JUDGMENT

Dr. B.S. Chauhan, J.—

1. This appeal has been preferred by the appellants against the judgment and order dated 31st August, 2005 of the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissing their appeals and affirming the conviction and sentence awarded by the Trial Court vide its judgment and order dated 8.1.2004 in Sessions Trial under Sections 302, 148, 149, 307, 364, 342, 506, 201, 120-B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (in short the ‘IPC’) and under Section 30 of the Arms Act, 1959 (in short the ‘Arms Act’) awarding life imprisonment and other sentences.

2. The facts and circumstances giving rise to this appeal are, that an First Information Report (in short the ‘FIR’) was lodged on 24th June, 2000 on the basis of a statement of Darshan Singh (PW-4) that he was living with his sister Gurcharan Kaur for the last 3= years at village Nandpur as his nephew Gurjeet Singh, son of his sister Gurcharan Kaur, had been murdered by Rattan Singh and Balbir Singh, close relatives of Gurcharan Kaur in 1997. On 23rd June, 2000 at about 10.00/11.00 p.m., when Darshan Singh (PW-4) was having his meal at his tube well after preparing his fields for plantation of paddy crop, about 30 persons armed with