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IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH
RAJIV SHARMA, KULDIP SINGH, JJ.
Nirmala Devi - Appellant
Versus
State of Haryana - Respondent
CRA-D No. 868-DB, 898-DB of 2018 (O&M)
Decided On : 26-02-2019
Advocate Appeared:
For the Appellant :Mr. A. P. Kaushal, Advocate, Mr. Yash Pal Malik
For the Respondent:Ms. Shubhra Singh, Additional Advocate General, Mr. Vishva Bahl, Advocate
The judgment establishes the requirement for direct or circumstantial evidence to prove a criminal conspiracy under Section 120-B IPC and emphasizes the need for a meeting of minds between conspirators.
Headnote:
Conspiracy - Criminal Conspiracy - Indian Penal Code - Sections 364, 302, 201, 120-B - The judgment discusses the prosecution's failure to prove the conspiracy between the accused, the circumstantial evidence, and the medical and FSL reports. The court found that the prosecution failed to prove the case against appellant Nirmala Devi beyond reasonable doubt and acquitted her. The conviction of appellant Joginder under Section 302 read with Section 120-B IPC was altered to Section 302 IPC.
Fact of the Case:
The case involved the conviction of appellants Nirmala Devi and Joginder for offences under Sections 364, 302, 201, 120-B of the Indian Penal Code. The prosecution's case revolved around the murder of Kehar Singh and the alleged conspiracy between the appellants.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the prosecution failed to prove the conspiracy between the accused, and the evidence against appellant Nirmala Devi was insufficient. As a result, Nirmala Devi was acquitted, and Joginder's conviction was altered from Section 302 read with Section 120-B IPC to Section 302 IPC.
Issues: The key issues revolved around the prosecution's ability to prove the conspiracy between the accused, the sufficiency of evidence against Nirmala Devi, and the conviction of Joginder under Section 302 read with Section 120-B IPC.
Ratio Decidendi: The court emphasized the need for direct or circumstantial evidence to prove a criminal conspiracy under Section 120-B IPC. It highlighted the importance of a meeting of minds between conspirators and the conclusive or irresistible inference of an agreement to commit an offence.
Final Decision: Nirmala Devi was acquitted, and Joginder's conviction was altered from Section 302 read with Section 120-B IPC to Section 302 IPC.
RAJIV SHARMA, J.
1. Since common questions of law and facts are involved in these appeals bearing CRA-D No. 868-DB of 2018 – Nirmala Devi vs State of Haryana and CRA-D No. 898-DB of 2018 – Joginder vs State of Haryana, therefore, the same are being disposed of by a common judgment.
2. The aforesaid appeals are instituted against the judgment dated 21.8.2018 and order dated 28.8.2018, rendered by learned Additional Sessions Judge, Sonepat, in SC/ CIS No. 250 of 2017 dated 20.7.2017, by appellants Nirmala Devi and Joginder, who were charged with and tried for the offence punishable under Sections 364, 302, 201, 120-B of the Indian Penal Code. The appellants were convicted and sentenced under Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code to undergo imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 50,000/- each and in default of payment of fine, to undergo further simple imprisonment for a period of three months. Appellant Joginder was further sentenced to imprisonment for life and pay fine of Rs. 1,00,000/- for the commission of offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code and in default of payment of fine, to undergo further simple imprisonment for a period of six months. He was further sentenced to imprisonment for ten years and pay fine of Rs. 25,000/- for the commission of offence punishable under Section 364 of the Indian Penal Code and in default of payment of fine, to undergo further simple imprisonment for a period of forty five days. He was further sentenced to imprisonment for seven years and pay fine of Rs. 10,000/- for the commission of offence punishable under Section 201 of the Indian Penal Code and in default of payment of fine, to undergo further simple imprisonment for a period of twenty days. All the sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
3. The case of the prosecution in a nutshell is that on 4.2.2017 Smt. Anguri Devi moved an application to the police alleging therein that on 1.2.2017 at about 5.00 P.M., her son Kehar Singh went along with Joginder resident of Gamri in his vehicle. On that night, Joginder was murdered in the fields and whereabouts of her son were also not traceable. On the basis of this information, a case under Section 365 of the Indian Penal Code was registered. Investigation was carried out. On 2.2.2017, a burnt dead-body was recovered from the fields of Joginder. Mobile phone and shoes were also recovered from the spot. The dead-body was identified to be of Joginder. FIR No. 25 dated 2.2.2017 under Sections 302, 201, 34 of the Indian Penal Code was registered against unknown persons. The site was inspected. Post-mortem was conducted. On 7.2.2017, Smt. Anguri Devi moved another application at Police Post, Court Complex, alleging that Joginder was alive and had absconded. According to her, the dead-body might be of her son. Blood samples of family members of Joginder as well as of Kehar Singh were taken for DNA testing. The case property was sent to Forensic Science Laboratory, Madhuban. On 1.4.2017, accused Joginder surrendered in case FIR No. 25. However, no case was made out to arrest him in case FIR No. 25. On interrogation, he revealed that on 1.2.2017, he offered liquor to Kehar Singh. Thereafter, he committed his murder after strangulating. On 3.4.2017, he was arrested in the present case. He made disclosure statement, Ex.PW6/A, to the effect that he had visiting terms with Nirmala wife of Rajpal. She was into witch craft. About 7-8 months ago, she lost her son Kamal. She told that her son had died unnatural death and for the peace of his soul, she wanted to sacrifice a person, whose name starts with word 'K'. Accordingly, they hatched conspiracy. Accused Joginder took Kehar Singh from his house. He offered him drinks. Thereafter, he strangulated him. He took out his aadhar card and voter card from his pocket. He set him ablaze so that dead-body could not be identified. He got recovered car, aadhar card and voter card of Kehar Singh. Thereaf
