Holding

The Supreme Court held that the High Court’s acquittal was perverse because it wrongly disregarded credible eye‑witness testimony and medical evidence, and that the absence of a ballistic expert opinion did not affect the credibility of the prosecution case.

Summary

On 23 October 1989, two nephews of Hardip Singh were shot dead by Jugraj Singh and his accomplices who were armed with guns and a gandasa. The prosecution presented the two surviving relatives as eye‑witnesses, supported by a post‑mortem report that identified gun‑shot injuries, and the trial court convicted the accused under Sections 302 and 34 IPC and Sections 25 and 30 of the Arms Act. The Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted the accused, holding that the eye‑witness testimony was inconsistent with the medical evidence and that the lack of a ballistic expert report undermined the prosecution case. On special leave, the Supreme Court examined whether the High Court had erred in disbelieving the natural eye‑witnesses and in treating the absence of a ballistic opinion as fatal, and it held that the High Court’s findings were perverse and contrary to the weight of evidence. Consequently, the Supreme Court set aside the acquittal, reinstated the trial‑court conviction and ordered the respondents to be taken into custody.

Issues considered

The High Court erred in disbelieving the eye‑witness testimony and the medical expert’s opinion on the nature of the injuries.
Whether the non‑production of a ballistic expert report vitiates the prosecution case.
Whether relatives of the deceased can be treated as natural eye‑witnesses despite alleged motive.
Whether the prompt lodging and dispatch of the FIR precludes misidentification of the accused.
Whether special leave under Article 136 permits the Supreme Court to overturn the High Court’s factual findings.

Legislation cited

Subjects

murdereye‑witness testimonymedical expert opinionballistic expertspecial leaveArticle 136perverse judgmentconvictionArms ActIPC 302

Judgment

A STATE OF PUNJAB
V. ... .
JUGRAJ SINGH AND ORS.

FEBRLARY 14, 2002

B [R.P. SETHI AND K.G. BALAKRISHNAN, JJ.j

Penal Code, 1860: Sections 302 and 34: ..,
Murder case -Acquittal of accused by High Court by ignorinx the
C convincing evidences of eye-witnesse' and other attending cin:umstances on
the ground of non-examination uf the expert witnesses--Findings of lligh
Court is erroneous both on facts and on law.

Criminal Procedure Cude, 1973:

D FIR Prompt fudging uf--Prompt lodging of FIR and its desoatch to the
Magistrate go to show that there was no possibility uf either wrong persun
being impleaded either as accused or eye-witness.

Evidence Act, 1872: Eye-witne.1·se1·-

E Appreciution of testimony of ( :nda the circumstances of1he cuse if the
eye .. witnesses happen to he naturul witnesses, their testimony cannot be
discarded on the ground that they are r.dutives of the deceased.

Expert witnesses-Non-exwnination of Creditwnrthinuv of eye- ..
witnesses-In the presence of convincing evider.c e ff eye-w1111esses and also
F other a/lending circumstances, non-e.ramination uf expert has no e.jfix I un
cred1hility of the evidence.

Constitution 1f !11dia, /IJ5U.·

Article 136-Special leave jurisdiction- Re-appreciation of evidence
G Supreme Court can interfere when High Court fails to appreciate true effect
and material change in the versions of witnesse~· which result in failure of
justice.

Complainant (PW2) alongwith his three nephews were working in their
field on 23-10-198Q at about 5.00 p.m., when accused-respondents armed with
H 998
s·:-ATE OF PLNJAB v. JUGRAJ SINGH 999
Guns and Gandasa came out and fired shots and attacked with Gandasa on A
two nephews of Complainant and killed them. Respondents-accused also fired
~

at Complainant and his other nephew. Somehov. they escaped and saved their
pa
lives. Complainant informed the incident to others and lodged an F.I.R. Police
reached the spot, prepared inquest report and seized the articles, viz., turban
of deceased and a Gun recovered from the place of occurrence, However,
accused were not traceable immediately but were arrested subsequently.
B
Police, on the basis of disclosure statement by the accused, recovered and
seized the gun and cartridges as also the 'Gandasa'. Trial Court convicted
the respondents-accused under Section 302/34 l.P.C. and Sections 25 and 30
" of the Arms Act and sentenced them to life imprisonment for the main offence.
• Aggrieved, accused-respondent filed appeal and High Court reversed the c
Judgment of the Trial Court and acquitted the accused. State and the
Complainant preferred appeals before this Court.

It was contended for the respondents that the finding of facts arrived
at by the High Court cannot be disturbed by this Court in exercise of powers
nuder Article 136 of the Constitution of India; and that if two views of an D
occurrence are possible, the view which is favourable to the accused should
l.
be preferred; .ind that there was no independent and legally admissible
evidence available against the respondents.

On behalf of the appellant-State, it was contended that the Judgment
of the High Court acquitting the accused was based upon erroneous facts and E
against the settled position of law and against the weight of evidence produced
by the prosecution.

·• Allowing the appeal5, the Court

" HELD : 1. It is now well established that this Court does not, by special F
leave, convert itself into a Court to review evidence for a third time. However,
-' where the High Court is shown to have faded in appreciating the true effect
and material change in the version given by the witnesses, in such a situation
it would not be right for this Court to affirm such a decision when it occasions
a failure of justice. This Court interferes only to avert miscarriage of justice
G

-- if the existence of perversity is shown in the impugned judgment The findings
of the High Court have to be judged by the yardstick of reason to ascertain
whether such findings were erroneous, perverse and resulted in mis-carriage
of justice. If the conclusions of the Courts below can be supported by
acceptable evidence, Supreme Court will not exercise its overriding powers
to interfere with such a decision. (1003-G-H; 1004-AJ H·
1000 SUPRF\1E COURT Rl::PORTS [2002 J I S.C.R.

A Pritam Singh v. The State, AIR (1950) SC 169; Sadhu Singh Harnum Singh
v. The State of Pepsu, AIR (1954) SC 271 and State ofJammu and Kashmir v.
Hazara Singh and Anr., AIR (1981) SC ,1, relied on.

2.1. On appreciation of evidence, trial Court found that it was admitted
case of the parties that the occurrence had taken place at about 5 p.m., of
-
B which the FIR was lodged at the Police Station located at a distance of7 kms.
from the place of occurrence at about II p.m. The Special Report was received
by the llaqa Magistrate on the same night at 11 p.m. The prompt lodging of
the FIR stood established which minimised the possibility of improvements
and strengthened the facts stated therein. (1005-F-G)

C 2.2. Findings arrived at by the trial Court are based upon the ocular
testimony of the eye-witnesses which is supported by medical evidence. The
existence of motive also stood ei.iablished. [1006-E)

3.1. High Court did not rely on the statement of the doctor and arrived
at its own conclusion and disbelieved the eye-witnesses on finding a number
D of injuries on the person of the deceased on accmmt of the fact that the eye-
witnesses were held to have stated the firing of only two gun shots. High Court
could not substitute its own opinion for the opinion of the expert who had
categorically stated that the injuries rtceived by the deceased were gun-shot
injuries. The Statements of the eye-witnesses were not properly appreciated.
E Nothing could be spelt out from cross-examination of eye-witnesses which
could weaken the testimony of these witnesses regarding the finding of a
number of shots at the time of occurrence. [1007-A-BJ

3.2. Testimony of the witnesses could not be discarded· only on the
ground that they happened to be the relations of the deceased. Under the
F circumstances of the case, eye-witnesses were proved to be natural witnesses.
(1007-F)

MfJdi 's Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology-Twenty-second Edition, '·
referred to.

G 3.3. ln the instant case the investigating Officer has categorically stated
that guns seized were not in working condition and he, in his discretion, found
that no purpose would be served for sendinl( the same to the ballistic expert
for his opinion. No further question was put to the investigating officer in
cross-examination to find out whether despite the guns being defective the
--
fire pin was in order or not In view of the convincing evidence of two eye-
H witnesses and other attending circumstances, the non-examination of the
,
¥
STATE OF PCNJAB v. JUGRAJ SINGH [SETHI, J.] 1001
expert has not, in any way, affected the creditworthiness of the version put A
forth by the eye-witnesses. 11009-H; 1010-AI
,.
Sukhwant Singh v. State of Punjab, [1995) 3 SCC 367, distinguished.

3.4. There is no inconsistency found in deposition of witnesses. Their
statements stand corroborated by the medical evidence. There is no doubt B
that the accused persons are responsible for causing the death of the deceased
persons. Thus, the finding of the High Court, being contrary to the legal
evidence, is perverse and cannot be sustained. (1008-C-D)
v
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No.
J.
287 of 1997.
c
From the Judgment and Order dated 20.5.96 of the Punjab and Haryana
High Court in Crl. A. No. 329-DB of 1994.

lnderbir Singh Alag, Satinder Singh Bawa, Rajeev Sharma, R.S. Suri,
for the Appellant in Crl. A.No. 287/97.
D
,...
Atul Sharma, Ms. Gitanjali Kapoor, Rajib K. Garg and A.D.N. Rao for
• the Appellant in Crl. A.No. 288/97.

Krishna Ballabh Sinha, Ms. Kawaljit Kochar, S.C. Paul, C.L. Basha!
and J.D. Jain for the Respondents. E

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

SETHI, J. Both the appeals have been filed against the judgment of the
• High Court of Punjab and Haryana by which the judgment of the trial court,
convicting the respondents, was set aside and they were acquitted of the F
charge of murder and for offences under the Arms Act. The High Court is
alleged to have adopted an erroneous approach in appreciating the facts and
the points of law involved in the case. The conclusions arrived at by the High
Court are stated to be based on surmises and conjectures rather than on facts
and circumstances of the case. The prosecution is stated to have proved the G
case against the respondents beyond all reasonable doubts. The High Court
..-~
is shown to have committed a mistake of law by substituting its opinion for
the opinion of the medical expert and then discarding the testimony of the
two eye-witnesses of the occurrence.

The facts of the case reflect the horrifying situation prevalent in the H
1002 SUPREME COlilU ,z£PORTS [2002) l S.C.R.

A country where the prosecution witnesses and their relations incur the rbk of
lives and sometimes actually lose their lives for deposing truth in a court of
law. Two unfortunate sons of Jagd;p Singh, namely, Gurtej Singh aged 22
years and Sodagar Singh aged 24 years had to pay the price by losing their
lives for the fault of their father having appeared as a witness agamst the
B respondents herein in a case in which Jugraj Singh, respondent and his
companions had been convicted for the offence of murder and sentenced to
life imprisonment Though the enmity between the parties was not disputed
and the homicidal death of Gurtej Singh and Sodagar Singh proved beyond
doubt, yet the High Court, adopting hyper-technical approach, acquitted the
accused vide the judgment impugned in these appeals.
c
The relevant facts for the purposes of deciding these appeals are that
on 23rd October, 1989 Hardip Singh (PW2), his nephews Gurtej Singh
(deceased), Sodagar Singh (deceased) and Sarabjit Singh (PW 3) had gone to
work 'n their field known as Bangiwala field. At about 5 p.m. when they
were planning to return back to their houses, the respondents Jugraj Singh,
D armed with a Double Barrel Gun, Narinder Singh @ Naginder Singh, armed
with another Double Barrel Gun and Avtar Singh, armed with Gandasa (a ~.

sharp edged weapon) came out fwm the aqjoining fields. Jugraj Singh raised
a Lalkara that sons of Jagdip Singh (who had appeared as a witness in a
murder case agamst him) should not go a!ive. He fired a shot from his gun
E which hit Gurtcj Singh on his h ~ad. Narinder Singh fired another shot which
hit Sodagar Singh in the head near the left e)'e. Both Gurtej Singh and
Sodagar Singh fell on the ground. Jugraj Singh and Narinder Singh thereafter
fired one more shot each aiming at thdr target:,. A vtar Singh gave Gandasa
blow to Gurtej Singh. Hardip Singh (PW2) and SarabJit Singh (PW3) who
raised a hue and cry were fired at by JugraJ Singh and Narinder Singh from
F their armed weapons. Both the witnesses ran away from the place of occurrence
and while they were running, they heard •he sound of two more fire shots.
Hardip Singh reacht!d home and narrated the occurrence to his uncle Amar
Singh and the women folk of the family. Hardip Singh and Amar Singh
thereafter went to Police Station Raman which was about 7 kilometers from
G the place of occurrence and lodged the First Information Report, Exh.PJ.
Hardip Singh (PW2) along with ASI Jangir Singh and other police officials
reached foe spot where the inquest report was prepared and other formalities
completed. The seized articles including turban of Gurtej Singh which had
corresponding holes of pellets. All the articles recovered from the place of
occurrence were taken into possession vide Memo Exh.PR. The accused
H were not traceable and were arrested only on 25th October, 1989. One Double
STATE OF PUNJAB v. JUGRAJ SINGH [SETHI, J.] 1003
Barrel Gun was recovered from Narinder Singh which was taken into A
possession vide Memo Exhibit PU. Jugraj Singh respondent made a disclosure
,. statement regarding the possession of the gun and cartridges which was
consequently recovered and sealed. On the disclosure statement made by
Avtar Singh, the Gandasa was recovered. On completion of the investigation
a charge-sheet was filed against the accused persons in the Court of Additional
Sessions Judge, Bhatinda. They pleaded not guilty and after completion of
B
trial, the trial court convicted the respondents under Section 302/34 IPC and
Sections 25 and 30 of the Arms Act and sentenced them to life imprisonment
for the main offence. In appeal filed by the respondents before the High
.,.
Court, the judgment of the trial court was set aside and the respondents
acquitted of the charges. Not satisfied with the acquittal of the respondents, c
the State has preferred Criminal Appeal No. 287 of i 997 and Hardip Singh
(PW2) has filed Criminal Appeal No. 288 of 1997.

We have heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the
record.
D
Learned counsel appearing for the respondents have submitted that the
finding of facts arrived at by the High Court cannot be disturbed by this
• Court in exercise of powers under Article 136 of the Constitution of India .
It is contended that if two views of an occurrence are possible, the view taken
by one of the courts which is favourable to the accused should be given
credence. It is further submitted that as there was no independent legally E
admissible evidence against the respondents, the High Court was justified in
acquitting the accused-respondents. Shri lnderbir Singh Alag, learned counsel
appearing for the State submitted that the judgment of the High Court acquitting
. the accused is based upon erroneous facts and against the settled position of
law. Besides being based upon conjectures and surmises, the impugned
F
"" judgment is stated to be against the weight of evidence produced by the
prosecution which was properly appreciated by the trial court while convicting
and sentencing the respondents.

It is now well established that this Court does not, by special leave,
convert itself into a court to review evidence for a third time. However,
G
wht:re the High Court is shown to have failed in appreciatmg the true effect
... and material change in the version given by the witnesses, in such a situation
•'y
it would not be right for this Court to affirm such a decision when it occasions
a failure of justice. The power under Article 136 of the Constitution oflndia
is, no doubt, extraordinary in amplitude and this Court goes into action only
to avert miscarriage of justice if the existence of perversity is shown in the H
1004 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] I S.C.R.

A impugned judgment. Unless some serious infirmity or grave failure of justice
is shown, this Court normally refrains from re-appreciating the matter on
appeal by special leave. The findings of the High Court have to be judged
by the yardstick of reason to ascertain whether such findings were erroneous,
perverse and resulted in miscarriage of justice. If the conclusions of the
B courts below can be supported by acceptable evidence, the Supreme Court
will not exercise its overriding powers to interfere with such a decision. In
Pritam Singh v. The State, AIR (1950) SC 169 it was held that special leave
to appeal can be granted only if it is shown that exceptional and special
circumstances exist that substantial and grave injustice has been done and the
case in question presents features of sufficient gravity to warrant a review of
C the decision appealed against. In Sadhu Singh Harnam Singh v. The State of
Pepsu, AIR (1954) SC 27 l this Court observed that it is well established that
this Court does not, by special leave, convert itself into a court of review to
review evidence for a third time. But where, however, the court below is
shown to have failed in appreciating the true effect of material change in the
version given by the witnesses, it would be right for this Court to interfere
D to avert the failure of justice.
. •.
This Court in State of Jammu & Kashmir v. Hazara Singh and Anr.,
AIR (1981) SC 451 held:

"It is well settled that in appeal by special leave under Article 136 of
E the Constitution, against an order of acquittal passed by the High
Court, this Court does not normally interfere with a finding of fact
based on appreciation of evidence. unless the approach of the High
Court is clearly erroneous, perverse or improper or there has been a
grave miscarriage of justice."
...
F In this case the prosecution had produced Hardip Singh (PW2) and
Sarabjit Singh (PW3) who claimed to be eye-witnesses of the occurrence. Dr.
Tirath Singh (PW I), who conducted the post-mortem of Gurtej Singh found
a number of injuries including the fractured right parietal bone. In his opinion
the death was due to shock and haemorrhage as a result of ante-mortem
G injuries which were sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature.
He further opined that Injury No. I should be the result of blunt side of
Gansdasa and the lacerated wound over lying it could be the result of a fire
arm. Injury No. 2 could be the result of a grazing by a fire arm bullet/pellets.
He also conducted the post-mortem examination on the body of Sodagar
Singh and found a number of injuries. The cause of death was stated to be
H shock and haemorrhage as a result of ante-mortem injuries which were found
STATE OF PUNJAB v. JUGRAJ SINGH [SETHI, J.] I 005
to. be sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of circumstances. Injuries A
( 5, 6 and 7 were stated to be the result of the fire arm. Injuries I and 2
. could be the result of blunt weapon. Injury No. 6 was stated to be the wound
of entry and the injury No. 7 was the wound of exit. Injury No. 6 was
individually sufficient to cause death. Injury Nos. 4 and 6 each individually
were sufficient to cause the death. Jangir Singh (PW4), AS! recorded the FIR B
on 23rd October, 1989 at 8 p.m. He went to the spot and reached the house
of the accused for arresting them but the accused were not traceable. Blood
stained earth, turban of Gurtej Singh, pair of shoes of Gurtej Singh, Pama
(towel) lying near the dead body of Sodagar Singh, footwear, Khais, tyre and
tube of tractor, wads and pieces of turban were seized by him vide Seizure /
Memo prepared on the spot. The accused were arrested on 25th October, C
I989 from outside the court premises, Bhatinda. Disclosure statements of
Jugraj Singh and Narinder Singh were recorded and consequently the guns
were recovered. Similarly, after the disclosure statement of Avtar Singh, the
Gandasa, weapon of offence was '!lso seized. It is mentioned in the Seizure
Memo that the guns seized were not in a working condition. The witness did
not send the guns to ballistic expert for comparison because he did not think D
it proper to do so .
•
Major Singh (PW5) has stated that he was posted as SHO at Police·
Station Rdmun on 25th October, 1989 when he arrested the accused persons.
At the time of arrest Narinder Singh, respondent-accused was armed with a
Double Barrel Gun for which he was not holding any licence. The gun was E
seized vide Exh. PU. Baldev Singh, Head Constable (PW6) has submitted
that ASI Jangir Singh had deposited with him the case property.

On appn:ciation of evidence, the trial court found that it was admitted
case of the parties that the occurrence had taken place at about 5 p.m., of
which the FIR was lodged by Hardip Singh at Police Station Raman, located F
at a distance of 7 kms. from the place of occurrence at about 8 p.m. The
Special Report was received by the llaqa Magistrate on the same night at 11
p.m. The prompt lodging of the FIR stood established which minimised the
possibility of improvements and strengthened the facts stated therein. The
names of the respondents and the name of the other witness Sarabjit Singh G
was specifically mentioned in the FIR. He held:

"I also find that the entire prosecution version find specific mention
in the body of the FIR lodged so promptly and the same reached to
the Magistrate concerned within three hours of the time when the
report was lodged. The version of the prosecution case as incorporated H
1006 SUPREME COUR'!' REPORTS [2002] I S.C.R.

A in the FIR has been consistently stuck by both the eye witnesses at
trial... ....

I also find that the version put forward by the witnesses who gave the
ocular account of the occurrence is consistent with the injuries noted
in the post mortem reports and medical evidenc.: of Dr. Tirath Goyal
B and their statements do fit in with the medical evidence on record.
The incident of firing upon the deceased had taken place in broad day
light at about 5 or 5.30 p.m. and such an incident had been witnessed
by two prosecution witnesses namely Hardip Singh and Sarabjit Singh
from the close quarters and their evidence substantially tallies with
the medical evidence on record. In view of such direct evidence
c when eye witnesses of the firing being available on record some
inconsistency relating to the distance from which gun shots were
fired between the parties of medical experts and eye witnesses would
be of no significance whatsoever and in this regard reasoning of mine
is also supported by law Karnaial Singh v. State of Punjab, AIR
D (1971) SC 2119. I am clearly of the view that the prosecution evidence
pertaining to the assault by guns and gandasa substantially fits in
with the medical evidence on record. The cross-examination conducted •
on both the eye-witnesses in no way causes any doubt in the •
prosecution version and even during the course of cross-examination
of both the witnesses nothing of importance could be elicited against
E the prosecution."

The findings arrived at by the trial court are based upon the ocular testimony
of the eye-witnesses which is supported by the medical evidence. The existence
of motive also stood established.

F The High Court found that the oral evidence of Hardip Singh (PW2)
and Sarabjit Singh (PW3) was not consistent with the medical evidence which
was sufficient to hold that they were not the eye-witnesses of the occurrence
and were got up witnesses. Despite the expert opinion that the injuries found
on the person of the deceased were gun shot injuries and the injuries caused
G by sharp edged and blunt weapon, the High Court plunged into the exercise
of finding out as to whether the aforesaid injuries could be caused by gun
shots. Keeping in mind the distance between the accused and the victim, as
stated by the eye-witnesses, the court held that there was no blackening, r • '
tattooing or collar of abrasion or charring on the injuries found on the person
of the deceased, they could not have received such gun shot injuries from the
H distance as detailed by the eye-witnesses. The court found that as in the post-
STATE OF PlJNJAH v. JUGRAJ SINGH [SETHI, J.] 1007

mortem report Exh.PA it was not mentioned that the injuries found on the A
person of the deceased were caused by fire ~rm, the Doctor was not justified
•· ... to state in the court that the injuries found on the person of the deceased were
gun shot injuries. The High Court did not rely on the statement of the doctor
and arrived at its own conclusions. The High Court disbelieved the eye-
witnesses on finding a number of injuries on the person of the deceased on
account of the fact that the eye-witnesses were held to have stated the firing B
of only two gun shots.

The finding of the High Court in this regard cannot be justified. The
... High Court could not substitute its own opinion for the opinion of the expert
who had cato:gorically stated that the injuries received by the deceased were
A. the gun shot injuries. The statements of the eye-witnesses have not been
c
properly appreciated. Hardip Singh (PW2) had categorically stated that the
respondents-accused armed with Double Barrel Guns and the Gandasa had
come on the spot. Jugraj Singh, accused raised Lalkara that sons of Jagdip
Singh should not go alive. JugraJ Singh fired a shot hitting Gurtej Singh on
the head, Narinder fired a shot hitting Sodagar Singh in the head near the left 0
eye. Jugtar Singh fired another shot from his gun at Gurtej Singh and Narinder
a
Singh fired another shot on Sodagar Singh from his gun. Thereafter shots
.. were fired upon the witnesses and when they were running away, the sounds
of two more fire shots were heard. Nothing could be spelt out from their
cross-examination which could weaken the testimony of aforesaid two
witnesses regarding the firing of a number ot shuts at the time of occurrence. E
It is to be kept in mind that the shots were fired from the Double Barrel Gun
and the cartridges recovered show that the firing would have sprayed the
pellets all around. In such a situation it could not be ruled out that the
deceased could have received more than one or two injuries. As the witnesses
had run away from the spot to save their lives, they could not state as to what F
' happened to the de1:eased after they were forced to leave the place of
occurrence. The testimony of the witnesses could not be discarded only on
the ground that they happened to be the relations of the deceased. Under the
circumstances of the case PWs 2 and 3 were proved to be natural witnesses.

There was, therefore, no justification for the High Court to not accept G
the testimony of the eye-witnesses and reject the same on the ground of there

. ·.,-
being contradictions between their testimony and the conclusion arrived at by
the High Court regarding the injuries sustained by the deceased. The High
Court held:

"In the present case, as noticed above, evidence of the eye-witnesses H
1008 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] I S.C.R.

A Hardip Singh and Sarabjit Singh is wholly inconsistent with the
medical evidence and, therefore, it is difficult to accept them as eye
witnesses to the occurrence and thus, it would not be safe to base the·
conviction on the evidence of such witnesses. Even otherwise, it is
evident from the record that the alleged eye witnesses had an old
enmity with the accused and this, there was a motive for them to
B falsely implicate the accused. There is no other evidence to support
the prosecution case."

We have critically perused the statements of the aforesaid two eye-
witnesses and the statement of Dr. Tirath Singh (PW I) and did not find any
C inconsistency in their depositions. We are further satisfied that the statements
of the eye-witnesses stand corroborated by the medical evidence. We have no
doubt in our mind that the accused-persons are responsible for causing the
death of the deceased persons. The prompt lodging of the FIR and its despatch
to the Magistrate has further strengthened our belief that there was no
possibility of either wrong person being impleaded as accused or persons
D who have not seen the occurrence produced as eye-witnesses. The finding of
the High Court, being contrary to the legal evidence, is perverse and cannot
be sustained.

To justify the op1mon of the High Court, learned counsel for the
E respondents-accused argued that as the doctor had not made a mention of gun
shot injuries in the post-mortem report, his later deposition before the police
regarding the nature of the injuries should not be accepted. We cannot accept
such a plea either legally or factually. There is no obligation on the doctor
to describe the origin or cause of the injuries in the post-mortem report as he
stated in his deposition in the court. Otherwise also we find that a mention
F of fire arm injury is factually made in one of the columns of the post-mortem
report. It is further contended that as the doctor had stated that "due to
putrefaction the normal anaomy of tissues is disturbed, so collar of abrasion
showing two zones of inner grease and outer of abrasions was not possible
for me to distinguish", the medical report could not be relied upon. In support
G of his contention, the learned counsel has referred to Modi's Medical
Jurisprudence & Toxicology - Twenty-second Edition where it is stated that
putrefaction follows the disappearance of the rigor mortis, and that as the
rigor mortis was present, putrefaction could not have been noticed by the -. •
doctor. We have perused the opinion of the learned Author and find that in·
the same heading "Putrefaction of Decomposition and Autolysis" it is stated
H that "putrefaction follows the disappearance of the rigor mortis, but this is
STATE OF PUNJAB v. JUGRAJ SINGH [SETHI, J.] 1009

not always the case; since, in northern India, especially during the hot months A
from April to October, it commences before rigor mortis has completely
~ .,.. passed off from the lower extremities". lt is not disputed that the occurrence
had taken place in northern India during the period, referred to by the learned
Author.

Pointing out to another defect of not sending the weapon of offence, B
the guns, to the ballistic expert for examination for his expert opinion, it is
argued that the creditworthiness of the case is totally demolished entitling the
respondents the benefit of acquittal. In support of his contention, the learned
counsel relied upon a judgment of this Court in Sukhwant Singh v. Stute of
Punjab, (l 995] 3 SCC 36 7 wherein it is held that: C
"There is yet another infirmity in this case. We find that whereas an
empty had been recovered by PW6, AS! Raghubir Singh from the
spot and a pistol along with some cartridges were seized from the
possession of the appellant at the time of his arrest, yet the prosecution,
for reasons best known to it, did not send the recovered empty and D
seized pistol to the ballistic expert for examination and expert opinion.
> Comparison could have provided link evidence between the crime
and the accused. This again is an omission on the part of the
prosecution for which no explanation ha~ been furnished either in the
trial court or before us. It hardly needs to be emphasised that in cases
where injuries are caused by firearms, the opinion of the ballistic E
expert is of a considerable importance where both the firearm and the
crime cartridge are recovered during the investigation to connect an
accused with the crime. Failure to produce the expert opinion before
the trial court in such cases affects the creditworthiness of the
prosecution case to a great extent." F
In that case the evidence of the two eye-witnesses was held inadmissible as
they were not examined in terms of Section 138 of the Evidence Act and the
court did not rely upon the sole testimony of Gurmej Singh (PW3 ). In that
context the court observed that failure to produce the expert opinion affected
the creditworthiness of the prosecution case to a great extent. Nowhere it was G
held that on account of failure to produce the expert opinion the prosecution
version in all cases should be disbelieved.

In the instant case the investigating officer has categorically stated that
guns seized were not in a working condition and he, in his discretion, found
that no purpose would be served for sending the same to the ballistic expert H
1010 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] I S.C.R.

A for his opinion. No further question was put to the investigating officer in
cross-examination to find out whether despite the guns being defective the
fire pin was in order or not. In the presence of convincing evidence of two "'I' "'
eye-witnesses and other attending circumstances we do not find that the non-
examination of the expert in this case has, in any way, affected the
B creditworthiness of the version put forth by the eye-witnesses.

As we find that the impugned judgment is based upon conjectures and
hypothesis and the High Court has wrongly ignored the evidence of eye-
witnesses, the conclusions arrived by it are erroneous both on facts and on
law. We find it a fit case in which, upon review of the judgment and in the
C light of legal position, the impugned judgment deserves to be set aside.

Accordingly the appeals are allowed by setting aside the impugned
judgment of the High Court and upholding the judgment of the trial court by
which respondents were convicted and sentenced for the commission of
I
offences punishable under Section 302/34 IPC and Sections 25 and 30 of the
D Arms Act. The bail bonds furnished by the respondents shall stand cancelled
and they shall be taken in custody forthwith for undergoing the remaining
part of their sentences awarded to them.

S.K.S. Appeals allowed.

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