A village sarpanch's shooting raised challenges to related eyewitness testimony, firearm identification and a railway-duty alibi. The Court rejected those challenges and dismissed both appeals, maintaining all appellants' convictions and sentences for murder, rioting and the applicable Arms Act offences.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
( 1 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
In the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh.
Criminal Appeal-D No. 441-DB of 2013 Date of Decision:- November 07, 2017
I.
Madan Lal and others
......Appellants
Versus
State of Haryana
......Respondent
Criminal Appeal-D No. 531-DB of 2013
II.
Surender @ Samunder ......Appellant
Versus
State of Haryana ......Respondent
CORAM: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal Hon’ble Mr. Justice Gurvinder Singh Gill
Present : Mr. Vinod Ghai, Senior Advocate with Mr. Harmandeep Singh Brar, Advocate and Mr. Simrandeep S.Sandhu, Advocate for the appellants in CRA-D No.441-DB of 2013.
Mr. Tarundeep Kumar, Advocate, for the appellant in CRA-D No.531-DB of 2013.
Ms. Palika Monga, DAG, Haryana.
Mr. Balraj Singh Rathee, Advocate, for the complainant.
Gurvinder Singh Gill, J.
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( 2 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
| Name of convict | Convicted u/s | Sentence Imposed | In default of payment of fine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madan Lal, Jasbir Singh Devender @ Dhilla |
(i) 302/149 IPC (ii) 148 IPC |
R.I. for life and fine of`10,000/-. R.I. for 2 years |
Further R.I. for 6 months. – – – |
| Ranbir @ Dallu | (i) 302/149 IPC | R.I. for life and fine of`10,000/-. |
Further R.I. for 6 months. |
| Surender | (ii) 148 IPC | R.I. for 2 years | – – – |
| (iii) 25(1-B)(a) of Arms Act |
R.I. for 2 years and fine of`5,000/-. |
Further R.I. for 3 months. |
“I am an agriculturist. My uncle's son namely Sanjay son of Puran was Sarpanch of the village. However, members of family of Ranbir @ Dallu were having grudge with him on account of elections regarding which a case under Section 307 IPC is pending. Today, in the morning, at about 7:30 A.M., when I, my brother Sanjay, my sister-in-law Nirmala wife of Sanjay and brother-in-law of Sanjay namely Rajbir resident of Silana were returning back from Ch. Devi Lal Park after taking a walk and were near house of Sandeep, then a white-coloured Verna Car bearing registration No.DL4C-AS-3626 and another black-coloured
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( 3 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
Verna Car bearing registration No. DL4C-ND-0834 came and stopped in front of my brother Sanjay Sarpanch who was walking a little ahead of me. Ranbir @ Dallu, Devender @ Dhilla who were carrying pistols came out of the white car along with its driver Devender Butania, Jasbir and Madan Lal (uncle of Dallu) who were carrying pistols came out of the black-coloured car along with the driver who was a young boy whose name and address is not known to me but is usually seen with Dallu. All of them declared that they will eliminate Sarpanch and warned us not to come near them or we would also be shot. Ranbir @ Dallu, Devender @ Dhilla, Jasbir and Madan Lal started firing from their respective weapons at my brother Sanjay Sarpanch who fell down upon receipt of gun shots. Thereafter, all of them went away with their weapons in their cars. When we went near Sanjay, we saw that he was having gun shot injuries on his head, mouth, shoulders, chest, belly, thighs and on both of his hands. Empty cases of cartridges and pellets were lying there and blood was spattered at the spot. I left Rajbir and Nirmala at the spot and informed relatives and members of the family and also the police on phone and came back at the spot where you have reached. I have made my statement. Ranbir is a criminal type of person and is a gang leader against whom several criminal cases are registered at many police stations. Ranbir, Jasbir, Devender @ Dhilla, Madan Lal, Devender and one unknown young boy have murdered my brother Sanjay with their common intention due to grudge about elections. Action be taken against them.”
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( 4 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
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( 5 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
the FIR was lodged, stated in tune with his statement (Ex.PA). PW-2 Rajbir, brother-in-law of deceased, who is also an eye-witness stated in corroboration to the statement of PW-1 Chand Roop. PW-3 Balwan Singh and PW-10 Jagmender stated that they had identified the dead body of Sanjay.
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( 6 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
Karambir, PW-38 DSP Rajender Singh, PW-36 Inspector Ashok Kumar are all police officials who had remained associated at some stage with investigation of the case and deposed about the same.
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( 7 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
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( 8 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
the train in the checking squad on 26.4.2009 and he had met Ranbir Singh between Panipat and Ambala on that day on the said train.
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( 9 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
any motive nor his description finds mention in the FIR and and that in these circumstances his identification for the first time in the Court cannot be made the basis for his conviction. The learned counsel have, thus, submitted that the impugned judgment cannot sustain and have prayed for acquittal of the accused.
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( 10 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
vital organs which were ante mortem in nature and sufficient to cause death in ordinary course of nature. PW-7 described the injuries found on the dead body as follows :-
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( 11 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
back with size 1.5 x 1.5 cms. There was fracture of rib on right side and there was injury to aorta.
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( 12 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
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( 13 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
No.DL4C-AS-3626 and another black-coloured Verna Car bearing registration No. DL4C-ND-0834 came there and stopped in front of Sanjay who was walking a little ahead of them. Devender @ Dhilla and Devender Butania came out of the white coloured Verna car and Ranbir @ Dallu who was in the driver seat also stepped out of the said car. He further stated that Madan Lal, Jasbir and another unknown young person came out of the black-coloured car and all the said persons were having pistols in their hands and they surrounded Sanjay. The accused threatened them not to come near them or they will also be shot. He further stated that the said persons started firing indiscriminately at Sanjay from their weapons and due to bullet injuries, Sanjay fell down on the ground and thereafter the assailants fled away from the spot.
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( 14 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
that their conduct itself shows that they were never present at the spot. The learned counsel has submitted that though the said witnesses are related to the deceased but it remains unexplained as to why they did not raise any alarm and did not make any serious effort to save the deceased. The learned counsel has further submitted that the conduct of PW-1 Chand Roop in going to his house after the incident instead of informing the police or anyone else in the neighbourhood is highly unnatural and in fact it is suggestive of the fact that he was not present at the spot. The learned counsel has further submitted that absence of names of the aforesaid witnesses in the inquest report virtually establishes that they were never present at the spot as the dead body has been identified by one Jagmender and Balwan and not by the said so called eye witnesses. It has also been submitted that PW-2 Rajbir Singh is a resident of Village Silana whereas the occurrence had taken place in village Raipur and admittedly the said two villages are at a distance of 20-25 kilometers and as such it would not be expected of PW-2 to be taking morning walk in a different village 25 kilometers away from his native village Silana. The learned counsel has further submitted that for reasons best known to the prosecution, Nirmala who was also stated to be present at the time of occurrence has not been examined and in fact she being wife of the deceased was the best person to shed some light on the incident in case the occurrence had taken place, as alleged by the prosecution.
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( 15 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
their own lives especially when the accused had specifically warned them not to come near lest they would lose their life. Thus, the omission of eyewitnesses to make an attempt to save deceased cannot be said to be highly unnatural. Act of PW-1 Chand Roop in immediately rushing to his house to inform other members of the family cannot also be said to be an unnatural as occurrence had taken place in his village itself. In any case, during crossexamination he has stated that he was stunned and not in his senses. It is well known that different persons react differently in different situations. In any case, there is every likelihood of a person getting shocked upon witnessing indiscriminate firing upon a relative. As such, the conduct of PW-1 cannot be said to be unnatural so as to discard his statement.
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( 16 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
parents or immediate relatives, even if present, may be in a state of shock and in such circumstances if there are others who are able to identify the deceased, the needful is got done by the police from such persons. It is not necessary for the police to get the dead body identified specifically from the complainant or the parents or the relatives of the deceased. In any case, the death took place in village Raipur where the deceased was residing and thus his identification would not be difficult in his village. The witness namely Jagmender and Balwan, who identified the dead body are both residents of village Raipur which leaves no room to doubt the identification of dead body. In view of the aforesaid discussion we do not find any merit in the aforesaid contention and the same is hereby rejected.
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( 17 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
completed by 10.15 A.M. There is nothing on record to doubt the presence of PW-2 Rajbir Singh.
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( 18 )
Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
cannot be doubted.
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( 19 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
recorded that some unknown assailants had fired at deceased. The learned counsel has submitted that DW-1 Dr. Saroj Dahiya while in the witness box has stated that she recorded the said facts as told to him by the Investigating Officer. The learned counsel submitted that the prosecution intentionally chose not to examine the said witness though she had been cited as the prosecution witness and that the said intentional omission on part of the prosecution shows that the prosecution has tried to conceal the truth and has come up with a false version. The learned counsel submitted that if a Senior Scientific Expert visits the scene of crime and prepares a “Scene of Crime” report, such witness ought to have been examined by the prosecution and omission to examine him casts serious doubt on the case of the prosecution and the said doubt in the present case is rather substantiated by the fact that in the said report it is specifically recorded that the assailants were unknown.
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( 20 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
cartridges for ballistic examination rendered examination of Dr. Saroj Dahiya unnecessary for the prosecution as she herself had not lifted any blood stained earth or any other incriminating piece of evidence from the spot and had not conducted any tests so as to be examined as prosecution witness. The mention of unknown assailants in the said report is stated to be based upon the information received by her from the Investigating Officer. The Investigating Officer having himself stepped in the witness box and the eye witnesses also having categorically named the accused would render the said reference of the assailants being unknown in the report DW1/A of DW-1 Saroj Dahiya insignificant and the accused cannot derive any advantage from the same.
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( 21 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
and the report cannot have the effect of washing away the entire prosecution evidence which is to the effect that the accused were known and identified at the spot and that after information was sent to the police at about 8:15 AM, the police immediately reached at the spot.
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( 22 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
Modi's Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology reads as follows:-
Duration — In temperate regions, rigor mortis usually lasts for two to three days. In northern India, the usual duration of rigor mortis is 24 to 48 hours in winter and 18 to 36 hours in summer. According to the investigations of Mackenzie, in Calcutta, the average duration is nineteen hours and twelve minutes, the shortest period being three hours, and the longest forty hours. In Colombo, the average duration is 12 to 18 hours. When rigor mortis sets in early, it passes off quickly and vice versa. In general, rigor mortis sets in one to two hours after death, is well developed from head to foot in about twelve hours. Whether rigor is in the developing phase, established phase, or maintained phase is decided by associated findings like marbling, right lower abdominal discolouration, tense or taut state of the abdomen, disappearance of rigor on face and eye muscles. If on examination, the body is stiff, the head cannot be fixed towards the chest, then in all probability, the death might have occurred six to twelve hours or so more before the time of examination.”
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Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
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( 24 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
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( 25 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
of .38 mm was recovered from the spot, therefore, the use of the said weapon is not established.
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( 26 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
possession of Ranbir. However, recovery of the weapons is not sin-qua-non for establishing involvement of accused in commission of an offence. In the present case, the number of firearm injuries sustained by the deceased and the different types of empty cartridges recovered from the spot shows that it was handywork of several persons with different types of weapons. Since the eye witnesses PW-1 Chand Roop and PW-2 Rajbir have stated consistently and have specifically named Ranbir to be one of the accused right from the very beginning and his name finds mentioned in the FIR itself which was lodged promptly, the involvement of Ranbir Singh is clearly borne out and the fact that the FSL has not specifically opined that the recovered empty cartridges and the fired bullet had been fired from the weapon recovered from Ranbir is not of much significance.
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( 27 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
recovered at the instance of Surender. It has been specifically so reported by the FSL in its report Ex.PX. The disclosure statement Ex.PO of Surender has been duly proved by examining PW-28 DSP Vijender Singh. In pursuance to the said disclosure statement, the accused led the police party to the disclosed place and had got the 9mm pistol recovered which was taken into possession vide recovery memo Ex.PE. The recovery of the weapon used in the occurrence at the instance of the accused leaves no manner of doubt that the accused Surender played an active role in the occurrence.
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( 28 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
Singh, DSP. Pursuant to said disclosure statement, the accused led the police party to the disclosed place and got recovered the black-coloured Verna car bearing Registration No. DL4C-ND-0834 along with its Registration Certificate. Though, the vehicle in question is registered in the name of one Jatinder but the said fact pales into insignificance in view of the fact that the registration number is mentioned in the FIR registered immediately after the occurrence.
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( 29 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
the accused has adopted the defence of alibi. The plea of the accused in such cases need be considered only when the burden has been discharged by the prosecution satisfactorily. But once the prosecution succeeds in discharging the burden it is incumbent on the accused, who adopts the plea of alibi, to prove it with absolute certainty so as to exclude the possibility of his presence at the place of occurrence. When the presence of the accused at the scene of occurrence has been established satisfactorily by the prosecution through reliable evidence, normally the court would be slow to believe any counterevidence to the effect that he was elsewhere when the occurrence happened. But if the evidence adduced by the accused is of such a quality and of such a standard that the court may entertain some reasonable doubt regarding his presence at the scene when the occurrence took place, the accused would, no doubt, be entitled to the benefit of that reasonable doubt. For that purpose, it would be a sound proposition to be laid down that, in such circumstances, the burden on the accused is rather heavy. It follows, therefore, that strict proof is required for establishing the plea of alibi.”
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( 30 ) Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
documentary evidence to establish the plea of alibi. The accused could have led some documentary evidence in the shape of duty roster etc. Infact the accused Ranbir, in his statement u/s 313 Cr.P.C. has stated that fine had also been realised from 2-3 passengers while he was on duty. If this was the position, then some evidence to show receipt of fine could have been produced which could have substantiated the fact that he was actually on duty when the occurrence took place.
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( 31 )
Criminal Appeal-D No.441-DB of 2013
(Rajesh Bindal) (Gurvinder Singh Gill) Judge Judge
November 07, 2017
kamal
Whether speaking/reasoned Yes/No Whether reportable Yes/No
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3 issues framed by the court
Could the related eyewitnesses' testimony sustain the murder convictions despite challenges to their presence and non-examination of another eyewitness?
Did inconclusive ballistics for one appellant and first identification in court of another undermine their convictions?
Was the railway-duty alibi established with sufficient certainty to exclude the appellant's presence at the scene?
Colour shows how this judgement treated each authority
S.P.S.Rathore Vs. CBI and anotherRelied on¶112
2017 (5) SCC 817 titled as S.P.S.Rathore Vs. CBI and another · Who else cites this
Guiram Mondal vs. State of West BengalRelied on¶135
(2013) 15 SCC 284 Guiram Mondal vs. State of West Bengal, · Who else cites this
Yogesh Singh vs. Mahabeer Singh and othersRelied on¶135
(2016) 4 RCR (Criminal) 753 Yogesh Singh vs. Mahabeer Singh and others
Saddik @ Lalo Gulam Hussein Shaikh & Ors vs. State of GujaratRelied on¶147
(2016) 10 SCC 663 Saddik @ Lalo Gulam Hussein Shaikh & Ors vs. State of Gujarat · Who else cites this
Binay Kumar Singh v. State of BiharApplied¶175
Binay Kumar Singh v. State of Bihar, 1997(1) R.C.R.(Criminal) 178.
Vijay Pal vs. State(Govt. Of NCT of Delhi)Applied¶180
(2015) 4 SCC 749, Vijay Pal vs. State(Govt. Of NCT of Delhi) · Who else cites this
3 provisions across 2 enactments
Madan Lal
Jasbir Singh
Devender @ Dhilla
Ranbir @ Dallu
Surender @ Samunder
State of Haryana
Rajesh Bindal
Gurvinder Singh Gill
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
