IMPORTANT POINTS
In case of concurrent findings of facts by the courts below the Supreme Court is not required to reassess evidence.
An argument on a point of fact which did not prevail with the Courts below cannot avail the appellants in Supreme Court.
Evidence of a witness cannot be disbelieved merely because of his/her relation with the deceased.
Minor discrepancies in evidence of a witness cannot affect prosecution case.

JUDGMENT

Abhay Manohar Sapre, J.

These appeals are filed against the common final judgment and order dated 12.08.2008 passed by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh in Criminal Appeal Nos. 448-DB and 395-DB of 1998 whereby the Division Bench of the High Court dismissed the appeals filed by the appellants herein and upheld the judgments/orders of conviction and sentence rendered by the Trial Court.

2. The case of the prosecution is as under: One Hari Singh (since dead) was married to Messo (deceased). Out of this wedlock, the couple was blessed with three daughters, namely, Dholi alias Krishna, Sumitra and Raj Bala. Raj Bala was aged around 15 years and the youngest amongst the three daughters. Both Dholi and Sumitra were married at a place (village) called Kagdana whereas Rajbala was unmarried.

3. Hari Singh has two brothers, namely, Sohan Lal (accused - since dead) and Bhoop Singh. Sohan Lal has four sons, namely, Ram Chander, Ranbir alias Randhir, Ram Kumar and Om Parkash (accusedappellants herein). Messo has one sister Guddi (PW- 9) who is married to Bhoop Singh.

4. Messo and Raj Bala (mother and daughter) were living in one house at village Arnianwali. Guddi was their next-door neighbour. Messo was in search of a boy for Raj Bala and had selected one boy from a place called Manak Dewan for which talks had been going on for the last one month or so from the date of incident. The engagement ceremony was accordingly fixed for 22.09.1996 at Arnianwali. Dholi alias Krishna (married daughter of Messo) had, therefore, come to her mother's place at Arnianwali on 19.09.1996 to help her mother and sister-Raj Bala for the ceremony.

5. On 20.09.1996, around 3 p.m. Sohan Lal along with his four sons, namely, Ranbir, Ram Chander, Ram Kumar and Om Parkash, came to the house of Messo and told her to desist from settling the marriage of Raj Bala with a boy from Manak Dewan. Sohan Lal said that they could settle it according to their own choice. Sohan Lal, who was not happy with the marriage proposal, expressed his total unhappiness and did not want the marriage proposal to fructify. He then threatened Messo that in case she did not agree to his proposal then both (Messo and Raj Bala) would not see the sun the next day. After giving this threat, Sohan Lal along with his sons (appellants herein) left the place. Dholi and Guddi were present along with Messo and Raj Bala when Sohan Lal and his four sons had come.

6. Messo fearing with the threat of Sohan Lal asked her daughter Dholi to go immediately to her brother, Ram Sarup at village Dhigtania which was around 20 KM away from her house and inform him about happening of such incident with her. Dholi, accordingly, went there and narrated the incident to Ram Sarup-her maternal uncle. She then stayed overnight with Ram Sarup.

7. On 21.09.1996, in the early hours, when Dholi and Ram Sarup accompanied by one Om Prakash-Sarpanch of Village Dhigtania reached to the house of Messo, they found both, Messo and Raj Bala, missing from the house. They, therefore, went to the house of Guddi (PW-9), who was living next to the house of Messo. They noted that Guddi was weeping and was in the state of shock.

8. When they inquired from her about the whereabouts of Messo and Raj Bala, Guddi told them that Sohan Lal and his four sons had come in the night and murdered Messo and Raj Bala, burnt their bodies in house and carried the remains of the dead bodies and ashes in a cart driven by the tractor from her house to an unknown place.

9. This led to the registration of FIR bearing No.197 (Ex-PA-1) dated 21.09.1996 by Dholi at Police Station Nathusari Chopta naming Sohan Lal and his four sons (appellants herein) as accused persons for committing the murder of her mother-Messo and sister-Raj Bala. The police authorities then started investigation, visited the spot, recorded the statements of the witnesses, prepared the spot map, recovered several articles from the spot and arrested the accused persons. On being