JUDGMENT

UNTWALIA, J.:—Balwant Singh, the sole appellant in this appeal, was convicted under Section 302 of the Penal Code and sentenced to death by the Trial Court. His conviction, and sentence have been confirmed by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. Special leave to appeal was granted by this Court limited to the question of sentence only. We have, therefore, to see whether on the facts of this case the High Court was right in confirming the death sentence imposed upon the appellant or was it a case where the lesser sentence of life imprisonment ought to have been awarded.

2. The appellant was aged about 60 years at the time of the occurrence. He was working as a Granthi of a Gurudwara in village Salihna District Faridkot. Mohan Singh the deceased was a member of the Managing Committee of the Gurudwara. He made certain complaints against the appellant to the President of the Managing Committee and asked for his removal from the post of the Granthi. The appellant, therefore, bore a grudge against the deceased. In the early hours of April 13, 1974 the appellant gave Karah Parshad of Granth Sahib to Mohan Singh mixing opium in it. As soon as Mohan Singh took the Parshad he felt s