Dina Nath v. State of Hy.
Case brief
What is this about?
Criminal appeal (CRA-D) before Punjab & Haryana High Court, Chandigarh: murder conviction under Section 302 IPC affirmed on circumstantial/res gestae evidence in an effectively unwitnessed ('blind') killing; conviction altered from Section 449 IPC (house-trespass) to Section 458 IPC (lurking house-trespass or house-breaking by night after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint) although no specific Section 458 charge had been framed — no-prejudice rationale because graver Section 449 charge was framed and defended; eye-witnesses (complainant Dalip Singh PW-10 and Balwinder Kaur PW-11) saw accused scaling boundary wall at about 11 P.M. with iron rod; disclosure statement led to recovery of iron rod found by FSL smeared with human blood; post-mortem by Dr. S.C. Grover matched injuries to iron rod; FIR No.49/24.4.2002 PS Jhansa u/s 449/376/302 IPC at instance of Dalip Singh; accused Dina Nath @ Raju (servant of Mohinder Singh) represented through Amicus Curiae Arav Gupta; State represented by Ranvir Singh Arya, Addl.A.G.; Sections 442, 445 IPC reproduced; Section 313 CrPC statement; appeal dismissed with conviction-conversion modification; sentences retained (life + Rs.2,000/- fine; 7 years + Rs.1,000/- fine).