Judgment

B.N. Agrawal, J.—Sohan Singh, the sole appellant in Criminal Appeal No. 805 of 2004 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the appellant’) along with accused Paramjeet Singh, Mohit Raza, Pradeep and Ashwani Kumar Mittal was tried and by judgment rendered by the trial court, they were acquitted of all the charges. Against the order of acquittal, State of Uttaranchal preferred an appeal before the High Court whereas Mahendra Pratap Singh Gill (PW 5), one of the injured, filed a revision application challenging the acquittal. The High Court upheld the order of acquittal in relation to accused Mohit Raza, Pradeep and Ashwani Kumar Mittal but reversed the same with regard to the appellant and accused Paramjeet Singh who have been convicted under Sections 147, 148, 302/149 and 307 of the Penal Code and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life. Paramjeet Singh did not move this Court whereas appellant Sohan Singh challenged his conviction which by special leave gave rise to Criminal Appeal No. 805 of 2004. The order of High Court granting acquittal to the aforesaid three accused persons has been challenged by PW 5 giving rise to Criminal Appeal No. 613 of 2005.

2. The short facts are that