Criminal Appeal No.355-DB of 2005 -1-
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH.
Rajbir Singh APPELLANT
VERSUS
The State of Punjab RESPONDENT
CORAM : HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE MEHTAB S.GILL
HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE RAM CHAND GUPTA
Present:- Shri T.S.Sangha, Senior Advocate with Shri H.S.Sangha,
Advocate for the appellant.
Ms.Gurvin H.Singh, Additional A.G. Punjab.
MEHTAB S.GILL, J.
This is appeal against the judgment/order 8.4.2005 of the learned
Sessions Judge, Bhatinda, whereby he convicted appellant Rajbir Singh son of
Jasbir Singh under Section 302 I.P.C. and sentenced him to undergo imprisonment
for life and to pay a fine of Rs.1000/-, in default, to further undergo RI for 3
months.
The case of the prosecution is unfolded by the statement Ex.PA
given by Joginder Singh son of Jit Singh. Joginder Singh stated that he is a
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resident of Street No.3, Paras Ram Nagar, near Gurudwara Bachitter Singh
Bhatinda and is running a grocery shop in the house. He has two sons, namely
Gursaran Singh and Sukhdarshan Singh. He along with his wife Kuldeep Kaur
alias Bhajno are residing together. Rajbir Singh son of Jasbir Singh is residing
near their house. Rajbir Singh was an employee in the Railway Department and
was also running a dairy farm and selling milk. His wife Sheela used to help him
out. Joginder Singh used to take milk from Rajbir Singh in the morning. Rajbir
Singh had borrowed a sum of Rs.1 lac from the appellant, by executing a Pronote
for the purchase of buffaloes about 7/8 months prior to the occurrence. Joginder
Singh along with his wife demanded this amount back from Rajbir Singh who
promised to pay it by Monday i.e. the date of the occurrence. On 18.9.2000 at
about 7.45 a.m., Gursaran Singh son of Joginder Singh went to fetch 1 kg. of milk
from the house of Rajbir Singh. Rajbir Singh and his wife Sheela were present in
the house. Gursaran Singh got the milk and kept it in his refrigerator. At about
12.30 p.m. Joginder Singh’s wife, Kuldeep Kaur started feeling uncomfortable and
she asked for a glass of milk. Joginder Singh took out some milk from the jug
lying in the refrigerator and after boiling it, he gave the glass to his wife. Kuldeep
Kaur after drinking a part of the milk, remarked, that the taste of milk was bitter
and it seemed that there was some defect in the milk. Joginder Singh then smelt
the milk and he also smelt a pungent odour . Kuldeep Kaur felt restless and she
felt irritation on her lips. Joginder Singh called his son Gursaran Singh from the
shop and sent his wife to the Government Hospital with Gursaran Singh on his
scooter. Joginder Singh also followed them. When Kuldeep Kaur reached the
Hospital, her condition worsened. From there she was referred to Civil Hospital,
Bhatinda, but she passed away at Civil Hospital, Bhatinda. Joginder Singh was
sure that Rajbir Singh and his wife had mixed some poisonous substance in his
milk to eliminate his family.
Criminal Appeal No.355-DB of 2005 -3-
Rajbir Singh had a grudge against Joginder Singh and his family as
Joginder Singh was demanding RS.1 lac back from Rajbir Singh. Rajbir Singh was
making all sorts of excuses not to return the amount.
On the basis of this statement, F.I.R. Ex.PA/2 was registered on
18.9.2000 at 7.15 p.m. and the special report reached the J.M.I.C., Bhatinda on
19.9.2000 at 7 a.m.
The prosecution to prove its case, brought into the witness-box
Joginder Singh PW-1, Gursharan Singh PW-2, Balwinder Singh PW-3, Dr.Avtar
Singh Dhillon PW-4, HC Kapur Chand PW-5, HC Darshan Singh PW-6, SI
Balwant Singh PW-7, SI Manjit Singh PW-8, ASI Kuldeep Singh PW-9, HC
Satpal Singh PW-10, Constable Paramjit Singh PW-11 and Dr.K.S.Brar PW-12.
Learned counsel for the appellant has argued, that it has come in the
evidence of Gursharan Singh PW-2 that he went to get the milk at 4.40 a.m. on
18.9.2000. Joginder Singh PW-1 served the milk to his wife at 12.30 p.m. If the
milk had been poisoned with some pesticide, there would have been a lot of smell
in the refrigerator and also when the milk was being boiled in the kitchen.
It has come in the evidence of Dr.Avtar Singh Dhillon PW-4 that
Organo Phosphorus gives a foul smell. If the stomach is opened, then smell
comes, in case it is found to be a case of Organo Phosphorus poison. Dr.Avtar
Singh Dhillon PW-4, did not smell any pungent odour, as there was no odd smell
after he opened the stomach and that is why he has not mentioned it, in the post-
mortem report, Ex.PC. He has further stated that if a person stands at a distance
and Organo Phosphorus is put into milk, there will be a foul smell.
It is strange that Joginder Singh PW-1 and Gursharan Singh PW-2
did not find the odour of the milk to be different than the natural odour, nor did
deceased Kuldeep Kaur complain regarding smell of the milk, when she was
taking it.
Criminal Appeal No.355-DB of 2005 -4-
The motive for the commission of the offence is very trivial. This
motive cannot be believed. The prosecution has tried to establish, that as per the
Pronote Mark A, appellant Rajbir Singh had borrowed RS.1 lac for the purchase of
buffaloes.
Nothing has been stated in the statement of the witnesses that
appellant could not pay his committees as it has been tried to make out by the
prosecution, that appellant was in need of money. Joginder Singh PW-1 has stated
that appellant Rajbir Singh was a member of 5 committees. He did not pay the
amount of the committees and further, he has stated that Pronote Mark A has not
been executed because of non-payment of the amount of committees.
Taking the ocular account and the medical evidence into
consideration, it comes out that Kuldeep Kaur committed suicide for some sort of
dispute/crisis going on in the house.
The Investigating Officer SI Balwant Singh PW-7 has stated that
when the milk was being boiled, it gave a pungent odour.
It has come in the evidence of Gursharan Singh PW-2 that 1 kg. of
milk given to him was from the general milk which was also being supplied to
other persons. The Investigating Officer has not gone into this aspect as to how the
pesticides had reached the appellant’s house. No evidence has come before the
Court regarding the pesticide being in possession of the appellant. No investigation
has been done on this aspect of the poison being mixed in the jug by the appellant.
Learned counsel for the State has argued that as per the Pronote mark
A which is written in Punjabi, it comes out that the amount of Rs.1 lac was given
on loan by Joginder Singh PW-1 to appellant Rajbir Singh for the purchase of
buffaloes. There is no mention of the committees in the Pronote mark A.
Appellant was not returning the amount of Rs.1 lac to Joginder Singh PW-1 and he
came up with this idea of eliminating the whole family by putting poisonous
Criminal Appeal No.355-DB of 2005 -5-
substance like organo phosphorus in the milk of the complainant party.
Joginder Singh PW-1 took the milk from appellant daily, as the
appellant was running a dairy farm and supplying milk to other persons also.
Appellant wanted to finish off the whole family, so that he would not
return the Rs.1 lac. Dr.K.S.Brar PW-12 who referred Kuldeep Kaur to Civil
Hospital, Bhatinda, has stated that there was symptom of poison which he could
detect. The Chemical Examiner’s report Exs.PF and PQ both point out, that the
milk had symptom of organo phosphorus, which is a poison.
There is no delay in lodging of the F.I.R. The occurrence took place
at 7.45 a.m. on 18.9.2000 and the F.I.R. Ex.PA/2 came into existence on the same
day at 7.15 p.m. The special report reached the J.M.I.C., Bhatinda at 7 a.m. on
19.9.2000. Delay, if any, has been adequately explained, that first Gursharan
Singh PW-2 thought it to be a case of minor poison, and he took his mother
Kulddep Kaur to the Child Hospital for treatment. Seeing the condition of Kuldeep
Kaur deteriorating, Dr.K.S.Brar PW-12 referred her to Civil Hospital, Bhatinda
where she breathed her last.
We have heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the
record with their assistance.
The sequence of events has developed in such a manner as stated by
Joginder Singh PW-1 and Gursharan Singh PW-2 which leaves us in no doubt that
it is appellant Rajbir Singh who committed the murder of Kuldeep Kaur alias
Bhajno.
At 4.40 a.m. on 18.9.2000 Gursharan Singh PW-2 went to the house
of appellant Rajbir Singh to get 1 kg. of milk, as usual, which he used to do so
everyday. In his testimony before the Court, Gursharan Singh PW-2 stated, that
on 18.9.2000 he brought 1 kg. of milk from the house of appellant Rajbir Singh in
a jug. Sheela wife of Rajbir Singh, the acquitted accused, had taken the jug from
Criminal Appeal No.355-DB of 2005 -6-
him and then both appellant Rajbir Singh and Sheela went inside the house. After
sometime, appellant Rajbir Singh brought the milk of jug from inside and handed
it over to him. He came home and put the jug in the refrigerator. From the
statement of Gursharan Singh PW-2, it is clear that he did not know as to what
appellant did and as to what he put in the milk, when appellant took the jug from
Gursharan Singh PW-2 and went inside the house to get the milk. The milk was
not poured in the jug, in front of Gursharan Singh PW-2. It was at 12.30 p.m. that
when he was called by his father, that they realized, that there was something
mixed in the milk when his mother Kuldeep Kaur took some milk.
Similarly, Joginder Singh PW-1 has stated in his testimony before the
Court, that the house of appellant Rajbir Singh is about 7/8 houses away from his
house. He used to get milk from the appellant everyday. On 18.9.2000 he sent
Gursharan Singh PW-2 to get 1 kg. of milk, who brought it and put the same in
the refrigerator. At about 12.30 p.m. he took about 200/225 gms. of milk and after
boiling it, gave it to his wife Kuldeep Kaur to drink. She started feeling uneasy.
Thereafter she was taken to the hospital by Gursharan Singh PW-2, but she
breathed her last due to poison in the milk at Civil Hospital, Bhatinda.
Dr.Avtar Singh Dhillon PW-4 who prepared the post-mortem report
Ex.PC, has stated that the probable time that elapsed between death and post-
mortem was 24 hours. The cause of death of Kuldeep Kaur was due to organo
phosphorus poisoning, it being a compound of group of insecticides which was
found in the contents of Exs.1,2 and 3 of the Chemical Examiner’s report Ex.PF.
As per the report Ex.PF, all the organs of the body i.e. lungs, heart, lever, spleen
and the kidney of the deceased had organo phosphorus poison in them.
As per the Chemical Examiner’s report Ex.PQ, the milk which was
sent to the Laboratory contained organo phosphorus compound which is a group of
insecticides.
Criminal Appeal No.355-DB of 2005 -7-
It comes out from the ocular account and the medical evidence that
Kuldeep Kaur died due to consumption of the milk which her son Gursharan Singh
PW-2 had got from the house of appellant Rajbir Singh. The motive for the
commission of the offence was that appellant Rajbir Singh had borrowed Rs.1 lac
from Joginder Singh PW-1 for the purchase of buffaloes which he was not
returning inspite of Joginder Singh PW-1 asking him to do so. In the Pronote
mark A, it has been clearly mentioned that the amount of Rs.1 lac was being
borrowed (cash) for the purpose of purchase of buffaloes. There is no mention in
pronote mark “A” of the non-payment of the committees by the appellant to
Joginder Singh PW-1.
The argument of the learned counsel for the appellant that Kuldeep
Kaur committed suicide, does not cut much ice. Nothing has come on record that
the complainant party was in a financial crisis. The son of the deceased Gursharan
Singh PW-2 had a shop. There is no evidence to this effect that there was a family
dispute going on in the family of Joginder Singh PW-1.
With the above discussion and observations, we do not find any
infirmity in the judgment of the learned trial Court.
Appeal is dismissed.
( MEHTAB S.GILL )
JUDGE
( RAM CHAND GUPTA )
October 29, 2009 JUDGE
GD
WHETHER TO BE REFERRED TO REPORTER? YES/NO