JUDGMENT

Dalveer Bhandari, J.—

1. Leave granted.

2. This appeal is directed against the judgment of the Punjab & Haryana High Court dated 4.4.2008 delivered in Criminal Appeal No. 163-DB of 1999.

3. Brief facts which are necessary to dispose of the appeal are in nutshell as under:-

The appellant Gurmukh Singh in this appeal has challenged his conviction and sentence for the murder of Hazoor Singh.

4. According to the prosecution version, on 8.1.1997 in the morning, deceased Hazoor Singh had borrowed the tractor of Lal Singh and tiller of Gurbachan Singh. Gurmej Singh P.W.5, son of Hazoor Singh (deceased) was going along with Lal Singh to return the tractor at the Dera of Gurbachan Singh. On the way, accused Gurmukh Singh, son of Dayal Singh, accompanied by the co-accused Niranjan Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Manjit Singh armed with lathis, whose Dera was nearby came and stopped the tractor. The appellant raised a lalkara that Hazoor Singh and his son should not be allowed to pass through the passage of which there was a dispute between the parties. Hazoor Singh was following the tractor. He advised the appellant to desist from stopping the tractor on which the appellant gave a lathi