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PUNJAB & HARYANA HIGH COURT
Bhandari and S.M.Soni JJ.
Kirpal Singh
Versus
State
Decided On : DECEMBER 29, 1950
CRIMINAL APPEAL - MURDER - [SECTION 302, 300 EXCEPTION 2, 4 INDIAN PENAL CODE] - Appellant and his son convicted of murdering deceased and his son - Dispute over construction of new channel on deceased's land - Appellant claimed self-defense and Exception 4 to Section 300 IPC - Court held appellant had pre-meditated intent to kill - Dismissed appeal and confirmed death sentence.
Fact of the Case:
Appellant and his son were convicted of murdering the deceased and his son. The dispute arose over the construction of a new channel on the deceased's land. The appellant claimed self-defense and the benefit of Exception 4 to Section 300 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the appellant had a pre-meditated intent to kill the deceased and his son. The court held that the appellant was not acting in self-defense and that the killing was not a sudden fight without premeditation. The court also found that the appellant had taken undue advantage and acted in a cruel and unusual manner.
Issues: 1. Whether the appellant was acting in self-defense when he killed the deceased and his son? 2. Whether the appellant was entitled to the benefit of Exception 4 to Section 300 of the IPC?
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The court held that the appellant was not acting in self-defense because he was the aggressor and had provoked the attack. The court also found that the appellant had not acted in the heat of passion aroused by the demolition of the kanal, but rather had formed a deliberate design to kill the deceased and his son. 2. The court held that the appellant was not entitled to the benefit of Exception 4 to Section 300 of the IPC because the killing was not a sudden fight without premeditation. The court found that the appellant had pre-meditated the killing and had taken undue advantage and acted in a cruel and unusual manner.
Final Decision: The court dismissed the appeal and confirmed the death sentence.
Bhandari, J.
1. Kirjal Singh has been found guilty of the murder of his brother Partap Singh and his brothers son Waryam Singh and been sentenced to death. He has appealed and the sentence of death is also before us for confirmation.
2. It appears that one Sawan Singh died some six years ago leaving behind him a large plot of land and two sons, namely Partap Singh deceased and Kirpal Singh appellant. This land was split into two by a railway track which ran through it from east to west The land which was towards the north of the railway track was irrigated by a well as well as by a canal, whereas the land towards the south appears to have been irrigated by means of the water of the well on the north which came to the land on the south through a siphon which connected the lands on the north and the south underneath the railway track. Another siphon which lies towards the west appears to have carried the canal water from the south so the north. The evidence shows that shortly after the death of Sawan Singh his two sons Partap Singh and Kamail Singh came to an arrangement by which half the land came into the cultivating possession of one brother and the other half in the cultivating possession of the other.
3. At about 6 oclock on the afternoon of the 7th June 1950 Kirpal Singh appellant and his son Kartar Singh, who has since been acquitted, constructed a small channel on land which was in the cultivating possession of Partap Singh with the object of taking canal water from the south to the north through the siphon which is situated towards the east of the land. It is said that Partap Singh and his son Waryam Singh both of whom were murdered in this case came and objected to the construction of the channel. The appellant and his son persisted and it is said that the two dead men started demolishing the channel. Hot words were exchanged between the parties and it is said that the culprits who were armed with spears pounced upon the deceased. Kirpal Singh plunged his weapon into the body of Partap Singh. Waryam Singh son of Partap Singh ran away across the railway line but Kartar Singh pursued him and inflicted a spear blow on his person. Kartar Singh sank to the ground and died almost immediately at the spot. His father Partap Singh, however, lingered on for a while and died shortly afterwards.
4. The occurrence was witnessed by Mt. Sham Kaur, widow of Partap Singh, Joginder Singh, a son of Partap Singh, one Harnam Singh who was not produced in Court and one Haria, partner in cultivation of the deceased who was not cited as a witness and was not examined in Court. Word was carried immediately to the village which is at a distance of about 350 karams from the scene of the outrage. Narain Singh Lambardar arrived at the spot shortly afterwards and was informed by the widow and the son of Partap Singh that the two dead men had been done to death by the appellant and his son Kartar Singh. Narain Singh hastened to the Police Station which is at a distance of about five miles from the scene of the outrage, and the first information report was recorded to his dictation at about 8-15 p.m., the same day. Sub inspector Bans Rai arrived at the spot shortly afterwards. After preparing the necessary statements he examined the scene of the occurrence. He found that a Khal had been freshly dug on the south of the railway line about two karams in length and about two feet in width in the field of Partap Singh. The body of Partap Singh was lying at a distance of a karam or two from the khar within the railway boundary. The body of Waryam Singh was lying towards the north of the railway line at a distance of about seven or eight karams from the body of his father Kartar Singh deceased. Kartar Singh was arrested on the day of the occurrence when he went to report the matter to the Police. His father Kirpal Singh was arrested five days later, that is on the 12th June 1950. Both the father and son were prosecuted under Section 302 of the India
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