LexHARI SINGH AND ANR. versus STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH
Open in Lexace · Ask the AI about this caseJudgment (excerpt)
[2010] 14 (ADDL.) S.C R. 1079 HARi SINGH AND ANR. V. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH (Criminal Appeal No. 1312 of 2004) DECEMBER 16, 2010 [HARJIT SINGH BEDI AND CHANDRAMAULI KR. PRASAD, JJ.] A B Penal Code, 1860: s.302134 - Murder - Two brothers equipped with a lathi and a country made pistol, entered the C house of victim at night - One of the accused fired a shot at the victim from a close range resulting in his death - Conviction by courts below - Appeal against conviction - One of the accused died during pendency of appeal, therefore, his appeal abated - Held: Deposition of eye-witnesses indicating Q previous business rivalry between the deceased and the accused and threats by accused to the deceased - Both the parties were well known to each other - While running away, the two accused passed within an arm's length of the eye- witnesses - No reason to doubt the testimony of eye- witnesses who stated to have identified the accused in torch light - Merely because the torch was not taken into possession would not mean that the statements of the eye witnesses were not credible ··- Spontaneity of the FIR giving all relevant details fortified the prosecution story - The medical evidence clearly suggested the use of the pistol from point blank range - Conviction upheld - Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 - s.394. E F The prosecution casa was that the deceased had purchased a brick kiln three months prior to the incident. G The accused was also running a brick kiln nearby. Few days prior to the incident, the accused and his brother clandestinely removed a large number of bricks from the 1079 H. 1080 S~PREME COURT REPORTS (2010] 14 (ADDL.) S.C.R. A kiln of the deceased. When the deceased questioned the said ac~, they told him that they would not allow his kiln to run. On the night of the incident, the deceased was sleepin1g in the verandah of his house. The accused armed with a lathi and his brother with a country made B pistol ~ntered the house of the deceased and the latter fired a shot at the deceased. On hearing the sound, PW- 1, the son of the deceased, and PW-5 flashed a torch and also r~ised a cry attracting PW-6 and another person to the spot. These witnesses also saw the accused running c out of the verandah towards the lane carrying their weapons. PW-1 proceeded to the police station and lodged the FIR at 5.45 p.m. The trial court convicted both the accused under Sections 302/34 IPC on the basis of evidence of PW-1 D and PW-5 and sentenced them to life imprisonment. The High Court endorsed the testimony of PWs 1 and 5 as well as of PW-6, the third eye witness, whose testimony had not been accepted by the trial court, and dismissed the appeal. The instant appeal was filed challenging the E order of the High Court. During the pendency of the appeal, one of the accused died. His appeal was, accordingly, disposed of as having abated under Section 394, Cr.P.C. F Dismissing the appeal, the Court HELD: PW-1 had very categorically deposed about the b1-1siness rivalry that existed between the accused and the deceased and their conflicting interests as both the kilns were in close proximity to each other. It also G came in the prosecution evidence that the accused was holdinfj out threats to the deceased and that the threat was carried out on the day in question. The perusal of the site plan revealed that while running away, the accused had passed within an arms length of PW-1 and H HARi SINGH AND ANR v. STATE OF UTTAR 1081 PRADESH PW-5. As per the evidence on record, the night of the A murder was a moonless one but there is no reason to doubt the testimony of the eye witnesses who stated that they had identified the accused in the torch light, more particularly, as both the parties belonged to the same village and were well known to each other. Merely B because the torch was not taken into possession by the ASI would not mean that the statements of the eye witnesses were not credible. The spontaneity of the FIR giving all relevant details fortified the prosecution story. The prosecution story was that the accused had fired at c the deceased with a country made pistol from a very close range. The doctor PW-2, who had conducted the post-mortem examination found one wound of entry about 3 cm x 2.5 cm with blackening and charring and also recovered 160 pellets and three wads from inside the 0 dead body. The medical evidence clearly sugges
Excerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.