·idence of PW3 and the contents of rukkit, t.he presence of 
PW8 and PWlO at the time of occurrence stood established as they

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