Judgment

BEG, J.:- This is an appeal by special leave filed by Kesar Singh, aged 23 years, who was convicted under Section 302 Indian Penal Code on three counts and sentenced to life imprisonment by an Additional Sessions Judge of Patiala for having committed the murders of three persons, namely, Gurbachan Singh, Karnail Singh and Dewan Singh, one after another, during the night between 20th and 21st June, 1970, in village Dhablan. On appeal against the conviction and a revision application by the State against the lesser penalty for murder, the High Court of Punjab and Haryana dismissed the appeal of Kesar Singh, but it allowed the revisions application of the State of Punjab enhancing the sentence of Kesar Singh to one of death.

2. The grounds given by the High Court for enhancing the sentence were: the motive was to avenge the murder of the appellant s brother-in-law Gurnam Singh committed about 7 or 8 years prior to the occurrence so that there could be no immediate provocation; the three murders were committed "in a very cold blooded and brutal manner when the deceased were sleeping on their cots", two shots from a 12 bore gun had been fired at each of three murdered men "indicating the determination to give no chance of survival to any one", "the time selected for the mirder was such that no possible help could be rendered to prevent the death of any of the three deceased and no obstruction could be possible to carry out the design of committing these murders". Before giving these reasons, quoted mostly in the words of the High Court itself, the High Court had relied on observations of this Court in Apren Joseph v. State of Kerala, = (1973 Cri LJ 185) :

"The determination of sentence in a given case depends on variety of considerations, the more important being, the nature of the crime, the manner of its commission, the motive which impelled it and the character and antecedents of accused."

3. Learned Counsel for the appellant has taken us through the evidence of the two eye-witnesses Gurdev Singh, P. W .3, and Nachhattar Singh, P. W. 4 whose testimony had been accepted wholly by the trial Court and the High Court about the murder of three men by the appellant singly, although the trail Court had disbelieved the very reason given for Gudeve Singh to wake up in time to see the murder of Gurbachan Singh, and, therefore, had acquitted the co-accused Kishori.

4. It may be mentioned here that Gurdev Singh, P.W.3, was shown to be sleeping on the roof of the house of his uncle Dewan Singh, from where he could see his cousin, Gurbanchan Singh, and brother Gurmel Singh, P.W.5, sleeping on the roof of the next house where Gurbachan Singh was murdered on a full moon night. The prosecution version was that, when Kesar Singh and the acquitted accused, Kishori, went up the stairs to the roof, Gurmel Singh, P.W.5, who was totally blind from birth, woke up and heard Kesar Singh, whom he recognised by vice, telling Kishori to catch hold of the blind man who was awake. He alleged that Kishori gave him two blows thereupon he cried out: "Mar Ditta Mar Ditta". It is these cries which are said to have awakened Gurdev Singh. There were two abrasions on the body of Gurmel Singh, one on the forehead and another on his wrist, indicating that he had fallen down and hurt himself. The trial Court had, very rightly, held that he must have got up and shouted only after the two shots had been fired at Gurbachan Singh.There was no point in assaulting him merely because he was awake. If that was done he was sure to raise a hue and cry and wake up others. Therefore, the prosecution version that Gurdev Singh, P. W. 3, had got up because of Gurmel Singh s cries and had then seen the appellant firing twice at Gurbachan Singh had to be discarded as too transparent an embellishment with an obvious purpose behind it. The High Court, however, had not analysed the evidence of any of the witnesses. It had observed rather mechanically;

"Both Gurdev Singh and Nachhattar S