Holding

The Supreme Court held that the eye‑witness testimony, corroborated by medical and forensic evidence, was reliable and sufficient to uphold the convictions of Balwant Singh and Abhey Singh and to set aside Mahabir Singh’s acquittal, while the lack of comparable evidence justified upholding Lal Singh’s acquittal.

Summary

Balwant Singh, his brother Mahabir Singh, Lal Singh and Abhey Singh were convicted for murder under Sections 302 and 34 IPC. The High Court acquitted Mahabir and Lal Singh, but upheld the convictions of Balwant and Abhey. On appeal, the Supreme Court examined the credibility of eye‑witnesses Raj Singh and Jagmal Singh, the medical and forensic evidence linking the recovered gandasi to the injuries, and the alleged procedural defects. It found the witnesses reliable, the forensic reports conclusive, and the first information report timely, thereby confirming the guilt of Balwant and Abhey and overturning Mahabir’s acquittal. However, because no comparable forensic corroboration existed for Lal Singh’s alleged use of a jailley, his acquittal was left undisturbed. The Court dismissed the appellants’ criminal appeal and allowed the State’s appeal in part.

Issues considered

The reliability and credibility of the eye‑witness testimonies of Raj Singh (PW8) and Jagmal Singh (PW10).
The consistency of medical and forensic evidence with the alleged weapons (gandasi and jailley).
Whether the first information report was ante‑dated or otherwise defective.
The adequacy of evidence to sustain convictions under Sections 302 and 34 IPC.
The applicability of the benefit of doubt doctrine to Mahabir Singh and Lal Singh.

Legislation cited

Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 302, s. 320, s. 34

Subjects

murderconvictionacquittalbenefit of doubteye‑witness testimonymedical evidenceforensic evidenceweapon identificationalibifirst information reportIPC 302IPC 34criminal appealSupreme Court

Judgment

A BALWANT SINGH AND ANR. ETC. ETC.
1·.

STATE OF HARYANA

MARCH 18, 1994

B [DR. AS. ANAND AND FA!ZAN UDDIN, .1.l.J

!11dia11 Pe11a/ Code, l86(}--Sectio11s 302/34-Cm1victio11s 1111de1-Ap-
pn:cia1io11 of ei'idenc~Eye 1vitncsscs-lndepcndcnc and re!iable--<Jcu/ar les·
ti111011y conoborated by medical evide11ce-F!R promptly lodged-Complicity
C of accused proved beyond reaso11able doubt-I7zeir co11victio11s legally ms-
tainable.

Appellants, father and son along with their brothers were prosecuted
for an offence of murder. The trial Court convicted one accused for an
offence u/s 302 IPC and other three including appellants were convicted
D for the offences u/s 302/34 IPC. Each of the accused was sentenced to suffer
imprisonment for life. In appeal, the High Court acquitted two co-accused
by giving them benefit of doubt \\o'hile maintaining convit;tion and sentence
of appellants. They filed an appeal on special leave being granted, against
their conviction and sentence. The State and the complainant filed appeals
E against the acquittal of two co-accused.

According to the prosecution case, there \\'as pervious ehfuity and
some litigation \\'as also pending between parties; that on the date of
incident when PWS and deceased, were proceeding on foot, accused M
armed with a gandasi, accused L armed with a jailley, appellants armed
F
with a lathi each, came running from behind and assaulted deceased; that
M and L inflicted injuries on the head of deceased with their respective
weapons, on receipt of which he fell down and thereafter appellant and his
son gave numerous lathi blo\\'S on the 11erson of' deceased; that on an alarm
being raised by PW8, PWlO, who had his house at a distance of about 1
G km. front the place of occurrence rushed to the place of occurrence and all
the four accused sped away; that PWS and PWlO then removed the
deceased in an injured condition to the Primary Health Center; that SI
PWll, on receipt of rukka proceeded to the Primary Health Center and
on reaching there recorded the statement of PWS which formed the basis
H of the first information report; that all the four accused later on sur·
136
BALWANTSINGll >: STATEOFllARYANA 137

rendered in the Court and \\'ere arrested; that on the disclosure statement A
made by accused l'\I, a gandasi \\'as recoYered and on the disclosure
statement of accused L, a jailley \\'aS recoYered, \\'hile la this \\·ere recovered
on the disclosure statement made by appellants.

The gr!iund ,;n which the High Court acquitted accused 1\1 and L was
the alleged absence of any injury by the weapons alleged to have been
B
carried and used by these accused .

. Tiie appellants accused categorised the testimony of PW8 and PWlO
as unreliable and ·not trustworthy and argued that PW8 was a relation of C
deceased and had been called from his home, at a far off place, to be a
\litness because nobody in the locality, where the occurrence allgedly took
place and from· where the blood stained earth was collected, was prepared
to support the prosecution case regarding the alleged assault by the
accused party; that the absence of blood stains on the clothes of PWS and
PWIO, who deposed to having personally lifted and removed deceased in D
an injured condition \lith Meeding injuries to hospital showed that they
were in fact not present at the place of occurrence; that the medical
evidence belied the ocular testimony inasmuch as none of the injuries, on
the deceased could correspond be the weapons alleged to have been used
by the accused part}; that the first information report bad been ante· dated E
and ante·timed, there being no entry about the arrival of injured in the
Primary Health Center; that witnesses in whose pres~nce recovery of
gandasi was alleged to have been made in the disclosure statement of 1\1
accused, had not been examined, the evidence relating to the 3IIeged
recoyery of gandasi became doubtful and therefore, thC High Court was
fully justified in recording an order of acquittal of 1\1 and L. F

····The complainant as well as State submitted that· the promptness
with which the first information ~eport had been lodged and the sequence
of events deposed to by PWS and P\~IO showed that the prosecution had
established the case against all the accused beyond a reasonable doubt; G
that from the .,·idence of PW3 and the contents of rukkit, t.he presence of
PW8 and PWlO at the time of occurrence stood established as they had
removed dec~ased to the Primary llealth Centrer; th.at there,was nothing
on record to show that their clothes had not got stained \lith blood and ,
the mere fact that the same were not taken into possession by the inves· H
138 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1994] 3 S.C.R.

A ligation agency, could not cast any doubt on the evidence of PW8 and •
PWIO; that investigating officer PWll had conducted the investigation in
a fair and impartial manner; that there was no contradiction at all between
the medical evidence and the ocular testimony; that the grounds on which
the High Court had recorded an order of acquittal of M and L, after it
had itself disbelieved the plea of alibi but up by M, were wholly unsus-
B
tainable and were conjectural in nature and did not bear scrutiny and
deserved to be upset and that the High Court had given no congent reasons
to upset the finding recorded by the trial Court regarding the guilt of M
and L and had set aside their conviction on wholly unsustainable and
imaginary grounds.
c
Disposing of the matters, this court

HELD : 1.1. The version given by PWS which had been fully cor-
roborated by PW7 and PWlO at the trial was truthful and unassailable.
D Nothing had been brought out on the record to doubt his veracity. PW8
had given a detailed account of the occurrence, including the part played
by each one of the accused persons. No infirmity had been pointed out in
so far as his testimony was concerned. The testimony of PW 3 who had
sent rukka to the police after deceased had been taken to the Primary
E Health Cente,r in a seriously injurred condition by PWS and PWlO, estab-
lished the presence of both these witnesses in the Primary Health Center.
The name of PWS as the person who had brought deceased to the Primary
Health Center was clearly written in rukka. Corroboration in this behalf
was also available from rukka sent by PWl, which conveyed the necessary
information to the police to the effect that deceased had been brought to
F the Civil Hospital as dead and that the patient had been referred from
Primary Health Center. PWlO and also given a detailed account and had
fully supported PW8. He appeared to be an independent and reliable
witness.

G 1.2. PWll had reached Primary Health Center before deceased was
removed to General Hospital and had recorded the statement of PWS at
the Primary Health Center itself. The formal case was thereafter
registered. The first information was promptly lodged and neither the
occurrence nor the first information report were ante-timed. The prosecu-
H tion had established beyond any shadow of doubt the complicity of the
\
BALWANTSINGH 1·. STATE OF HARYANA 139

appellants. The ocular testimony was amply corroborated by the medical A
evidence and the testimony of PW8 and PW!ll was supported by PW7 and
PWll with regard to the time or t>lace of occurrence and the manner of
assault on the deceased by the appellants. There was nothing on the record
to show that the clothes of PW8 and PWIO had not been stained with blood
\\o'hile lifting the deceased and the mere negligence of the investigating
B
oflirer to take their clothes intn possession could not eflect the trusrn.·or-
thiness of these witnesses. The explanation given by PW3 about the absence
of entry of the arrival of' injured at the Primary Health Center was sound.

1.3. According to PW8 and PWIO, accused M had given a gandasi C
blow on the head of the deceased. Gandasi was recovered on the disclosure
statement made by M. According to the niedical evidence, injuries 1, 2 and
9 which were present on the head of the deceased could have been caused
by gandasi. The Chemical Examiner and the Serologist found gandasi to
be stained with human blood of'A' group which corresponded to the blood
group of deceased. D

1.4. All these pieces of unimpeachable evidence showed, not only that
there was no contradiction bern·ecn the occular testimony and the medical
evidence in so far as the assault on deceased by l\t with gandasi was E
concerned but also that the e\'·idence on the record, conclusively estab-
lished that M had caused the injury with gandasi on the head of the
deceased. The High Court did not deal with these factors in their correct
perspective and acquitted M, without trying to properly appreciate and sift
the evidence on the record by taking recourse to surmises and conjectures.
F
The High Court erred in not taking note of the report of the Serologist
which established that the blood stains on the weapon of offence tallied
with the blood group with which the clothes of' the deceased had been
stained from his bleeding injuries. This had resulted in grave miscarriage
of justice. After having disbelieved the plea of alibi which had been set up
by M, the High Court fell in error in not properly appreciating the other G
evidence on the record to determine the guilt. The approach of the High
Court in acquitting him was totally slip shod and conjectural. The opinion
of the High Court was totally perverse and unreliable. The reasoning given
by the Trial Court was sound and the High Court was not justified in
upsetting the same. H
140 SU PREM!: COURT Rlol'ORTS IJ994] 3 S.C.R.

A 1.5. Jailh!y "'as rt.>covered at the instance of accused L but, there \l'as •·
no report of the Serologist sho\\'ing that the jailley \\'as stained \l'ith human
blood of'A.' group. \Vhereas the medical \\'itness categorically opined that
injuries 1, 2 and 9 on the body of the deceased could have been caused with
gandasi used by !\·I, he tendered no such opinion with regard to the injuries
B allegedly caused by L "ith a Jaille)'. Might be, jailley was used by L in a
1nanner which did not cause any punctured or paralled \\rounds, but
considering that admittedly there was enmity between the parties, the
possibility could not be ruled out that L might have been implicated in
addition to the real assailants. Since, sutlicient and reliable corroboration
.•
of the testimony of PWS and PWIO with regard to the injuries allegedly
c caused by L "'as not available on the record, it could not be said with any
amount of certainty that the prosecution had established the case against
L beyond a reasonable doubt. The view taken by the High Court regarding
L could not be said to be either unreasonable or penrerse. Cogent and good
reasons had been given by the High Court to order his acquittal.
D
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No.
163 of 1982 etc. etc.

From the Judgment and Order dated 23.11.81 of the Punjab & J
Haryana High Court in Crl. A. No. 490-DB of 1981.
E
R.K. Garg, S.B. Bajaj, U.R. Lalit, J.D. Jain, K.R. Nagara.ja, K.C.
Bajaj and Ms. Indu Malhotra for the Appellants/Petitioner.

R.L. Kohli, Ranbir Yadav and J.D . .Jain for the Respondents.

F The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

DR. ANAND, J. Balwant Singh alongwith his brothers Mahabir Singh >
and Lal Singh and his son Abbey Singh were challancd by the police for
an occurrence which took place on 26.10.1980 at 3.45 p.m. at Heily Mandi
in which Suraj Bhan was murdered. All the four accused were sent up for
G trial. The learned Sessions Judge, Gurgaon convicted Mahabir Singh for
an offence under Section 302 !PC and Lal Singh, Balwant Singh and Abbey
Singh for the offences under Section 302/34 IPC. Each of the accused was
sentenced to suffer imprisonment for life. An appeal was filed by all the
four convicts in the High Court of Punjab & Haryana. The High Court
H dismissed the appeal in so far as the convict.ion and sentence of Balwant
\
BALWANTSINGH i«STATEOFHARYANA[DR.ANAND,J.] 141
, -<.
Singh and Ahhey Singh are concerned but giving benefit of the doubt A
acquitted Mahabir Singh and Lai Singh. Balwant Singh and Abhey Singh
have filed an appeal on special leave being granted against their conviction
and sentence. The State has filed an appeal against the acquittal of
Mahabir Singh and Lal Singh. The complaint has also filed S.LP.
(Criminal) No. 342 of 1982 against the acquittal of Mahabir Singh and Lal
B
Singh.

Since, both the appeals am! the special leave petition arise out of the
common judgment of the High Court of Punjab & Haryana, they are being
dealt with and disposed of together.
c
According to the prosecution case, there was previous enmity and
some litigation was also pending between Suraj Bhan, deceased and his
sons on the one hand and Balwant Singh and his brothers on the other. On
the date of occurrence i.e. 26.10.1980, it is alleged that at about 3.30/3.45
p.m., when Raj Singh PWS who was the Sambandhi to be of Suraj Bhan D
deceased, after taking their meals at the house of Jagdish PW at about L45
p.m. were proceeding on foot to\vards Pataudi, at a distance of about 4-5
Kms from Hailey Mandi, all of a sudden near the Jain Temple, Mahabir
Singh accused armed \Vith a Gandasi, Lal Singh accused arn1ed \Vith a
Jailley Abbey Singh and Balwant Singh accused armed with a lathi each,
can1e runnjng fro1n behind and assaulted Suraj Bhan, deceased. Mahabir E
Singh and Lal Singh inflicted injuries on the head of Suraj Bhan deceased
\vith their respective weapons, on receipt of which he fell down and
thereafter Balwant Singh and his son Abhey Singh accused gave numerous
lathi blows on the person of Suraj Bhan. On an alarm being raised by Raj
Singh PWS, J agmal Singh PWlO, who has his house at a distance of about F
' 1 Km. from the place of occurrence and \Vas going to Pataudi, was attracted
< to the scene. He rushed to the place of occurrence and also raised an alarm
whereupon all the four accused sped away. Raj Singh PWS and Jagmal
Singh PWlO then removed Suraj Bhan in an injured condition to the
Primary Health Centre, Pataudi in a tonga. The doctor at the Primary
Health Centre was on leave and, therefore, Ganesh Dutt Sharma, Phar- G
macist, PW3 sent a ruk~a Ex. PD to the police and advised Raj Singh PWS
to remove the injured Suraj Bhan, who \Vas in a serious condition to the
General Hospital at Gurgaon. SI Sultan Singh PWll, on receipt of rukka
Ex. PD proceeded to the Primary Health Centre, Pataudi and on reaching
there he recorded the statement of Raj Singh PWS, Ex.PK/l, which forms h
142 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1994) 3 S.C.R.

A the basis of the first information report. Jagmal Singh PWlO in the
meanwhile arranged for a taxi and both he and Raj Singh PW8 removed
the deceased to General Hospital Gurgaon where Dr. S.R. Dhingra, PWl
examined Surnj Bhan but declared him dead. The Doctor, gave the intima-
tion though rukka Ex. PA to police station City Gurgaon.

B SI Sultan Singh PWll, after registration of the case, started the
investigation and went to the spot of occurrence and prepared the site plan
of the place of occurrence. He also made a search for the accused persons
but they could not be found. All the four accused later on surrendered in
the Court on 3.11.1980 and were arrested by SI Sultan Singh on 5.11.1980.
C On the disclosure statement, Ex.PO, made by Mahabir Singh in the
presence of Bhanwar and Balwant Singh, a Gandasi Ex. P-5 was recovered
and seized. On the disclosure statement of Lal Singh Ex. PQ, a J ailley Ex.
P-6 was recovered, while lathis were recovered on the disclosure state-
ments made by Balwant Singh and Abbey Singh Ex. PR and Ex. PS
D respectively. After completion of the investigation, all the accused were
sent up for trial.

Mis R.K. Garg, Sr. Advocate and R.L. Kohli. Advocate, appearing
for the appellants in Criminal Appeal No. !63/82 as well as for the
respondents in Criminal Appeal No. 162A/82, categorised the testimony of
E Raj Singh PW8 and Jagmal Singh PWlO as unreliable and not trustworthy.
Learned counsel argued that Raj Singh PW8 was a relation of deceased
Suraj Bhan and appears to have been called from his home, at a far off
place, to be a witness because nobody in the locality, where the occurrence
allegedly took place and from where the blood stained earth was collected,
F was prepared to support the prosecution case regarding the alleged assault
1
by the accused party. It was submitted that the absence of blood stains on
the clothes of Raj Singh PW8 and Jagmal Singh PWlO, who deposed lo
having personally lifted and removed Suraj Bhan in an injured condition
with bleeding injuries in a Tonga to the Primary Health Centre goes to
I •
show that they were m fact not present at the place of occurrence and had
G not taken Suraj Bhan to the Primary Health Centre and had been intro-
duced in the case much later. Learned counsel then argued that the
medical evidence belied the ocular testimony i~asmuch as none of the
injuries, on the deceased could correspond to the weapons alleged to have
been used by the accused party and this serious infirmity, according to the
H learned counsel, was sufficient lo discard the testimony of PW8 and PWlO.
\

' BALWANTSINGH v. STATEOFHARYANA[DR.ANAND,J.] 143

Reference in this behalf was made to the absence of any injury with a A
Jailley on the deceased. It was then urged that the first information report
had been ante-dated and ante··timed and the argument was sought to be
supported by the absence of an entry about the arrival of injured Suraj
Bhan in the Primary Health Centre, Pataudi, in the records of the Primary
Health Centre. Learned counsel argued that Ex. PD which was signed by
PW3 Ganesh Dutt Sharma appears to have been manufactured sub-
B
sequently and since Sultan Singh SJ PWll, the investigating officer, was
admittedly hostile to the accused.party, he had created all these false clues
with a view to secure the conviction of the accused persons. According to
the learned counsel since Bhanwar and Balwant Singh, in whose presence
recovery of Gandasi is alleged to have been made on the disclosure c
statement of Mahabir accused, have not been examined, the evidence
relating to the alleged recover of Gandasi becomes doubtful. It was sub-
mitted that Keeping in view the medical evidence and other circumstances
of the case the High Court was fully justified in recording an order of
acquittal of Mahabir Singh and Lal Singh, and since the reasoning given D
by the High Court could not be said to be perverse or unreasonable no
interference was called for in so far as their acquittal is concerned.

I
Mr. U.R. Lalit appearing for the complainant in S.L.P. (Crl.) No.
342/82 as well as the learned State Counsel, Shri Bajaj, in reply submitted
that the promptness with which the first information report had been E
lodged on 26.10.80 at 5.45 p.m. and the sequence of events deposed to by
Raj Singh PW8 and Jugmal Singh PWlO goes to show that the prosecution
has established the case against all the accused beyond a reasonable doubt.
Learned counsel argued that from the evidence of PW3 and the contents
of rukka Ex. PD, the presence of Raj Singh PW8 and Jagmal Singh PWlO F
at the time of occurrence stands amply established as they had removed
Suraj Bhan deceased to the Primary Health Centre and both of them were
present there and had removed the deceased from Primary Health Centre
to the General Hospital at Gurgaon in a taxi arranged by Jagmal Singh
PWlO. Dealing with the question of absence of blood stains on the clothes
of Raj Singh PW8 and .I agmal Singh PWlO, it was submitted that there was G
nothing on the record to show that their clothes had not got stained with
'' blood and the mere fact that the same were not taken into possession by
the investigating agency, cannot cast any doubt on the evidence of PW8 or
PWlO. Learned counsel submitted that investigating officer, Sultan Singh
PWll, had conducted the investigation in a fair and impartial manner and H
)

144 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1994] 3 S.C.R.

A the allegation that the investigation was tainted was not based on any
material on the record and was merely a hypothetical argument. Learned
counsel submitted that there was no contradiction at all between the
medical evidence and the ocular testimony and the alleged contradiction
as pointed out by the defence was imaginary and far fetched. Learned
counsel then argued that the grounds on which the High Court had
B recorded and order of acquittal of Mahabir Singh and Lal Singh, after it
had itself disbelieved the plea of alibi put up by Mahabir Singh, were wholly
unsustainable and were conjectural in nature and did not bear scrutiny and
deserve to be upset. Learned counsel urged that the High Court had given
no cogent reasons to upset the findings recorded by the learned trial court
c regarding the guilt of Mahabir Singh and Lal Singh and had set aside their
conviction on wholly unsustainable and imaginary grounds.

We have given our anxious considerations to the submissions made
at the bar and have also gone through the evidence with the as.sistance of
learned counsel for the parties.
D
After going through the evidence on the record, we arc satisfied that
the version given by Raj Singh, PW8 which has been fully corroborated by
.lagdish Chand PW7 and Jagmal Singh PWlO at the trial is truthful and ,'
unassailable. lnspite of the lengthy cro.~s examination nothing has been
E brought out on the record to doubt his veracity. Raj Singh PWS has given
a detailed acceunt of the occurrence, including the part played by each one
of the accused person. No infirmity has been pointed out by the learned
counsel in so far as his testimony is concerned. The testimony of Ganesh
Dutt Sharma PW3 who had sent rukka Ex. PD to the police after Suraj
F Bhan deceased had been taken to the Primary Health Centre in a seriously
injured condition by Raj Singh PW8 and Jagmal Singh PWlO, clearly
establishes the presence of both these witnesses in the Primary Health
Centre at about 4.30 p.m. The name of Raj Singh PW8 as the person who
had brought Suraj Bhan deceased to the Primary Health Centre is clearly
written in rukka Ex. PD. Corroboration in this behalf is also available from
G rukka Ex. PA sent by Dr. Dhingra PWl, which conveyed the necessary
information to the police at Gurgaon to the effect that Suraj Bhan deceased I
~
had been brought to the casualty ward of the Civil Hospital, Gurgaon, as
dead and that the patient had been referred from Primary Health Centre
Pataudi, with slip No. 23155 dated 26.10.1980. PWlO, Jagmal Singh has also
H given a detailed account and has fully supported PWS, Raj Singh. His
\
BALWANTSIN{;H 1·. STATEOFHARYANA(DF.ANAND,J.] 145

testimony has impressed us. There i.s nothing in the cross-examination of A
the witness which may effect his credibility at all. He appears to be an
independent and reliable witness.

Sultan Singh PWll h•d reached Primary Health Centre Pataudi
before Suraj Bhan was removed to General Hospital Gurgaon and had B
recorded the statement of PW8 Raj Singh, Ex. PK/1 at the Primary Health
Centre itself. The formal case was thereafter registered and the investiga-
tion taken in hand. A copy of the special report was sent to and received
by the Addi. Chief Judicial Magistrate at 1.30 a.m. on 27.10.1980. We are,
therefore, satisfied that the first information report was promptly lodged
and neither the occurrence was ante-timed nor the first information report c
was ante-dated as argued by the learned counsel for the accused. There is,
as a matter of fact, no factual foundation for the argument to the contary
raised by learned counsel for the accused and the submission tha( the first
information report was delayed does not rest on any factually correct
premises. Both the High Court and the Trial Court were perfectly sound D
in their approach to hold that the first information report had been lodged
promptly and that both Raj Singh PW8 and Jagmal Singh PWlO were the
eye witnesses who had witnessed the occurrence and that their testimony
did not suffer from any infirmity whatsoever and that both of them were
truthful witnesses. In our opinion the prosescution has established beyond
any shadow of doubt the complicity of the appellants Balwant Singh and E
Abhey Singh. The ocular testimony stands amply corroborated by the
medical evidence. So far as the conviction of Balwant Singh and Abhey
Singh is concerned, the Trial Court as well as the High Court have correctly
appreciated the evidence and rightly placed reliance upon the testimony of
PW8 Raj Singh and PW 10 Jagmal Singh, which stands amply supported F
by PW7 Jagdish and PW 11 Sultan Singh, investigating officer. The medi-
cal evidence has also lent sufficient credence to the ocular testimony.
Nothing has been brought on the record, as was also found by the learned
Sessions Judge and the High Court, which may cast any doubt on the
testimony of Raj Singh and Jagmal Singh with regard to the time or place
of occurrence and the manner of assault on the deceased by the appellants. G
There is nothing on the record to show that the clothes of PW8 and PWlO
had not been stained with blood while lifting the deceased and the mere
negligence of the investigating officer to take their clothes into possession
cannot effect the trustworthiness of these witnesses. The explanation given
by PW3 about the absence of entry of the arrival of injured Suraj Bhan at H
)

146 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1994) 3 S.C.R.

A the Primary Health Centre is sound and does not detract from the reliabilty ·:..
of the prosecution case.

The ground on which the High Court acquitted Mahabir Singh and
Lal Singh accused is the alleged absence of any injury by the weapons
alleged to have been carried and used by Mahabir Singh and Lal Singh
B respondents. According to the prosecution case, Mahabir Singh have a
gandasi blow while Lal Singh had given a blow with the Jailley to the
deceased. The gandasi Ex. P-5 was recovered on the disclosure statement
made by Mahabir Singh, Ex. PO. According to the testimony of Dr. M.S.
Ahalwa~ who had been shown Gandasi Ex. P-5 and had found that even
C its sharp edge was blunt, injuries 1, 2 and 9 could have been caused by a
'Farsa' (actually gandasi) Ex. P-5. His opinion Ex. PB/3 which has
remained unchallenged and unquestioned, unmistakably shows that injuries
1, 2 and 9 on the deceased which are as follows :

(1) There was a laccerated wound 10 ems. X 1/2 ems. X scalp deep
D over right parietal region with clothed over it.

(2) There were lacerated wounds of the size of 3 to 5 ems X 1/2
ems. X scalp deep at the top and front region of scalp with clotted
blood all over it.
E
(9) Fracture base of the skul was seen with injury of the brain stem.

were caused by gandasi Ex. P-5. The High Court while acquitting Mahabir
Singh and Lal Singh respondents, after accepting the substratum of the
prosecution case, observed as under :
F
"Dr. M.S. Ahalwat PW2 had not originally mentioned in the
post mortem report that there was any injury caused by a sharp-
edged weapon like a pharsa on the dead body. It was only by way
of clarification on November 17, 1980, that according to him,
pharsa Exhibit P.5 alleged to have been recovered from Mahabir
G appellant was shown to him and he expressed this opinion that
injuries Nos. 1, 2 and 9 as noted by him could be caused with such
a weapon. It may here be mentioned that injury No. 9 was only the
result of the injuries Nos. 1 and 2. We are of the view that pharsa
Exhibit P5 being a sharp-edged weapon, it would have caused ·-
H incised wounds if it had in fact been used by Mahabir on two
.
\.

BALWANTSJNGH v. STATEOFHARYANA[DRANANDJ.] 147

occasions as alleged by the prosecution. He \Vas said to. have A
caused injuries with that weapon while Suraj Bhan was standing
and also after he had fallen on the ground. The evidence of Dr.
M.S. ahalwat also does not show the user of Jaili Exhibit P.6 said
to have been recovered from Lal Singh. It being a pronged weapon,
some parallel punctured wounds should have been found on the
B
dead body but the doctor said that there was no clear evidence of
any parallel injuries on the dead body. As about Lal Singh, it was
alleged by the prosecution that he had caused injuries with his J aili
to Suraj Bhan on those very two occasions when Mahabir had used
a pharsa. A reasonable doubt about the participation of Mahabir
and Lal Singh arises for this reason that neither Raj Singh PW8 c
nor Jagmal PWlO has been able to explain the absence of such
injuries which could be caused by Mahabir and Lal Singh by the
weilding of their weapons. We thus grant the benefit of doubt to
these two appellants.
D
For the foregoing reasons, the appeal on behalf of Mahabir and
Lal Singh is allowed and they are acquitted of the offence under
seciton 302 and 320/34 of the Indian penal Code. The conviction
and sentence of Balwant Singh and Abbey Singh are confirmed
and their appeal stands dismissed."
E
We will demostrate by reference to few important circumstances, as
to why the High Court was not justified in interfering with the order of
conviction of Mahabir respondent.

From the testimony of Raj Singh PW8 and J agmal Singh PWlO, we F
.. are satisfied that the account uf occurrence given by them iS instrinsically
correct. According to both these \\'itnesscs, Mahabir had given a gandasi
blow on the head of the deceased Suraj Bhan. Ex.P-5 was the gandasi in
question and as alrea<ly noticed, it \Vas rc.Lovercd on the disclosure state-
ment made by Mahabir, Ex. PO. According to the medical evidence,
injuries 1, 2 and 9 which were present on the head of the deceased could G
have been caused by gandasi Ex. P-5. The chemical examiner and the
Serologist found gandasi Ex. P-5 to be stained with human blood of 'A'
group which corresponded to the blood group of deceased Suraj Bhan. All
these pieces of unimpeachable evidence would go to show, not only that
there was no contradiction between the ocular testimony and the medical H
)

148 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1994] :l S.C.R.

A evidence in so far as the assault on Suraj Bhan by Mahabir Singh with
gan<lasi Ex. P-5 is concerned but also that the evidence on the record,
condusively establishes that Mahabir Singh respondent had caused the
injury with gandasi Ex. P-5 on the head of the deceased. The High Court
<lid not deal with these factors in their correct perspective at all and
acquitted Mahabir Singh, without trying to properly appreciate and sift the
.B evidence on the record by taking recourse to surmises and conjectures. The
High Court erred in not taking note of the report of the Serologist Ex.PJ/l,
which established that the blood stains on th~,1vcapon of offence, Ex. P-5
tallied with the blood group with which the clothes of the deceased had
been stained from his bleeding injuries. This has resulted in grave miscar-
c riage of justice. The High Court itself disbelieved the plea of alibi which
has been set up by Mahabir Singh. In the words of the High Court :

"Mahabir is a Physical Training Instructor at the Middle School,
Bharat Nagar, Delhi. He took up this defence that on the date of
occurrence he was present on duty in that school. It being Sunday
D
that day, he could not say that he was actually performing some
duty at the time of the occurrence. Shri Laxmi Narain DW16, a
teacher of the same school, was produced for proving the plea of
alibi. He only deposed about this fact that Mahabir was present at
. Delhi from October 27, 1980 to October 31, 1980. He was then
E said to be on half day's casual leave for October 28, 1980. It does
not follow from his evidence that Mahabir could not have come to
the spot from Delhi for taking part in the occurrence. We agree
. with this finding of the trial Court that the plea of alibi does not
stand proved. 11

F
After having disbelieved the plea of alibi of Mahabir, the High Court
fell in error in not properly appreciating the other evidence on the record
to determine his guilt. Keeping in view the evidence relating to the recovery
of Gan<lasi Ex. P-5 which fully corroborates the testimony of PW8 and
G PWlO, coupled with the report of Serologist Ex.PJ/1, the order of acquittal
passed by the High Court in so far as Mahabir Singh respondent is
concerned, cannot be sustained. The approach of the High Court in
acquitting him is totally slip shod and conjectural. The opinion of the High
Court is totally perverse and unreliable. The High Court was in error in
finding that the medical evidence belied the ocular testimony. There is no
H basis for that opinion. The reasoning given by the Trial Court, on the other
\
BALWANTSINGH v. STATEOFHARYANA[DR.ANAND,J.] 149

hand, was sound and the High Court was not justified in upsetting the A
same.

So far as the acquittal of Lal Singh is concerned, the position is
somewhat different. Undoubtedly, Jailley Ex. P-6 was also recovered at the
instance of Lal Singh but, there is no report of the Serologist showing that
the Jailley Ex. P-6 was stained with human blood of 'A' group. Again,
B
whereas the medical witness PW2, 9ategorically opined that injuries 1,2 and
9 on the body of the deceased could have been caused with gandasi Ex.
P-5 used by Mahabir Singh, he tendered no such opinion with regard lo
the injuries allegedly caused by Lal Singh with a Jailley. May be, Jailley Ex.
P-6, was used by Lal Singh in a manner which did not cause any pnnctured c
or paralled wounds but, keeping in view the position that admittedly there
was enmity between the parties, the possibility cannot be ruled out that Lal
Singh may have been implicated in addition to the real assailants. Since,
sufficient and reliable corroboration of the testimony of PW8 Raj Singh
andh PWlO Jagmal Singh, with regard to the injuries allegedly caused by D
Lal Singh, is not available on the record, it cannot be said with any amount
of certainity that the prosecution has established the case against Lal Singh
beyond a reasonable doubt and therefore, we do not find it appropriate to
set aside the acquittal of Lal Singh as recorded by the High Court. The
view taken by the High Court regarding Lal Singh cannot be said to be
either unreasonable or perverse. Cogent and good reasons have been given E
by the High Court to order his acquittal.

As a result of the a1)(_1\C discussion, the State appeal in so far as the
acquittal of l_,al Singh is C!Jncernl~d, is dismissed \Vhile it is accepted in so
far as the acquittal of Mahabir Singh is concerned, which is hereby set F
aside.

After carefully c0nsidering the testimony of the eye witnesses, the
medical evidence the recoveries and the other evidence including the
report of the serologist on the recored, we are satisfied that both the Trial
Court and the High Court on a proper and correct appreciation of the G
evidence found the case against Balwant Singh and Abbey Singh to have
been established beyond any doubt and agreeing their reasoning, we
uphold the conviction and sentence of Balwant Singh and Abhey Singh and
.....
dismiss their criminal appeal. Thus, Criminal Appeal No. 163 of 1982 filed
by Balwant Singh and Abhey Singh is dismissed and their conviction and H
)

150 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1994]3 S.C.R.

A sentence as recorded by the Courts below is upheld. They are no bail. Their
bail bonds are cancelled and they are directed to be taken into custody to
serve the remaining part of their sentence of life imprisonment.

The appeal filed by the State, being Cri.minal Appeal No. 162A of
1982 is allowed in so far as the acquittal of Mahabir Singh is concerned.
B His acquittal is set aside and he is convicted for an offence under Section
302/34 !PC and sentenced to suffer life imprisonment. The appeal in so far
as Lal Singh is concerned is dismissed and his acquittal as recorded by the
High Court is not interfered with. The bail bond of Lal Singh shall stand
discharged while that of Mahabir shall stand cancelled and he shall be
c taken into custody to undergo the remaining part of the sentence.

The Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 342 of 1982 filed by the
complainant shall also stand disposed of in the above terms.

R.A. Appeals disposed of.