Holding

The Supreme Court held that the burden of proving an alibi lies on the accused, motive need not be proved, the eyewitness and forensic evidence were admissible, and the convictions under Sections 302 and 34 IPC were upheld, with the death sentence commuted to life imprisonment.

Summary

The State of Haryana charged Sher Singh and his two sons with the murder of Sher Singh's half‑brothers, alleging they assaulted and burned the victims in a village courtyard. The trial court convicted them under Sections 302 and 34 of the IPC, sentencing Sher Singh to death and the others to life imprisonment; the High Court later acquitted them. On appeal, the Supreme Court examined whether the accused’s alibi defence shifted the burden of proof to them, whether the prosecution must establish a motive, and whether the eyewitness testimonies and recovered weapons were admissible despite procedural omissions. The Court held that the burden of proving an alibi rests on the accused, that motive need not be proved, and that the witnesses’ evidence and the recovered weapons were reliable. Consequently, the Court set aside the High Court’s acquittal, reinstated the convictions, and commuted Sher Singh’s death sentence to life imprisonment for all respondents.

Issues considered

The burden of proof for an alibi defence under Section 103 of the Evidence Act
Whether the prosecution is required to prove motive in a murder case
Whether omissions in the FIR affect the admissibility of eyewitness testimony
Whether the testimony of close relatives can be rejected solely on the basis of relationship
The admissibility of an extra‑judicial confession not recorded in the FIR
The appropriateness of retaining a death sentence after a delay in proceedings

Legislation cited

Subjects

murderalibiburden of proofextra‑judicial confessionmotiveevidence admissibilitydeath penaltylife imprisonmentSection 302 IPCSection 34 IPCSection 103 Evidence ActSection 154 CrPC

Judgment

l

STATE OF HARYANA A
v.
·.
'i
SHER SINGH & ORS.
February 24, 1981

(0. CHINNAPPA REDDY AND BAHARUL ISLAM, JJ.] B
Code af Criminal Procedure 1973, S. 154, Indian Penal Code 1860, S. 302
and Indian Evidence Act 1872, S. 103-Trial for murder-Accused convicted for
murder by Sessions Court-Acquittal by High Court-Interference by Supreme
Court-Whether F.I.R. to contain details of the occurrence-Prosecution whether
bound to prove motive-Burden of proof of alibi whether on the accused.

The two deceased were the two younger half brothers of the first respondent.
c
A day before the day of the murder of the two deceased, the brothers had divided
the family properties and started living separately. P. W. 3, the wife of one of the
deceased, in the F.I.R. given to the police, stated that on the day of the occur·
rence when the two deceased and she went to the bagichi for milking the cattle,
the first respondent and his sons surrounded the two deceased in the court-yard,
the first respondent dealt a blow on the head of her husband with a gandasi while
the others gave lathi blow on the second deceased. Both of them succumbed to the D
injuries. It was also. stated in the F.I.R. that P.W. 4, the sister of the deceased,
was with her at the time of the occurrence and that when they screamed, the
assailants asked them to keep quiet on pain of death to them. The assailants, it
was alleged, thereafter dragged the two dead bodies and burnt them in the nearby
heap of cow·dung cakes after pouring kerosene on the heap. The defence of the
two accused was alibi.
E
All the accused, who were charged of offences under section 302 read with
section 34 of the Penal Code were sentenced ; the first respondent to death and
the others to imprisonment for life.

On appeal, the High Court set aside the conviction and sentences and
acquitted all of them.
F
Allowing the State's appeal,

HELD : 1. When an accused pleads alibi, the burden of proof under
section 103 of the Evidence Act is on the accused. The plea of all the accused
that they were elsewhere at the time of the offence is not true. [4-G, 5·C]

2. The guilt of the two respondents had been established beyond all G
reasonable doubt. The High Court rejected the evidence of P.W. 10 on the
ground that he had not stated in the statement before the police that in the
partition of the family properties among the brothers, there was a hitch. The
prosecution is not bound to prove motive of any offence in a criminal case, for
motive is known only to the perpetrators of the crime and may not be known to
others. If the motive is proved by the prosecution, the Court has to consider it
and see whether it is adequate. [1 JE, 6 B-C]
H
2 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1981] 3 s.c.R.

A In the instant case the motive proved is apparently inadequate, although it
might be possible. [6 C]
3. The High Court had taken a wrong view in rejecting the evidence of
P.Ws. 3 and 4 on the gro1md that they' were close relations of the deceased ; that
it was highly improbable that P.W. 3 who was in advance stage of pregnancy
would go to the place of occurrence. [SF; 9F-G]
B 4. Although both the witnesses P.Ws. 3 and 4 were close relations of the
deceased, their evidence could not be rejected solely on that ground. They
were also related to the m;pondents and there is nothing on record to show that
they were inimically disposed towards the respondents to falsely implicate them
in the murder. Secondly, it was a pure conjecture of the High Court when it
said that panchas and sarpanchas and other respectables of the village took an
opportunity to implicate the respondents. It was also a conjecture on the part
c of the High Court to say that the deceased were murdered by unknown culprits
and that the respondents were falsely implicated by the village respectables. The
High Court found as a fact that the respondents and the deceased slept in the
bagichi during nights to keep watch over the cattle. Had the murder been
perpetrated by unknown persons, the respondents would have intervened and
informed the neighbours. [8F-9B]

D 5. The fact that P.W. 3 did not mention in the F.I.R. that she had informed
some persons of the village before the lodging of the F.I.R. and that for this
reason her statement could not be relied on is not correct. The F.I.R. need not
contain aJI details of the' occurrence nor does the omission to mention the name
of pe1sons whom she informed in the village detract from the credibility of the
report. The omission is a mere omission of details and not a contradiction. [9 CJ

E 6. The High Court was not right in disbelieving the evidence of P.W. 4
on the ground that had she been present at the scene of occurrence, she would
have out of love for her real brothers, intervened and tried to save them. There
is nothing unnatural if she had out of a sense of self preservation at the threat of
the assailant refrained from attempting to save the two deceased from the
murder. P.W. 3 must have been dazed at the brutal murder of her husband and
brother-in-law. In such a situation she could not be expected to mention all the
F details, in the F.I.R. and therefore, the High Court was not right in rejecting the
evidence of P.W. JO solely on the ground that no mention of the extra-judicial
confession of, Respondent No. l had been made in the F.I.R. [9H-10B; lOD-E]

7. In view of the fact that the conviction and sentence were passed by the
Session Judge in July, 1974 and the High Court passed the order of acquittal in
1975, the extreme penalty of death given to :the first respondent is not called for
now ; ends of justice will be met if aJI the respondents are sentenced to imprison-
G ment for life. [11 G]

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal No. 320/75.
Appeal by special leave from the Judgment and Order dated
H 2.4.1975 of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Criminal Appeal
No. 1044/74 and Murder Reference No. 50/74.
HARYANA v. SHER SINGH (Islam, J.) 3

f<..G. Bhagat and ·R.N. Poddar for the Appellant. A
Mrs. Urmila Sirur for the Respondents.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

BAHARUL ISLAM, J. This appeal by special leave by the State
of Haryana is directed against the judgment and order of the B
Punjab and Haryana High Court setting aside the conviction and
and sentence passed . by the Session Judge, Karna!. Respondents
Balkar Singh and Daiei Singh are the sons of respondent Sher Singh.
The Session Judge convicted all the three under Section 302/34 of
the Penal Code, and sentenced Sher Singh to death and the other
two to imprisonment for life.~ On a reference by the Sessio.ns Judge
for the confirmation of the sentence of death inflicted on Sher Singh
c
and appeal filed by the respondents the High Court set aside the
order of conviction and sentence and acquitted the respondents.

2. The material facts may be stated thus : On 17th of
October, 1973 at about 12 A.M. Mst. Narman, widow of Danna D
(deceased) submitted the first information report to A.S.I. Ram
Sarup (P.W. 12) at village Pai. Her material allegations in the first
information report were. that the previous day, respondent Sher
Singh and his two younger half brothers, namely, Danna, her
husband, and Hukmi, had effected a family partition amongst them-
selves and they started living separately. That day, namely 17th of E
October, at about 6.00 A.M. her husband, Danna, along with his
brothers Hukmi and respondents Sher Singh came to their bagichi
nearby from the house in order to milk cattle. She followed them in
order to fetch milk. Respondent Sher Singh, then along with his
sons Daiei, Balkar, Keni, Prem and Parwana surrounded her
·~.
husband and her husband's younger brother, Hukmi, in the court- F
yard. Sher Singh had a Gandasi in his hand, Daiei a lathi shoded
with iron blade, the other three had lathis in their hands. Sher
Singh dealt a Gandasa blow on the head of her husband Danna, who
immediately fell down on the ground. Daiei then dealt a blow
with iron shoded lathi on the head of Hukmi who also fell
down on the ground. The other accused then inflicted blows with G
lathis on the persons after they had already fallen down. Respond-
ent Sher Singh dealt another Gandasi blow on her husband. She
has further stated in the first information report that Mst. Danni,
sister of repondent Sher Singh, was also with her and witnessed the
occurrence. They screamed seeing the assaults, whereupon they H
were directed on pain of death to sit in the corner of the court-yard.
4 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1981] 3 S.C.R.

A Out of fear they obliged. Thereafter, it has further been aileged,
the accused persons dragged the dead bodies· to their nearby . heap
of cow-dung cakes. Sher Singh spread kerosene on the heap of the
cakes and Daiei set fire to it lighting a match stick. As a result, the
two bodies were charred.

B 3. P.W. ·12 sent. the F.I.R. to the police station where the case
was registered, Police, after investigation, submitted charge-sheet
and arrested the accused persons. Eventually, the accused persons
were charged under Section 302/34 of the Penal Code, and tried in
the court of Sessions. The accused persons pleaded not guilty to
the charges. According to them the three brothers were. joint In
c residence, mess and cultivation till the date of the occurrence. The
defence of respondent, Sher Singh, was· that his two sons, Daiei and
Balkar, and the deceased brothers Danna and Hukmi, used to
sleep in the Bagichi during the night to keep watch over their cattle
tetherred there. On October 16, 1973 he and his two deceased
brothers were in their fields during the day and in the evening he
D went to their field where cotton was ripe and he remained there
to keep watch over the cotton till next morning. That field was at
a distance of about Ii miles from their Bagich1. About H hours
after sun rise on October I 7, I 973, he returned to the Bagi chi where
he found the heap of cow-dung cakes in the enclosure of Bagichi
burning. Police then arrested him. The defence of respondent
E Daiei was that two days before the date of occurrence he went to his
maternal uncle, Lalji, at Narwara to borrow a tractor. He returned
home on the I 7th of October, 1973 at about sun-set. He found
the heap of cow-dung burning and police inside the Bagichi where
he was arrested by the police. The defence of respondent Balkar
was that he was a student of 9th class and on 16th of October, 1973
F he had been to school to witness some sports. He passed the follow·
ing night in village, Diwali, where his sister was married. He return·
ed home on October 17, 1973 and when he reached the Bagichi he
found the heap of cow-dung burning and, he was arrested by the
police there. Thus the defence of all the respondents was alibi. ,_
y
G 4. When an accused pleads alibi, the burden is on him to
prove it under Section 103 of the Evidence Act which provides :

"l 03. The burden of proof as to any particular fact lies
on that person who wishes the Court to believe in its
H existence, unless it is provided by any law that the proof of·
that fact shall lie on any particular person.
HARYANA v. SHER SINGH (Islam, J.) 5,

Illustrations : (a) A prosecutes B for theft, and wishes the d A
court to believe that B ·admitted the theft to C. A must
prove the admission.
B wishes the court to believe that, at the time in question,
he was elsewhere. He must prove it."
B
In this case defence did not adduce any evidence tci prove the
alibi. On the contrary the evidence of P.W. 11, Lila, is that on 21st
-October, 1973, all the accused were produced by Lalji, the brother
of ~he wife of respondent, Sher Singh in village Nand Karan Majra
around 8 a.m., when they were arrested. This was· in presence of
of P.W. 11 and several others. Police had been thert the witness
says, from October 17 to 20, 1973. This evidence of P.W. 11
c
remains unrebutted. The plea of the respondents that they had been
elsewhere at the time of the occurrence and returned]to the place of
occurrence by themselves on October 17, when they were arrested by
police, is untrue.

5. Let us now turn to and examine the prosecution case and D
see whether the prosecution has proved the guilt of the accused
beyond reasonable do~bt.
6. The death of Danna and Hukmi is not in dispute. That
the dead bodies were burnt on the cow dung heap by the side of the
Bagichi is also not in dispute. · E
The only question for decision is whether Danna and Hukmi
were murdered and their dead bodies were burnt by the respondents
as alleged by the prosecution. The prosecution relies on the
following piece of evidence :
(i) Motive of the murder; F
(ii) Direct evidence of the alleged eye witnesses, P.W. 3 and 4;
(iii) Extra .Judicial Confession alleged to have been made by
respondent Sher Singh before P.W. 10; and
(iv) Recoveries of incriminating articles on disclosure state-
ments alleged to have been made by the respondents. G
(i) Motive :~P.W. 3 Mst. Narman has deposed that two days
before the day of occurrence, deceased Danna, Hukmi and respon-
dent Sher Singh made an amicable partition of their property. They
divided their land (except Shamlat land), house, cattle, utensils and H
grains. Respondent Sher Singh, however, refused to part with joint
6 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1981] 3 S.C.R.

A cash and jewellery. Danna refused to part with any share of the
Shamlat land unless the cash and jewellery were divided. P.W. 4
Mst. Danni and Jhanda (P,W. 10) support, P.W. 3, It therefore,
appears. that there was some sort of hitch between respondent Sher
Singh on the one hand and his half brothers Danna, and Hukmi on
the other. The Hig;h Court declined to accept the evidence of P.W.
B 10 in as much as he had not mentioned the fact of partition in his
statement before the police.

The prosecution is not bound to prove motive of any offence in
a criminal case, in as much as motive is known only to the perpe-
trator of the crime and may not be known to o,t11ers. If the motive
c is proved by prosecution, the Court has to consider it and see
whether it is adequate. In the instant case the motive proved was
apparently inadequate, although it might be possible.

(ii) Direct Evidence :-P.W. 3 Mst. Narman has deposed that
15 days before: the date of occurence, P.W. 4 Danni who was at her
D husband's house to help her as she was expecting a child one of
these days. In fact she delivered a child 12 days after the occur-
rence. She has supported the prosecution case in its entirety. She
says that in the mo~ning about the time of sun-rise on the date of
occurrence, deceased Danna and Hukmi went to the Panchayat land
where their cattle had been tethered in order to milk them. She
E followed them to bring milk home. Danna also accompanied her to
make cow dung cakes. At that time she found that the respondents
had been standing in the Panchayat land armed with dangerous
weapons. Respondent Sher Singh gave Gandasi blow on the head
of Danna who immediately fell down on the ground. Daiei also
gave a blow on the head Hukmi who also fell down. All of them
F thereafter indiscriminately assaulted the two injured persons. Both
of them died as a result. She and Danna began to scream whereupon
the culprits asked her and Danna to keep quiet on pain of death
and they asked them to sit on one side of the place. Both of them
out of fear did as directed. She has further deposed that the
respondents including the other miscreants dragged the two dead
G bodies to the nearby heap of cow dung cakes and placed the dead
bodies on it. Respondent Sher Singh then brought a tin of kerosene
oil and sprinkled it on the heap of the cow dung cakes. Respondent
Daiei put fire to the cow dung cakes. When the heap of the cow dung
cakes was burning they set weeping there while the respondents were
H scrapping the blood stains on the earth and throwing them to the
burning cow dung cakes. After some time P.W. 10 Jhanda and
HARYANA v. SHER SINGH (Islam, J.) 7

one Bhagtu came to. the place of occurrence after the dead bodies A
were put to fire. They inquired of Sher Singh as to why they were
burning the cow dung cakes. Sher Singh replied that he had
murdered his two brothers and was burning their dead bodies. He,
however threatened them to mind their own business and said that
if they raised any alarm, they would be similarly murdered and put
to fire. P.W. 10 Jhandu and Bhagtu then left the the place. The B
process of burning took about three hours. All this time the culprits
were at the place of occurrence scraping the blood stained spots.
They then changed their blood stained clothes, threw them to the
fire and put on new clothes and left the place with weapons in
hands towards village Bhana. After the departure of the culprits the
witness along with P.W. 4 left for the nearby village. They narrated c
the occurrence to the villagers and told them as to how her husband
and brother-in-law had been murdered and their dead bodies burnt.
But they remarked that that was a dispute between brothers and they
could not do anything. The witness then left the village for police
station at Pundri to lodge an offence report. On the way falls village
Pai, at the distance of about 4-5 miles from the place of occurrence, D
she met at village Pai a police officer and two constables to whom she
narrated the occurrence. Her statement was recorded by P.W. 12,
Ram Sarup, an Assistant Sub-inspector of Pundri PoHce Station,
who was at Pai. She was then accompanied home by two constables.
While P.W. 12 sent the F.I.R. to the police station for registering a
case. They reached the place of occurrence, after some time. A E
short while after the arrival of the witness and the two constables at
the place of occurrence, a senior police officer arrived at the place
of occurrence. They with the help of some other persons who had
gathered· there in the mean time started to extinguish the fire by
putting buckets of water on it.
F
P.W. 4 Danni corroborates P.W. 3 on the commission of murder
of the two deceased by the respondents and a few others. P.W. 10
who came to the place of occurrence on seeing smoke from the lheap
.1
of cow-dung cakes, inquired of Sher Singh as to what was happen-
J ing. He has deposed that he was told by Sher Singh that he had
killed his two brothers and was burning their dead bodies and that ·G
he was asked on pain of murder to mind his own business, and not
to raise alarm. He and Bhagtu then left the place.

P.Ws. 3 and 4 were cross-examined at great length by the defence
counsel but nothing significant could be brought out in order to H
demolish their basic aud substantial evidence given in examination-
8 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1981) 3 S.C.R.

A incchief; Only some minor discrepancies with regard to omissions
of details in their statements to the police were brought out. These
omissions in our opinion were not contradictions and insignificant.
The High Court has rejected the evidence of P.Ws. 3 and 4 on
the~ ground (a) that they were close relations of the two deceased ;
(b) that P.W. 3 had om~tted to mention in the F.I.R. that she had
B informed any person of the village before leaving for the police
station ; (c) that it was 'highly improbable and unnatural' that P.W.
3 would go to the place of occurrence from her home when she was
in advance pregnancy ; (d) that she was not accompanied to the
police station by anybody ; (e) that none of the villagers came to
the place of occurrence; and (f) that she and P.W. 4 did not
c physically attempt to save the two deceased who were respectively
their husband and brother. Ultimately the High Court found that
"most probably both Smt. Narman and Danni were not present on
the spot and had not witnessed the occurrence."
In our opinion the conclusion arrived at.,by the learned High
D Court is untenable. The learned High Court has taken a very unrea-
listic view of the situation and of the facts and circums;anes of the
case. There .is no evidence that P. W s 3 and 4 could or did raise any
alarm. When they were about. to scream they were threatened on
pain ofmurde_r, to keep quiet and sit. There is evidence that both the
deceased as well as P.Ws 3and 4 were unarmed, whereas the respon-
E dents were · armed with dangerous weapons. In such a situation it
will be too much to expect of P.Ws 3 and 4 to try to physically
intervene and save the two deceased. Although it is. true that P.Ws 3
and 4 were close relations of the two deceased, their evidence could
not be rejected on that ground. They were also related to the respon-
dents and there is nothing on record to show that they were inimically
F disposed to the respondents to falsely implicate the respondent in a
murder case like this. They were the most natural witnesses. Although
it was not the case of defence that some of the people of the
Panchayat conspired with P.Ws 3 and 4 to implicate the respondents
in this murder case the High Court made out its own theory to that
effect. There is no evidence or circumstances from which that in-
G ference could be dravm. It was a pure conjecture that "it was best
opportunity for the Panchas and Sarpanch and other r~spectables
of the village to take special interest in bringing the .culprits to book
by contacting the police at the earliest if the culprits were not other
persons than the appellants." The High Court has also based its·
H finding on conjecture that the two deceased were murdered by
unknown culprits and they were falsely implicated by the village
HARYANA l'. SHER SIHGH (Islam, J.) 9

respectables" on. suspicion. This .hypothesis do.es not stand any A
scrutiny:Respondent Sher Singh in ·his statement says ·'·It was routine
for me and my two elder sons and two .step brothers to sleep in· the
f Bagichi dl;!ring night where we used to tie our cattle!' Even the High
Gourt has. found. ·~:,.that· they ~deceased) , like Sher Singh or Sher
Singh's sons used to sleep in tlie Bagichi in the. night to keep Watch,
over.them (cattle)." ·If that be so, had the murder. been. perpetrated B
by. unknown culprits, there Wl\S no reason as to why-the. the respon~:
dents did not intervene and .inform any of.the ·neighbours. The. lear-
ned High Court, as stated above, has rejected the evidence of P.W. 3
on the 'ground that ~e-did not mention in the F.l.R. that ~he had
informed any periwn of the 'village b~fore she lodged th'& F.LR; ; The:
F.l.R. ·need rtot contain the details of the· occurrence. 'The omission c
referred·. to by the ;High Court is· an · omission• of ·details and . not
really a contradiction. The High Court also· was not right· in 'obset~
ving that it was surprising "that.as s'tated by Mst. NarID.an nobody
in . the' village lisretied · to her story nor did anybody go to her- help
when she·went fo'Abad1 Iarid·of the village after the departure of the
appellants,frem the place of occurrence." In fact P.W: IO had come· D
to the place of. occurrence before. P.Ws 3 and 4 '1e'ft'the place of
occurrenee for the viilage:. The way P.W. 10 wastreat'ed' by' •respon-
dent, Sher Singh, was suffici'ent to deter any other viliager to 'C'ome
to the: place ·of ·-0ccurrenbe. · The High : Court has' also found it a'
'mystery' that ·none .of the villagers carrie to the place of occlitrence
and intervened in the matter. There is no evidence on record to E
show that when the assaults on the deceased were in progress or the
dead bodies were'being burnt, any of the villagersin fact khew libouf
the occurrence. Irt fact P.W. 10 and 'Bhagtu had.;seen the' sri1okd
'rroni the cow dung cakes, and came' to the place of occurrence:. :;·;, \
• : ,: t • : •. .", .• ' . '·.. . , •• • . t

The High Court.has also observed that·it was unlikely that P.W. F
-4. 3 would go to. the Bagichi- .in.such an advance stage. of pregnancy in
order to bring milk from,there at sun rise in as much as P.W. 4 had
already. come· there to help her in domestic work. It is commop ex~
,p·erience that in villages women who regularly' attend to their <lomestic
• chore·and work in the field, work some time till the very moment of
'r actual child birth, P.W. 4 was brought to help her as in her advance G
stage of pvegnancy she could not work as briskly as before. The
.learned High Court.has also observed that presence of P . W. 4 Danni
:it the place of occurrence was "not natural because had she been
pi'esent there she would have out of love.' for her real brothers
physically i!ltervened and tried to save them from the clutches of H
assaults~" -It has been obser.ved before that they were asked to keep
JO :mPREME COURT REPORTS [1981] 3 S.C.R.

A quiet and sit on pain of murder. It cannot be forgotten that Danni
was also an unarmr.:d village women and the first instinct of a being
is the instinct of self-preservation. In our opinion, therefore,
it was not, "unnatural" that she would not, as she could not,
attempt to save the two deceased from murder. The High Court
has also observed that in any case P.W. 4 would have raised hue and
B cry. She could not raise an outcry as she was told by Sher Singh
that she would be murdered and burnt, if she did so. It was there-
fore but natural thE.t she did not raise any hue and cry.

(iii) Extra Judicial Confession :-The evidence of P.W. 10 has
also been referred to above. He has depJsed that wi1en seeing the
c smoke he went to the place of occurrence and inquired of Sher Singh
as to why they wer•~ burning the heap of cow dung cakes, he replied
that he had murdered. his two brothers and was burning their dead
bodies. This is an extrajudicial confession so far as Sher Singh is
concerned. The High Court has not accepted the evidence of P.W.
10 on the ground that this was not mentioned by P.W. 3 in the first
D information report. This was an omission. That apart, it must
be remembered that P.W. 4 who saw with her own eyes such a brutal
murder of her husband and brother-in-law must have been dazed and
at her wits end. In such a ·situation, it could not be expected of
her to give al) the details in the first information repJrt. And on
account of the omission, P. W. 10 could not be disbelieved.
E
(iv) Recoveries of incrim<nating articles :-The last piece of
evidence on which reliance has been taken by the prosecution is the
recoveries of incriminating weapons. The evidence of P.W. 13, the
Investigating Officer, is that respondent Sher Singh on 23rd of
October, 1973 made a disclosure statement which is Exhibit PL. The
F disclosure was that Sher· Singh had kept concealed a Gandasi in the
bundle of sugar canr.: in his field and he could get the same recovered.
In pursuance of his disclosure the Gandasi Bx. P. 26 was recovered
from~that place. The Gandasi was stained with blood and was seized
under seizure memo Ex. PL/ l. On the same day respondent Daiei
Singh made a disclosure statement Bx. PM and disclosed that he
G had kept concealed a lathi to which an iron piece was attached in
his Gowar field and he could get the same recovered. In pursuance
of his disclosure, /athi Ex. P. 27 which was stained with blood was
recovered. It was seized under seizure memo Ex. PM/l. On the
same day respondent, Balkar Singh made a disclosure statement, Ex.
H PN that he had kept concealed a lathi in his kikar branches fence
and he could get th1~ same recovered. In pursuance of his disclosure
HARYANA v. SHER SINGH (ls/am J.) II

statement, Jathi Ex. P. 28 which was stained with blood was recove- A
red. It was seized under seizure memo Ex. PN/l. These discoveries
were made in presence of P.W. 11 Lila, who was Sarpanch of the
local panchayat. The High Court declined to put any importance to
the recoveries as the respondents were not interrogated by Police
from October 20 to 24. In our opinion that cannot be a sufficient
justification to hold that tthe recoveries were 'fake'. The weapons B
were recovered at the pointing of the respondents.
In addition the Investigating Officer seized an empty kerosene
tin lying at the place of occurrence, The tin was emitting smell of
kerosene oil and it was seized under seizure memo Ex. PI ·which was .'
attested by P. W. ·11. · In addition another circumstance tends to sup-
port the complicity of the respondents in· the offence ... It. is th~
c
conduct of the. respondents. Th.e two deceased who had been mur-
dered, by whomsoever it might be, were near blood relations of the
respondents. If the murder had been· committed by some others, as
supposed by the 'High Court, they would not have kept quiet. Of
course, they have stated in their defence 'that they were away from
· home in some other places and returned to the place of occurrence
on 17th October, 1973 which has been found by us to be untrue.
This conduct of the respondent~ is incriminating.
7. As a result of ~lie above discussions \Ve, hold agreeing witll
the learned .Sessions Judge, that the guilt of the respondents has been
established by the prosecution beyond all reasonable doubt. In the E
result we allow, the appeal, set aside the judgment and order of
acquittal of the High Court and convict the respondents under
Section 302/34 of the Penal Code.
8. Now comes the question of sentence. The murdor is ghastly
and brutal. Respondent Sher Singh deserved the extreme penalty F
provided by Jaw, The learned Sessions Judge was right in imposing
death sentence on him. But in view of the fact that the learned
Sessions Judge passed the order of conviction and sentence as early
as 27th July, 1974 and the High Court passed the order of acquittal
as early as 2nd of April, 1975, we refrain frorri visiting respondent
Sher Singh with the extreme penalty provided by Jaw for murder. G
We sentence all the respondents to imprisonment for life. We are
told that respondents Balkar Singh and Daiei Singh are on bail.
Their bail bonds are cancelled. They shall surrender fo~thwith to
serve out their sentences.
H
N.V.K. Appeal allowed.