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2012 Supreme(SC) 748
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
SWATANTER KUMAR & FAKKIR MOHAMED IBRAHIM KALIFULLA, JJ
SATBIR @ LAKHA – Appellants.
VERSUS
STATE OF HARYANA - Respondent
Criminal Appeal No.1718 of 2009
Decided On : 18-10-2012.
Headnote:Indian Penal Code,1860- Sections307, 323 read with Section 34 -Prosecution of appellant along with co accused persons for assaulting members of complainant party by inflicting injuries on them by means of knife-Conviction by Trial Court-Appeal-dismissed by High Court-Appeal thereagainst- Taking an overall consideration of evidence available on record both ocular as well as documentary reasoning of trial Court as well as that of High Court held that conviction and sentence imposed on appellant for offences under Sections 307, 323 read with Section 34 IPC was fully made out -No good grounds to interfere with the same- Appeal dismissed (Paras 15, 16)
Facts of the Case :
A Appellant along with co accused persons were prosecuted herein in the instant case for assaulting members of complainant party by inflicting injuries on them by means of knife. Trial Court held that accused party were the aggressors, that it was the appellant who was responsible for the aggression and that there was a pre-meditated intention in common to injure the complainant party with the weapon, such common intention was deliberately displayed in the course of committing the crime and, therefore, accused No.1-, A-2, and A-4 were found guilty of the offence alleged against them. Appeals thereagainst were dismissed by High Court.
B. Present appeal has been preferred by appellant against said order of High Court.
Findings of the Court :
A. Admittedly, appellant who was enraged by questioning of his authority about the collection made and the balance amount available with him, felt insulted who apparently threw a challenge to the complaining party which unfortunately ended in the fateful occurrence of causing injuries on PWs-5, 6 and 7 who had to ultimately face the wrath of the appellant and his supporters.
B. Apart from the simple knife injuries sustained by appellant and A-4, the other injuries were admittedly by a blunt weapon which could have been caused by the throwing of the brickbats at the instance of injured witnesses which was also admitted. It is quite natural that when the injured witnesses were attacked and A-1 had come there with a knife by which he caused the injuries and the other accused other than A-3 aided him to cause such injuries which intention was gathered at the moment of the occurrence, the injured witnesses could have made every attempt to save themselves by throwing brickbats which would have been available on the road against the accused in order to save themselves from any further attack. Therefore, no fault could be found with the said action of the injured witnesses which would have caused some minor injuries on the appellant and the other accused.
C. Taking an overall consideration of the evidence available on record both ocular as well as documentary the reasoning of the trial Court as well as that of High Court held that the conviction and sentence imposed on appellant for the offences under Sections 307, 323 read with Section 34 IPC was fully made out .There being no good grounds to interfere with the same appeal held liable to be dismissed.
Result : Appeal dismissed
JUDGMENT
Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla, J.-The second accused is the appellant before us. The challenge is to the common judgment of the High Court of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh in Criminal Appeal Nos.488-SB/1995 and 580-SB/1995 dated 30.04.2009. By the impugned judgment, learned Single Judge of the High Court confirmed the conviction and sentence imposed on all the accused. The facts relating to the filing of this appeal, briefly stated, are that on 18.02.1992, Ravi Dass Jayanti was being celebrated in the village Saniana from donations collected from public. One Joginder Singh asked the appellant and Dalbir to spend the excess amount for the upkeep of the temple. At about 8 p.m. on that day, one Subhash s/o Nafe Singh (complainant), Jasbir Singh (PW-7), Kashmir Singh (PW-6), Joginder Singh and Surender Singh were present in the shop of one Kitab Singh, a tailor master. At that point of time, accused came to the spot and the appellant stated to have questioned Subhash (complainant) and others as to on what authority they were demanding for the accounts of the donation collections. When exchange of words took place between the complainant party and the accused party, the tailor Kitab Singh asked them not to indulge in such quarrel inside his shop and to get out of the shop. Thereafter all of them went out and came down to the public street and in the course of their continued quarrel, the first accused also by name Subhash s/o Ram Kumar stated to have inflicted a knife blow on the back of the complainant Subhash s/o Nafe Singh (PW- 5) while Ram Das (A-4) caught hold of Kashmir Singh and Dalbir Singh (A-3) caught hold of one Joginder Singh. Accused No.1, Subhash s/o Ram Kumar stated to have inflicted knife injuries to Jasbir Singh and Kashmir Singh. The tailor master Kitab Singh, Surender Singh and Joginder Singh tried to pacify both the groups and in that process Surender Singh also stated to have suffered knife injuries.
2. According to the complainant party, by way of private defence, they threw brickbats on the accused and that the accused stated to have fled away from the scene of occurrence. It was specifically alleged that two of the accused, namely, the appellant and Ram Das (A-4) also received injuries at the hands of Subhash s/o Ram Kumar (A-1) while he was giving knife blows to Jasbir Singh and Kashmir Singh PWs-6 and 7 respectively. The injured complainants stated to have gone to CHC Uklana in the vehicle belonging to one Baldev Singh where Subhash s/o Nafe Singh was admitted and given treatment while PWs-6 and 7, namely, Kashmir Singh and Jasbir Singh were referred to civil hospital, Hisar as the injuries sustained by them were serious injuries. Surender Singh stated to have gone to CHC Uklana, Saniana on the next day where he was also given treatment.
3. On receipt of the memo from the hospital, the sub-Inspector L.R. Sharma, PW-9 recorded the statement of Subhash s/o Nafe Singh pursuant to which the case was registered under Sections 324, 323 read with Section 34 IPC. Subsequently, after the receipt of report from the G.H., Hisar of the injuries sustained by Kashmir Singh PW-6, which were noted as serious injuries and were dangerous to life, the offence under Section 307 IPC was also added. PW-9 stated to have recovered a knife from the possession of Subhash s/o Ram Kumar (A-1) based on his disclosure statement. Since the said knife was a spring actuated knife, a separate case under the Arms Act was also registered against him.
4. Based on the investigation and after its conclusion the final report was lodged and a specific charge under section 307, IPC was framed against the first accused Subhash s/o Ram Kumar and a charge under Section 307 read with Section 34 IPC was framed against the appellant Dalbir (A3) and Ram Das (A-4). A charge under Section 323 IPC read with Section 34 IPC was made against all the accused persons. PW-1 was the doctor J.S. Bhatia who was examined to prove the X-ray report Exhibit
