Judgment

SHAH, J. :

The appellant Kirpal Singh and his two brothers Arjun Singh and Sarwan Singh, were tried by the Sessions Judge, Pilibhit for causing the death of one Karam Singh with gunshot injuries in the evening of March 26, 1961 at Village Shanti Nagar. The Sessions Judge acquitted Arjun Singh and Sarwan Singh and convicted the appellant Kirpal Singh of the offence charged against him and sentenced him to suffer the penalty of death subject to confirmation by the High Court. The High Court of Allahabad confirmed the order of conviction and sentence. With special leave, Kirpal Singh has appealed to this Court.

2. The case for the prosecution was as follows:

The appellant and his father-in-law Rakkha Singh were refugees from West Pakistan. A block of agricultural land, allotted by the Government to Rakkha Singh and the appellant was partitioned but no boundary marks were erected on the line dividing the lands. In December 1960 there was a dispute between Rakkha Singh on the one hand and the appellant and his brothers on the other about the harvesting of sugarcane planted in the land. This dispute was settled on the intervention of one Sardar Ajit Singh, and Rakkha Singh agreed to