IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

234 Date of decision: 11.02.2026 Nirmal Singh ...Petitioner(s)

VERSUS State of Punjab and Another ...Respondent(s)

CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VINOD S. BHARDWAJ Present :- Ms. Mehak Singh, Advocate for the petitioner(s)

(Legal Aid Counsel).

Mr. Mohit Kapoor, Sr. DAG Punjab.

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VINOD S. BHARDWAJ, J. (Oral)

CRM-49560-2011 & CRM-2553-2012 These applications have been filed for impleadment of legal heirs of Nand Kishore i.e. Sunita Devi, wife of Nand Kishore as respondent No.2 and injured person-Vijay Kumar, son of Ram Saran as respondent No.3, respectively, in the main petition.

For the reasons mentioned in the applications, the same are allowed for the purpose of pursuing the instant petition only.

Amended Memo of Parties are taken on record.

Main case

1. The instant criminal revision petition has been preferred against the judgment and order of sentence dated 31.10.2005 passed by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kapurthala whereby the revisionist- petitioner had been convicted for commission of offences punishable under Sections 279, 304-A, 337 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (hereinafter referred to as “IPC”) in case bearing FIR No. 60 of 15.06.1998 registered under Sections 279, 337, 338, 304A IPC at Police Station Subhanpur, Kapurthala. The revisionist-petitioner has been sentenced as under:-

All the sentences were ordered to run concurrently.

Further, challenge is also to the judgment dated 21.01.2011 passed by Additional Sessions Judge, Kapurthala whereby conviction was upheld but sentence awarded was modified and reduced to one year instead of two years under Section 304-A , IPC.

2. The matter pertains to the year 2011. On the last date of hearing, there was no representation on behalf of the petitioner. The position remains unchanged today as well. Hence, it is deemed expedient to nominate a Legal Aid Counsel on behalf of the petitioner. Ms. Mehak Singh, Advocate (PH/6412/2025 and Mob. No.77103-30786), who is/are present in the Court, is nominated as a Legal Aid Counsel to assist this Court on behalf of the petitioner.

3. Briefly stated, on 15.06.1998, ASI Ajit Singh, while on patrolling duty at Bus Stand, Subhanpur, recorded the statement of Mandip Singh, a resident of Village Kohara, District Ludhiana, who was working as a driver of Tata-608 bearing registration No. HR-38-4327. On the basis of his statement, the present case was registered. The complainant stated that on 15.06.1998 at about 4:00 A.M., he left Ludhiana for Radha Soami Dera, Beas, with passengers in the said vehicle, accompanied by his relative Balbir Singh. At Goraya, Nand Kishore joined them, and other passengers, including Vijay Kumar, also boarded the vehicle. At about 7:00 A.M., when they reached a bridge within the limits of Village Ramidi, a tanker bearing registration No. PJP-5599, driven by accused Nirmal Singh in a rash and negligent manner, struck the right side of the Tata-608. As a result, Nand Kishore and Vijay Kumar sustained injuries. Nand Kishore succumbed to head injuries at the spot, while Vijay Kumar was taken to Maharaja Sawan Singh Charitable Hospital, Beas, for treatment. On the basis of statement Ex. PF, ruqa Ex. PF/1 was sent for registration of FIR Ex. PF/2. During investigation, the Investigating Officer prepared the inquest report, conducted postmortem of the deceased, prepared the site plan, and took both vehicles into possession. The injured’s MLR, photographs of the spot, registration certificates, and driving licences were also taken into custody. Mechanical inspection of the vehicles was conducted and reports were obtained. After completion of investigation, challan was presented against the accused under Sections 279, 337, 338 and 304-A IPC.

4. After completion of the investigation, the final report under Section 173 Cr.P.C. against the petitioner-accused was filed in the Court on 14.07.1998 and documents were supplied to the accused-petitioner free of cost.

5. Finding a pri