JUDGMENT

Pattanaik, J.-The appellant was convicted by the learned Sessions Judge for the offence of murder under Section 302 IPC, on a finding that he shot at Surat Singh, Desh Raj, Lehna Singh and Ramesh, by means of his sten gun, on account of which, all these four people died. He was also found guilty under Section 307 IPC for having injured 12 other persons with the intention of killing them. For his conviction under Section 302 IPC, the learned Sessions Judge, awarded the extreme penalty of death. The conviction and sentence was assailed by the appellant in Criminal Appeal No. 261-DB of 1997 in the High Court of Punjab and Haryana and a Reference also had been made by the learned Sessions Judge under Section 366 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for confirmation, which was registered as Murder Reference No. 3 of 1996. Both these cases were heard together and the High Court of Punjab and Haryana by the impugned Judgment dated 11.7.1997, upheld the conviction of the appellant under Section 302 as well as under Section 307 IPC but so far as sentence is concerned, the High Court commuted the death sentence to imprisonment for life. Be it be stated, the appellant had also been conv