Conviction for grievous hurt and house-trespass set aside due to contradictory eyewitness testimonies, lack of independent corroboration, medical evidence supporting accidental injury, absent scene blood and doubtful weapon recovery.

Judgment :

Rakesh Kainthla, J.

The present appeal is directed against the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 17.01.2013 passed by learned Sessions Judge, Bilaspur, H.P. (learned Trial Court), vide which the appellant (accused before the learned Trial Court) was convicted of the commission of offences punishable under Sections 326 and 452 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and was sentenced as under: -

(Parties shall hereinafter be referred to in the same manner as they were arrayed before the learned Trial Court for convenience.)

2. Briefly stated, the facts giving rise to the present appeal are that the police presented a challan against the accused before the learned Trial Court for the commission of offences punishable under Sections 307, 326 and 452 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). It was asserted that the informant, Prem Singh (PW-1), was running a shop at village Bum. He reached home after closing his shop on 12.03.2007 at about 8:30 p.m. His wife Nirmla and Jagdish Chand (PW-2) were present at home. The informant went to the courtyard after changing clothes. The accused, Ashwani Kumar, came to the informant’s house armed with a Darat like a Khukri at about 9:00 p.m, and inflicted a blow on the informant’s right eye. The accused inflicted another blow, but the informant tried to ward off the blow with his right hand. His index finger was chopped off. The accused inflicted a third blow on the informant’s head. The informant shouted for help. Nirmla Devi and Jagdish Chand (PW-2) came out. The accused inflicted a blow on the head of Jagdish. Villagers gathered on the spot after hearing the noise. The injured were taken to the hospital. The informant and the accused were litigating with each other, and their relationship was strained. The matter was reported to the police. An entry (Ext.PW-21/A) was recorded. SHO Duglu Ram (PW-24) went to the hospital to verify the correctness of the information He recorded the informant’s statement (Ext.PW-1/A) and sent it to the Police Station, where F.I.R. (Ext.PW-20/C) was registered. Dr Kamlesh Sharma (PW-19) examined Jagdish Chand (PW-2) and found a sharp cutting wound on the right side of the temporal region. The nature of the injury was grievous, caused by a sharp-edged weapon, within six hours of the examination; however, it was not dangerous to life. He issued MLC (Ext.PW-17/C). He also examined Prem Singh (PW-1) and found a chopped right index finger and a clean, sharp wound on the right side of the forehead. He advised an X-ray. As per the radiological opinion, the injuries were found to be grievous, which could have been caused by a sharp-edged weapon within six hours of the examination. He issued MLC (Ext.PW-17/D). The nature of the injury suffered by Prem Singh (PW-1) was dangerous to life. The accused had also sustained injuries. Duglu Ram (PW-24) moved an application (Ext.PW-8/A) for his examination. Dr Bharti (PW-8) medically examined the accused and found that he had sustained a lacerated wound on the index finger. The nature of the injury was simple and could have been caused within three hours of the examination. She issued MLC (Ext.PW-8/B