Judgment :

Criminal Appeal No. 594 of 2005

1. This appeal is directed against the judgment and order of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana dated 7th December, 2004 whereby the High Court has allowed the appeal of three of the co-accused but has dismissed the appeal of the appellant.

2. The facts of the case are as under:

2.1. At about 9:00p.m. on the night of December, 1, 1996, Bachhitter Singh, a former member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly representing Kharar constituency was travelling in his jeep on the Landran-Kharar Road along with Sadhu Singh -P.W. 2, Narinder Singh P.W. 5, Gurmail Singh and one Ajit Singh Padiala. As they were passing by the warehouses at Landran, Bachhitter Singh told Narinder Singh P.W. 5 that as the bonnet of the jeep was loose, it should be properly fastened. On this Narinder Singh stopped the jeep and locked the bonnet and then returned to his seat when a Maruti car carrying four persons reached there. The driver of the car remained seated in the car with the engine on but the three passengers, all Sikh boys 20-25 years of age got out. Of the three persons one of them was armed with a .12 bore gun and the other two were armed with naked kripans. One of the boys who was armed with naked kripan got hold of Narinder Singh P.W. by his neck and thereafter gave two blows to Bachhitter Singh on his right flank. The second person started grappling with Bachhitter Singh on which the latter stumbled and fell down. The third person who was armed with a shot gun then fired a shot into the chest and arm of Bachhitter Singh. The assailants then broke the headlights of the jeep and drove away in their Maruti car. Sadhu Singh P.W. 2 accompanied by Ajit Singh left the site of the incident leaving Narinder Singh and Gurmail Singh to guard the dead body and made their way towards Kharar Police Station about 8 kms. away but as they reached close to Swaraj Tractor Factory just short of Kharar they came across a police Gypsy with S.H.O. Sub-Inspector Rajinder Singh on patrol duty. The Inspector along with Sadhu Singh and Ajit Singh returned to the place of incident and saw Bachhitter Singh lying dead on which they picked up his body and removed it to the Kharar Hospital. Sadhu Singh thereafter recorded the First Information Report at about 11:15p.m. the same night i.e. on the 1st of December, 1996 in which he did not name any of the assailants although he gave their physical description. A Special Report was allegedly despatched through Constable Jaspal Singh to the Magistrate shortly after midnight which was received by P.W. 9 - Gurmeet Kaur, Judicial Magistrate, Kharar at 9:15a.m. on 2nd December, 1996. The Sub Inspector also returned to the place of incident on the morning of the 2nd December, 1996 to carry out further investigations and amongst other items picked up two empty .12 bore shells and a piece of a broken sling of a shot gun and these were duly deposited in the Malkhana and subsequently despatched to the Forensic Science Laboratory. He also recorded the statements of the eye witnesses including Narinder Singh -P.W. 5. In the meanwhile, it appears that the accused made extra judicial confessions to P.W. 6 and P.W. 7 Kuljeet Singh and Kuldip Singh respectively and Jugraj Singh appellant also made a disclosure statement which led to the recovery of the .12. bore gun allegedly used in the murder. It transpired after investigation that this weapon belonged to Gurmail Singh, Jugraj Singh's first cousin and he too was prosecuted for offences punishable under Sections 29 and 30 of Arms Act and was duly convicted and has already undergone the sentence as of now. The Forensic Science Laboratory in its Report opined that the two spent cartridges recovered from the place of incident had been fired from the gun in question. The trial court in its judgment dated 13th August, 2002, held that the statements of Sadhu Singh P.W. 2 and Narinder Singh P.W. 5 inspired confidence, that there was no delay in the lodging of