Judgment

Arijit Pasayat, J.—Since these two appeals are inter-linked and a common judgment of Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh is the subject matter of challenge, they are taken up together for disposal.

2. Nearly two decades ago, Surjit Singh (hereinafter referred to as the ‘deceased’) lost his life. Three appellants along with two others were stated to be responsible for his homicidal death.

3. The litigious history starts from 4-2-1986 and has seen one round of litigation before this court. By the impugned judgment, the three appellants have been found guilty of offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short the ‘IPC’), and Section 201 IPC. They were each sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life and fine of Rs. 5,000/- with default stipulation of one year RI for the former and one and a half years RI and fine of Rs. 500/- with default stipulation of 3 months RI for the later.

4. Allegations giving birth to the prosecution are essentially as follows:

On 4-2-1986 at about 9.30 a.m. Lakhvinder Singh (PW9), his brother Sukhvinder Singh and a relative Pritam Singh (PW10) were returning from their fields. When they reac