{"id":191468,"date":"1996-10-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1996-10-07T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996"},"modified":"2015-02-28T15:57:16","modified_gmt":"2015-02-28T10:27:16","slug":"nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996","title":{"rendered":"Nikka Singh vs State Of Punjab on 8 October, 1996"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"docsource_main\">Supreme Court of India<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_title\">Nikka Singh vs State Of Punjab on 8 October, 1996<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_author\">Author: S Kurdukar<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_bench\">Bench: M.K. Mukherjee, S.P. Kurdukar<\/div>\n<pre>           PETITIONER:\nNIKKA SINGH\n\n\tVs.\n\nRESPONDENT:\nSTATE OF PUNJAB\n\nDATE OF JUDGMENT:\t08\/10\/1996\n\nBENCH:\nM.K. MUKHERJEE, S.P. KURDUKAR\n\n\n\n\nACT:\n\n\n\nHEADNOTE:\n\n\n\nJUDGMENT:\n<\/pre>\n<p>\t\t\t    WITH<br \/>\n\t       CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.537 OF 1989<br \/>\nJit Singh<br \/>\nV.\n<\/p>\n<p>State of Punjab &amp; Anr<br \/>\n\t\t      J U D G M E N T<br \/>\nS.P. KURDUKAR, J.\n<\/p>\n<p>     Criminal Appeal No. 585 of 1995 is at the behest of the<br \/>\nappellant (accused)  under Section  19 of  the Terrorist and<br \/>\nDisruptive (Special Courts) Act ( for short &#8216;TADA&#8217;), against<br \/>\nthe judgment  and order\t of conviction\tdated 12th November,<br \/>\n1988 passed  by\t the  Additional  Judge,  Designated  Court,<br \/>\nFerozopur. The Designated Court, found the appellant quality<br \/>\nof the\toffence punishable  under Section  302 of the Indian<br \/>\nPenal Code  for committing  the murder\tof Gurdip  Singh and<br \/>\nsentenced him  to suffer imprisonment for life and to pay  a<br \/>\nfine of\t Rs. 5,000\/-,  in default  of payment  of  fine,  to<br \/>\nundergo further\t rigorous imprisonment\tfor one\t year. The 2<br \/>\nappellant was,\thowever, acquitted  under the  Arms Act\t and<br \/>\nTADA.\n<\/p>\n<p>     The de facto complainant has also filed Criminal Appeal<br \/>\nNo. 537\t of 1989  challenging the  very\t  same judgment\t and<br \/>\norder of acquittal in respect of co-accused Gurtaj Singh and<br \/>\nprayed that  he be convicted under Section 302 of the Indian<br \/>\nPenal Code and be sentenced in accordance with law.\n<\/p>\n<p>2.   Since both these appeals arise out of a common judgment<br \/>\npassed by  the Designated  Court, they are being disposed of<br \/>\nby this judgment.\n<\/p>\n<p>3.   The prosecution  story as\tdisclosed at the trial falls<br \/>\nin a very narrow compass:-\n<\/p>\n<p>     Jit Singh\t(PW 3)\twas doing  some construction work at<br \/>\nhis house  situated near  the liquor  vend  in\tthe  village<br \/>\nBishnandi. He  asked Gurdip  Singh to assist him in the said<br \/>\nwork. On  March 27,  1987, Gurdip  Singh alongwith  his\t son<br \/>\nGurcharan Singh (PW 2) had gone to the construction site and<br \/>\nwere sleeping  on a  cot. At  about 11.00 p.m., Gurdip Singh<br \/>\nwoke up\t after hearing\tsome noise  and noticed\t that  Nikka<br \/>\nSingh and Gaja Singh armed with guns were coming towards the<br \/>\nconstruction site.  On seeing  these accused,  Gurdip  Singh<br \/>\nraised\tan  alarm  and\tasked  them  about  their  identity,<br \/>\nwhereupon the  accused came  towards his  cot. Gurdip  Singh<br \/>\ncaught hold  of the  rifle of  Nikka Singh;  whereupon, Gaja<br \/>\nSingh another  accused, exhorted  him to  fire. Nikka  Singh<br \/>\nsnatched the  gun from\tGurdip Singh and fired at him from a<br \/>\nclose range  causing injuries  on his  left jaw. Gaja Singh,<br \/>\nthereafter caught hold of Gurcharan Singh (PW 2) by legs and<br \/>\nthrew him  on the  ground causing  injuries tn\this head. On<br \/>\nhearing the  sound of  the fire\t arm, Jit  Singh (PW  3) and<br \/>\nHarnek\tSingh,\t brothers  of\tGurdip\tSingh  came  to\t the<br \/>\nconstruction site and found Gurdip Singh dead. Jit Singh (PW\n<\/p>\n<p>3) then\t fired in  the air  through his\t licenced gun in his<br \/>\nself defence.  In the  meantime, both the accused fled away.<br \/>\nGurcharan Singh\t (PW 2)\t aged about 11 or 12 years, when got<br \/>\nup after  hearing the  sound of gun shot fired in the air by<br \/>\nhis  uncle,   saw  the\tdead  body  of\this  father,  became<br \/>\nunconscious  and   fell\t down.\t However,  he  regained\t his<br \/>\nconsciousness at about 7.00 a.m. on the following day.\n<\/p>\n<p>4.   On March  28, 1987 at about 7.30 a.m. Jit Singh ( PW 3)<br \/>\nalongwith Gurcharan  Singh, ex\tSarpanch went  to the Police<br \/>\nStation at  Jaitu  and\tlodged\tthe  FIR.  SI  Gurmej  Singh<br \/>\nrecorded the  statement of Jit Singh (PW 3) (Ex.PB) where in<br \/>\nhe gave the description of the 1 assailants. SI Gurmej Singh<br \/>\nthen reached  at the  place   of occurrence  and carried out<br \/>\nfurther investigation.\tTwo empty cartridges of .12 bore gun<br \/>\nbearing marks  KF-12 and  KF Special long range lying at the<br \/>\nplace of  occurrence were taken charge of by him. During the<br \/>\ncourse\tof  investigation,  SI\tGurmej\tSingh  recorded\t the<br \/>\nstatements of  various witnesses including that of Gurcharan<br \/>\nSingh (PW  2), who  by that time had regained consciousness.<br \/>\nAfter completing  the  investigation,  a  charge  sheet\t was<br \/>\nsubmitted  against  the\t two  accused  persons\tfor  offence<br \/>\npunishable under  Section 302  read with  Section 34  of the<br \/>\nIndian Penal Code as also under Sections 3 and 4 of TADA and<br \/>\nunder Section 27 of the Arms Act.\n<\/p>\n<p>5.   Both  the\t accused  denied  the  accusations  levelled<br \/>\nagainst them  by the prosecution and pleaded ; that they are<br \/>\ninnocent and they be acquitted.\n<\/p>\n<p>6.   The prosecution in support of its case examined as many<br \/>\nas nine witnesses of whom Gurcharan Singh (PW 2) was the eye<br \/>\nwitness.\n<\/p>\n<p>7.   The learned Trial Judge on careful scrutiny of the oral<br \/>\nand documentary\t evidence on record by his impugned judgment<br \/>\nfound the  appellant guilty  of an  offence punishable under<br \/>\nSection 302  of the  Indian Penal Code. The other co-accused<br \/>\nGurtej Singh,  however, was  given the\tbenefit of doubt and<br \/>\nacquitted. lt is this order of conviction and sentence which<br \/>\nis sought to be challenged by the appellant in this Criminal<br \/>\nAppeal No. 585 of 1995 whereas the complainant has filed the<br \/>\nCriminal Appeal\t No. 537  of 1989  challenging the  order of<br \/>\nacquittal in respect of Gurtej Singh  Gaja Singh.\n<\/p>\n<p>8.   Mr. M.S.Gujral,  the Learned  Senior Advocate appearing<br \/>\nfor the\t appellant (accused  ) urged that the impugned order<br \/>\nof conviction  and sentence  is\t totally  unsustainable.  He<br \/>\nurged that  looking to the tender age of Gurcharan Singh (PW\n<\/p>\n<p>2), it\twas improbable\tthat he\t would have gone to the site<br \/>\nand slept alongwith his father. The prosecution has coined a<br \/>\nfalse story  to show  the presence of Gurcharan Singh (PW 2)<br \/>\nat the time of incident. He further urged that until the FIR<br \/>\nwas lodged  on 28th March, 1987, the names of the assailants<br \/>\nwere not  known and it contained only the description of the<br \/>\naccused. The  claim of Gurcharan Singh (PW 2) that he became<br \/>\nunconscious after  seeing the  dead body  of his father, but<br \/>\nregained  the\tconsciousness  when   Investigating  Officer<br \/>\nreached at  the place of occurrence was nothing but his ipse<br \/>\ndixit and  should not be accepted in the accepted of medical<br \/>\nevidence in  that behalf.  He urged  that there was enormous<br \/>\ndelay in  lodging  the\tFirst  Information  Report  and\t the<br \/>\nprosecution has\t utilized this period for concocting a false<br \/>\nstory of  assault on  Gurdip Singh  by the  accused. In\t the<br \/>\nfacts  and circumstances of the case, counsel urged that the<br \/>\nevidence  on   record  is  totally  unsatisfactory  and\t the<br \/>\nappellant be acquitted.\n<\/p>\n<p>9.   Since it  is a first appeal against the judgment of the<br \/>\nDesignated Court,  we have  carefully gone  through the oral<br \/>\nand documentary evidence on record.\n<\/p>\n<p>10.  As regards\t the unnatural\tdeath of Gurdip Singh, it is<br \/>\nnot and\t cannot be  disputed that  he met  with a  homicidal<br \/>\ndeath. The  evidence of\t Dr. K.K.Aggarwal (PW1) who held the<br \/>\nautopsy on the dead body of Gurdip singh on 28th March, 1987<br \/>\nfound the following injuries:\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>     &#8220;A lacerated wound 10 cm x 8 cm x 5<br \/>\n     cm present on left side of face. It<br \/>\n     was triangular  in\t shape,\t pointed<br \/>\n     and was   towards nostril and broad<br \/>\n     surface was  2 cm\tanterior to left<br \/>\n     ear. Margins were inverted cherring<br \/>\n     present. Clotted blood  was present<br \/>\n     in the  wound. The muscles, fascia,<br \/>\n     fascial   bones,\tblood\tvessels,<br \/>\n     nerves  were   lacerated\tin   the<br \/>\n     wound.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>     On dissection  of scalp clotted blood was found present<br \/>\nover left  parietal area.  On removal  of  skull,  the\tleft<br \/>\ncerebral hemisphere  was found\tlacerated on different sides<br \/>\nand three  pellets  were  recovered  therefrom.\t The  middle<br \/>\ncranial fossa  was fractured  and subarachnoid\thematoma was<br \/>\npresent over  both cerebral  hemispheres. The wound over the<br \/>\nface contained\t22 pellets,  which were\t lying in  different<br \/>\ndirections, and\t they were  taken out.\tHe opined  that\t the<br \/>\ndeath was due to shock and haemorrhage as a result of injury<br \/>\ncaused by  the fire  arm. The  injury was  ante\t mortem\t and<br \/>\nsufficient in  the ordinary  course of\tnature to  cause the<br \/>\ndeath. Ex.PA  is the  carbon copy of the post mortem report.<br \/>\nIn view\t of the\t expert&#8217;s evidence,  we see no hesitation in<br \/>\nConcluding that Gurdip Singh met with a homicidal death.\n<\/p>\n<p>11.  Coming to\tthe  complicity\t of  the  appellant  in\t the<br \/>\npresent crime,\tthe prosecution\t story rests entirely on the<br \/>\nevidence of  Gurcharan Singh (PW 2). It is true that the age<br \/>\nof Gurcharan  Singh at\tthe time  of incident  was 11  or 12<br \/>\nyears. It  is also  true that he is the son of the deceased.<br \/>\nBearing in  mind  both\tthese  factors,\t we  have  carefully<br \/>\nscrutinized the\t evidence of  Gurcharan Singh  (PW  2).\t The<br \/>\nDesignated Court after putting some questions to the witness<br \/>\nfound him  to be quite intelligent and capable of giving the<br \/>\nevidence and  accordingly recorded  his statement  on  oath.<br \/>\nGurcharan Singh\t (PW 2)\t in his\t evidence has stated that he<br \/>\nhad gone  to the  construction site  to sleep  alongwith his<br \/>\nfather. The  construction site\twas near  their\t house.\t Jit<br \/>\nSingh (PW  3) is his uncle. He then stated that on 27-3-1987<br \/>\nat about  11.00 o&#8217;clock\t he woke  up due to the noise and at<br \/>\nthat time,  he heard his father asking about the identity of<br \/>\nthe two\t persons. Suddenly, Nikka Singh came near his father<br \/>\nwho held  his rifle,  whereupon Gurtaj\tSingh  exhorted\t and<br \/>\nasked Nikka  Singh to  fire at Gurdip Singh. Suddenly, Nikka<br \/>\nSingh snatched\this rifle  from his  father and fired at him<br \/>\nfrom a\tclose range as a result thereof he collapsed. In the<br \/>\nmeantime, he  saw  Jit Singh (PW 3) coming on the spot. Upon<br \/>\nseeing the  dead body  of his  father, he  fainted and\tfell<br \/>\ndown. He  regained the\tconsciousness only  on the following<br \/>\nday at\tabout 7.30\/8.00\t a.m. The  statement of this witness<br \/>\nunder Section  161 Cr.P.C.  was recorded on 28th March, 1987<br \/>\nat about  7.30\/8.00 a.m.  In his. evidence before the Court,<br \/>\nhe has\tstated that he identified Nikka Singh who was having<br \/>\na rifle\t in his\t hand and  fired at  his father from a close<br \/>\nrange. He  was searchingly cross-examined by the defence but<br \/>\nthere is  hardly any  material\twhich  could  discredit\t his<br \/>\ntestimony.  Learned   Trial  Judge,   in  our  opinion\twas,<br \/>\ntherefore, right  in accepting\tthe  evidence  of  Gurcharan<br \/>\nSingh (PW  2) as  truthful and\tcredible. We  see reason  to<br \/>\ndiscard his testimony.\n<\/p>\n<p>12.  Jit Singh\t(PW 3),\t who lodged  the  First\t Information<br \/>\nReport on  28th March  1987, at\t about\t7.30  a.m.,  in\t his<br \/>\nevidence, has  stated that  after hearing the noise, he woke<br \/>\nup, went  towards the construction site and at that time, he<br \/>\nsaw two\t persons running   away.  Since, he  saw them from a<br \/>\ndistance he  could not\tidentify them and, therefore, he has<br \/>\ngiven the description of the assailants in his complaint. He<br \/>\nfurther\t stated\t that  when  he\t reached  at  the  place  of<br \/>\noccurrence, Gurdip  Singh was  found dead  whereas Gurcharan<br \/>\nSingh (PW  2) was  lying unconscious  whom he shifted to the<br \/>\nhouse. However, he did not regain the consciousness until he<br \/>\nleft to\t lodge the  First Information Report. He then stated<br \/>\nthat during  the course\t of investigation,  the statement of<br \/>\nGurcharan Singh\t (PW 2)\t was recorded  by the  Investigating<br \/>\nOfficer\t and  at  that\ttime,  he  told\t the  names  of\t the<br \/>\nassailants.  There  is\tnothing\t in  the  evidence  of\tthis<br \/>\nwitness, which could discredit his testimony.\n<\/p>\n<p>13.  After  going   through  the   evidence  of\t both  these<br \/>\nwitnesses, we  are satisfied  that the evidence of Gurcharan<br \/>\nSingh (PW  2) is  quite trustworthy  and the trial court has<br \/>\ncommitted no  mistake in  convicting the  appellant  on\t the<br \/>\nbasis of his evidence.\n<\/p>\n<p>14.  It is  true that  the prosecution\thas led\t no  medical<br \/>\nevidence to show that Gurcharan Singh (PW 2) was unconscious<br \/>\nthroughout the\tnight and  regained his consciousness on the<br \/>\nfollowing day.\tThe criticism  on this\tissue made  by\tShri<br \/>\nGujral does  not  appeal  to  us  because  the\tincident  in<br \/>\nquestion took place at about 11.00 p.m. in village Bishnandi<br \/>\nand it\twas  not  expected  to\tget  any  medical  help\t for<br \/>\nGurcharan singh\t (pw 2) at such late hours. Mr. Gujral urged<br \/>\nthat even  when the  inquest panchanama\t was being drawn the<br \/>\nmanes of  the assailants  were not  known and  if they\twere<br \/>\nknown  they   should  have   been  figured  in\tthe  inquest<br \/>\npanchanama. We do not see any substance in this contention.\n<\/p>\n<p>15.  Coming to\tthe next  submission of Mr.Gujral that there<br \/>\nwas considerable  delay in  lodging  the  first\t information<br \/>\nRepot we  see no merit in this contention. The incident took<br \/>\nplace on  27th\tMarch,\t1987  during  night  and  the  First<br \/>\nInformation report  was lodged in the following day at about<br \/>\n7.30 a.m. In our considered opinion, there was no delay and.<br \/>\ntherefore, the\tquestion of concocting a false story against<br \/>\nthe appellant does not arise.\n<\/p>\n<p>16. Coming  to the  Criminal Appeal No. 537 of 1989 filed by<br \/>\nthe   complainant after\t hearing Mr.  Naresh Bakshi, Learned<br \/>\nadvocate for the de facto complainant, we are of the opinion<br \/>\nthat no\t interference with  the order of acquittal of Gurtaj<br \/>\nSingh is called for.\n<\/p>\n<p>17.  In the  result, there  is no  substance in\t both  these<br \/>\nappeals and,  therefore, to stand dismissed. Appellant Nikka<br \/>\nSingh if  on bail shall surrender to his bailbonds forthwith<br \/>\nto serve out the remainder of his sentence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supreme Court of India Nikka Singh vs State Of Punjab on 8 October, 1996 Author: S Kurdukar Bench: M.K. Mukherjee, S.P. Kurdukar PETITIONER: NIKKA SINGH Vs. RESPONDENT: STATE OF PUNJAB DATE OF JUDGMENT: 08\/10\/1996 BENCH: M.K. MUKHERJEE, S.P. KURDUKAR ACT: HEADNOTE: JUDGMENT: WITH CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.537 OF 1989 Jit Singh V. State of Punjab &amp; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-191468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-supreme-court-of-india"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Nikka Singh vs State Of Punjab on 8 October, 1996 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nikka Singh vs State Of Punjab on 8 October, 1996 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LegalindiaCom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"1996-10-07T18:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-02-28T10:27:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/legal-india-icon.jpg?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Legal India Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@legaliadmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Legal_india\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Legal India Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"11 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Legal India Admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0bfdffe9059fb8bb24a86d094609c5ea\"},\"headline\":\"Nikka Singh vs State Of Punjab on 8 October, 1996\",\"datePublished\":\"1996-10-07T18:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-02-28T10:27:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996\"},\"wordCount\":2101,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Supreme Court of India\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996\",\"name\":\"Nikka Singh vs State Of Punjab on 8 October, 1996 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"1996-10-07T18:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-02-28T10:27:16+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Nikka Singh vs State Of Punjab on 8 October, 1996\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/\",\"name\":\"Free Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India\",\"description\":\"Search and read the latest judgements, orders, and rulings from the Supreme Court of India and all High Courts. A comprehensive database for lawyers, advocates, and law students.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"Free judgements of Supreme Court & High Court of India | Legal India\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India\",\"alternateName\":\"Legal India\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/legal-india-icon.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/legal-india-icon.jpg\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/LegalindiaCom\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/Legal_india\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0bfdffe9059fb8bb24a86d094609c5ea\",\"name\":\"Legal India Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4faa9d728ed1af3b73d52225c7f12901ac726fe6f7ea0a3348a1d51f3a930987?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4faa9d728ed1af3b73d52225c7f12901ac726fe6f7ea0a3348a1d51f3a930987?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4faa9d728ed1af3b73d52225c7f12901ac726fe6f7ea0a3348a1d51f3a930987?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Legal India Admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/legaliadmin\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/author\\\/legal-india-admin\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nikka Singh vs State Of Punjab on 8 October, 1996 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nikka Singh vs State Of Punjab on 8 October, 1996 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India","og_url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996","og_site_name":"Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LegalindiaCom\/","article_published_time":"1996-10-07T18:30:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-02-28T10:27:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":512,"height":512,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/legal-india-icon.jpg?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Legal India Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@legaliadmin","twitter_site":"@Legal_india","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Legal India Admin","Est. reading time":"11 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996"},"author":{"name":"Legal India Admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#\/schema\/person\/0bfdffe9059fb8bb24a86d094609c5ea"},"headline":"Nikka Singh vs State Of Punjab on 8 October, 1996","datePublished":"1996-10-07T18:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-02-28T10:27:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996"},"wordCount":2101,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Supreme Court of India"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996","url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996","name":"Nikka Singh vs State Of Punjab on 8 October, 1996 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#website"},"datePublished":"1996-10-07T18:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-02-28T10:27:16+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/nikka-singh-vs-state-of-punjab-on-8-october-1996#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Nikka Singh vs State Of Punjab on 8 October, 1996"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/","name":"Free Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India","description":"Search and read the latest judgements, orders, and rulings from the Supreme Court of India and all High Courts. A comprehensive database for lawyers, advocates, and law students.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#organization"},"alternateName":"Free judgements of Supreme Court & High Court of India | Legal India","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#organization","name":"Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India","alternateName":"Legal India","url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/legal-india-icon.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/legal-india-icon.jpg","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LegalindiaCom\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Legal_india"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#\/schema\/person\/0bfdffe9059fb8bb24a86d094609c5ea","name":"Legal India Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4faa9d728ed1af3b73d52225c7f12901ac726fe6f7ea0a3348a1d51f3a930987?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4faa9d728ed1af3b73d52225c7f12901ac726fe6f7ea0a3348a1d51f3a930987?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4faa9d728ed1af3b73d52225c7f12901ac726fe6f7ea0a3348a1d51f3a930987?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Legal India Admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.legalindia.com","https:\/\/x.com\/legaliadmin"],"url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/author\/legal-india-admin"}]}},"modified_by":null,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191468\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}