Judgment :

This appeal by way of special leave arises out of the judgment and order dated 22.07.2004 in Criminal Appeal No. 481 of 1999 passed by a Division Bench of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana whereby the High Court had allowed the appeal filed by the accused–respondent Rajinder Singh setting aside his conviction and sentence of life imprisonment and fine under Section 302 IPC and under Section 27 of the Arms Act, by giving him the benefit of doubt and had also dismissed the appeal against acquittal filed by the appellant-State against the acquittal of Kuldip Singh and Rachhpal Singh, by the Sessions Judge, Faridkot.

2. The brief facts leading to this appeal are as follows:

Madan Lal – P.W. 2, the father of the deceased – Harinder Kumar was the co-owner of brick kilns in villages Madooke and Ajitwal with Rajinder Singh, respondent herein. About one year prior to the occurrence, a settlement had been arrived at between the parties aforesaid and the brick kiln in village Madooke had fallen to the share of Madan Lal and the one in Ajitwal to the share of Rajinder Singh. As per the settlement, a truck bearing registration No. PJB 2155 had also come to the share of Rajinder Singh who was to pay a sum of Rs. 1,68,000/- to Madan Lal in lieu thereof. On 30th November, 1995, Madan Lal and his son Harinder Kumar, the deceased along with P.W. 3 – Shamsher Singh and P.W. 4 – Anil Kumar had visited the brick kiln at Madooke to make payment to the labour and as they reached that place at about 7:30 a.m., they observed that bricks were being loaded onto a tractor trolley by Rajinder Singh, and Kuldip Singh (armed with shotguns) assisted by four or five persons. As soon as the complainant party intervened Rachhpal Singh who too was present, raised a lalkara calling on Rajinder Singh to fire on the complainant party. Rajinder Singh thereupon fired a shot which hit Harinder Kumar near his left eye. Rachhpal Singh and Kuldip Singh thereafter fired shots towards the complainant party but on an alarm raised by the latter, the accused ran away firing shots in the air. The tractor trolley with the briks loaded thereon was also driven away. Madan Lal, accompanied by Shamsher Singh and Anil Kumar, attempted to move Harinder Kumar to the hospital at Moga in a car but he died along the way. A First Information Report was thereafter lodged by Madan Lal at Police Station, Mehna. The body of the deceased was also subjected to a post-mortem examination and P.W. 1 – Dr. Iqbal Singh opined that the injury appeared to have been caused with a shot from a rifle, though the possibility that it had been caused with a shot from a 12 bore gun, using single projectile cartridge, could not be ruled out. P.W. 9 – ASI Devinder Singh of P.S. Mehna also visited the place of incident and picked up two spent cartridges of a .315 bore rifle, four spent cartridge cases of a 12 bore shot gun and nine cartridges of 12 bore which were taken into possession and sent for examination to the Forensic Science Laboratory, Chandigarh. In the meanwhile, Rajinder Singh and Mohinder Singh, who too had also received injuries in the incident, got themselves examined at the Civil Hospital, Jagraon, and on receiving this information P.W. 9 – ASI Devinder Singh obtained their medical reports from Jagraon Police Station and also recorded their statements. A rifle of .315 bore belonging to P.W. 4 – Anil Kumar and a 12 bore gun belonging to P.W. 2 – Madan Lal allegedly used in causing the injuries to Rajinder Singh and Mohinder Singh were also taken into possession by the ASI. On the completion of the investigation, Rajinder Singh was charged for an offence punishable under Section 302 whereas the other accused were charged under Section 302/34 of the IPC read with Section 120B of the IPC and all the three were also charged under Section 27 of the Arms Act.

1.3. The prosecution in support of its case relied on the evidence of P.W. 1 – Dr. Iqbal Singh, P.W. 2 – Madan Lal, P.W. 3 – Shamshe