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TMI Blog1974 (8) TMI 131X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... eath while Charan Kaur and Jito were sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life. Conviction was also recorded against the four accused under Section 201 Indian Penal Code and each of them was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one year on that count. On appeal and reference, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted all the four accused. The State of Punjab thereafter came up in appeal to this Court by special leave. 2. Harbans Singh and Bachan Singh deceased were brothers of Bhajan Singh accused. Ishar Singh deceased was the son of Hari Singh, a third brother of Bhajan Singh. Hari Singh died a few years before the present occurrence in Bihar. Harbans Singh and Bachan Singh were issueless. Bhajan Singh and his t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... jan Singh disclosed that he had buried the dead bodies of his brothers Bachan Singh and Harbans Singh in front of his house and could get the same recovered. Memo Ex. P-2 with regard to the disclosure statement of Bhajan Singh was prepared. Bhajan Singh then led the police party to a place in front of his house. That place was dug open and two dead bodies were recovered therefrom. One of the dead bodies, which was alleged to be that of Bachan Singh, was in a naked state. The other dead body, which was alleged to be that of Harbans Singh, had a kachha (underwear) and a phatui (waist coat) on it. A piece of cloth was found tied around the neck of the dead body alleged to be that of Harbans Singh. The two dead bodies were then sent to mortuary ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ecution case that during the days of the present occurrence, Santokh Singh (PW 6) saw Surjit Singh taking Ishar Singh on a cycle near Rayya towards Beas. 8. At the trial Gurmej Singh (PW 3) and Jabarjang Singh (PW 5) gave evidence about the extra judicial confessions of three of the accused. Santokh Singh (PW 6) deposed about his having seen Ishar Singh being taken on a cycle by Surjit Singh towards Baas. Sub Inspector Partap Singh (PW 8) is the investigating officer and deposed about the recovery of the two dead bodies at the instance of Bhajan Singh accused from a place in front of his house. 9. The four accused in their statements under Section 342 of the CrPC denied the various prosecution allegations. No evidence was produced in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ference with the judgment of the High Court. There is no eye witness of the occurrence and the conviction of the accused is sought to be accrued on the basis of circumstantial evidence. We, however, find that the evidence which has been adduced in this case is far from satisfactory and that it suffers from a number of infirmities. In the first instance, there is no evidence on record to show that the two dead bodies which are alleged to have been recovered in pursuance of the disclosure statement of Bhajan Singh were those of Bachan Singh and Harbans Singh deceased. The evidence of Dr. Saluja is clear on the point that the features of the persons on whose dead bodies the doctor performed post mortem were unrecognisable. Question then arises ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the accused and not the prosecution would be entitled to get the benefit of that. 14. Coming to the evidence of extra judicial confessions, we find the same to be improbable and lacking in credence. According to Gurmej Singh and Jabarjang Singh PWs, the confessing accused came to them and blurted out confessions. They also requested these two witnesses to produce them before the police. The resume of facts given above would go to show that according to the prosecution case, the murders of the three deceased persons were committed in a most heinous manner and under a veil of secrecy. Persons who commit such murders after taking precautions of secrecy are not normally likely to become garrulous after the commission of the offence and acqui ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... proximate date on which Santokh Singh had seen Surjit Singh and Ishar Singh going on a cycle. The prosecution consequently cannot derive much benefit from the statement of Surjit Singh. 16. The circumstances of this case undoubtedly create suspicion against the accused. Suspicion, by itself, however strong it may be, is not sufficient to take the place of proof and warrant a finding of guilt of the accused. Another weakness of the prosecution case is that as many as four persons have been involved in this case. Even if it may be assumed that the dead bodies which were recovered from the place in front of the house of the accused were those of Harbans Singh and Bachan Singh deceased and that their death was homicidal, it is difficult to s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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