# ASHOK SINGH v. STATE or= U.P

- **Citation:** [2009] 14 S.C.R. 810
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 2009
- **Case number:** Criminal Appeal No. 640 of 2005
- **Bench:** Harjit Singh Bedi, J.M. Panchal
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/ashok-singh-v-state-or-u-p-25088
- **Pages:** 5

## Headnote

I /
Penal Code, 1860- s.302 rlw s.34- Murder- Death due
•
to gun-shot injury - Common intention - PW3's father was
~-
c shot at from short distance which proved fatal - Conviction of
accused-appellants - Propriety of - Held: Proper.....: Evidence
of PW3 was corroborated by PW4, an independent witness -
~
Ocular evidence was fully borne out by medical evidence -
Both appellants had been armed with shot guns - Two spent
D cartridge cases picked up from the place of incident indicated
..,
that both appellants had fired a shot each at the deceased -
I
Conviction of appellants confirmed.
,._ ...
According to the prosecution, due to previous
E enmity, the accused persons fired at PW3's father from
short distance which proved fatal. Placing reliance upon
the statements of PW-3 and PW-4, the trial court
convicted all the four accused under Section 302 r/w
Section 34 IPC and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
F
On appeal, the High Court granted benefit of doubt to two
.....
,accused and acquitted them but upheld the conviction
' ' ~
of the other two accused, i.e. the appellants in the present
Iappeal.
Dismissing the appeal, the Court
G
HELD: 1.1. There is no reason to disbelieve PW3
~
supported fully as he is by the statement of PW4 who is
a truly independent witness. An attempt by the defence
to show that PW4 was indebted to deceased for some
H favour earlier in point of time has not been substantiated
810
.
ASHOK SINGH v. STATE OF U.P.
811
on record. It is also found that the ocular evidence is fully
A
• borne out by the medical evidence as a pellet was
recovered from the dead body at the time of the postmortem examination. [Para 3) [813-F-H; 814-A]
1.2. It is true that two shots were alleged to have been
B
fired at the deceased whereas only one wound entry on
the head by a fire arm had been detected at the time of
post-mortem. However, it would be impossible for any
witness in a case of simultaneous firing of two or more
.,,
shots to give a categorical statement as to which of the c
two shots had hit the victim. It is also seen from the
evidence of ASI (PW5) that two spent cartridge cases had
been picked up from the place of incident meaning
thereby that both the appellants had fired a shot each at
the deceased. Also if two different types of weapons had
D
been used it would have been open to the defence to
-4
--
argue that in the light of the fact that a shot gun pellet had
. been recovered from the dead body, the other weapon
had not been used, which factor undoubtedly could
cause some speculation about the prosecution's case.
This is not the situation in the present case, as both the E
appellants had been armed with shot guns. The judgment
of the High Court is therefore confirmed. (Para 4) (814-8E)
•

## Text

[2009) 14 (ADDL.) S.C.R. 810
A
ASHOK SINGH
v.
STATE or= U.P.
(Criminal Appeal No. 640 of 2005)
/
.,
SEPTEMBER. 18, 2009/
I
B
[HARJIT SINGH BEDI AND J.M. PANCHAL,., JJ.]
I /
Penal Code, 1860- s.302 rlw s.34- Murder- Death due
•
to gun-shot injury - Common intention - PW3's father was
~-
c shot at from short distance which proved fatal - Conviction of
accused-appellants - Propriety of - Held: Proper.....: Evidence
of PW3 was corroborated by PW4, an independent witness -
~
Ocular evidence was fully borne out by medical evidence -
Both appellants had been armed with shot guns - Two spent
D cartridge cases picked up from the place of incident indicated
..,
that both appellants had fired a shot each at the deceased -
I
Conviction of appellants confirmed.
,._ ...
According to the prosecution, due to previous
E enmity, the accused persons fired at PW3's father from
short distance which proved fatal. Placing reliance upon
the statements of PW-3 and PW-4, the trial court
convicted all the four accused under Section 302 r/w
Section 34 IPC and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
F
On appeal, the High Court granted benefit of doubt to two
.....
,accused and acquitted them but upheld the conviction
' ' ~
of the other two accused, i.e. the appellants in the present
Iappeal.
Dismissing the appeal, the Court
G
HELD: 1.1. There is no reason to disbelieve PW3
~
supported fully as he is by the statement of PW4 who is
a truly independent witness. An attempt by the defence
to show that PW4 was indebted to deceased for some
H favour earlier in point of time has not been substantiated
810
.
ASHOK SINGH v. STATE OF U.P.
811
on record. It is also found that the ocular evidence is fully
A
• borne out by the medical evidence as a pellet was
recovered from the dead body at the time of the postmortem examination. [Para 3) [813-F-H; 814-A]
1.2. It is true that two shots were alleged to have been
B
fired at the deceased whereas only one wound entry on
the head by a fire arm had been detected at the time of
post-mortem. However, it would be impossible for any
witness in a case of simultaneous firing of two or more
.,,
shots to give a categorical statement as to which of the c
two shots had hit the victim. It is also seen from the
evidence of ASI (PW5) that two spent cartridge cases had
been picked up from the place of incident meaning
thereby that both the appellants had fired a shot each at
the deceased. Also if two different types of weapons had
D
been used it would have been open to the defence to
-4
--
argue that in the light of the fact that a shot gun pellet had
. been recovered from the dead body, the other weapon
had not been used, which factor undoubtedly could
cause some speculation about the prosecution's case.
This is not the situation in the present case, as both the E
appellants had been armed with shot guns. The judgment
of the High Court is therefore confirmed. (Para 4) (814-8E)
•
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal
F
Appeal No. 640 of 2005.
From the Judgment & Order dated 12.1.2004 of the High
Court of Judicature at Allahabad (Lucknow Bench,) Lucknow
in Criminal Appeal No. 519 of 1980.
G
Siddhartha Luthra, Jagjit Singh Chhabra, Amreeta Swarup
..
and Arundhati Katju for the Appellant.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
HARJIT SINGH BEDI, J. 1. This appeal by way of special
H
812
SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009) 14 (ADDL.) S.C.R
A leave arises out of the following facts:
•
2. At about 7 a.m. on the 11th July 1977 deceased Chhota
Singh was on his way from his residential house to the nearby
Devi Ji Mandir for the purpose of supervising the repairs of the
'B chabutra of the temple. The four accused, namely Ashok Singh,
Shiv Raj, Shyam Saran Singh and Sheo Narayan were hiding
near the flour mill, all armed with guns. Shiv Raj and Sheo
Narayan gave a lalkara that Chhota Singh be killed and on this
call Ashok Singh and Shyam Saran Singh fired at him on which
he fell down at a short distance from his residential house and
I,.
c succumbed to his injury. The incident was witnessed amongst
others by Ranieshwar Singh (PW3) son of the deceased and
Durjan (PW4). After the assailants left the scene, Chhota Singh
was shifted from the place where he lay dead. Rameshwar
D
Singh (PW3) rushed to the Police Station and lodged a report
with Police Station Hasan Ganj at 9.30 a.m. whereafter Ram
Prakash Shukla Sub-Inspector (PW5) reached the spot at 2.45
1
\-
p.m. and started with the investigation. He found the dead body
lying in front of his residential house and after recording the
inquest report dispatched the dead body for the post-mortem.
E The post-mortem examination was conducted by Dr. A. Akram
on 12th· October 1977 which revealed two ante mortem external
injuries, one being a gun shot wound from which a pellet
wasalso recovered. On the completion of the investigation, the
accused was charged for an offence punishable under Section
F 302/34 of the IPC. The trial court relying on the statements of
Rameshwar Singh (PW3) and Durjan (PW4) convicted all the
accused and -sentenced them to undergo imprisonment for life.
The matter was thereafter taken in appeal before the. High
Court. The High Court repelled the submissions of the
G appellant's counsel that the FIR had been inordinately delayed,
that the incident had not taken place at the time and place
suggested by the prosecution and that the deceased had, in
fact, been murdered in the early hours of the morning when he
had gone to ease himself. The High Court observed that it was
H true (as it had been admitted by Rameshwar Singh (PW3)
\~
ASHOK SINGH v. STATE OF U.P.
813
[HARJIT SINGH BEDI, J.]
himself) that there were two rival groups in the village and one
A
of the groups· was headed by his father whereas some of the
accused belonged to the opposite party and that Ashok Singh
appellant and he were on inimical terms and, therefore, it
appeared that Rameshwar Singh was an interested witness.
The court, however, further opined that Durjan was a completely B
independent witness whose evidence inspired confidence. The
court also observed that though two shots were alleged to have
been fired at the deceased, one by Ashok Singh and the other
by Shyam Saran Singh the argument of the learned counsel for
the appellant, that there was apparent discordance between the c
ocular and the medical evidence was not sustainable more
particularly as both shots had been fired simultaneously, and it
would have been impossible for any witness to have given a
categorical statement as to which of the two shots had hit the
deceased. The court, further, opined that though Rameshwar b
Singh and Durjan had both stated that Shiv Raj and Sheo
Narayan had been armed with a gun but it was conceded on
all sides that they had not used their weapons and all that they
have done was to have shouted to their companions to kill
Chhota Singh, and that it appeared from the statement of
Rameshwar Singh (PW3) that he had, in fact, not seen these
E
two actually exhorting the other accused to commit the crime.
The court accordingly granted the benefit of doubt to Shiv Raj
and Sheo Narayan appellantstherein while dismissing the
appeal of Ashok Singh and Shyam Saran Singh. These two are
before us in appeal by way of Special Leave Petition.
F
3. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties and
gone through the record. We find no reason to disbelieve
Rameshwar Singh (PW3) supported fully as he is by the
statement of Durjan (PW4) who is a truly independent witness.
G
An attempt by the defence to show that he was indebted to
Chhota Singh for some favour earlier in point of time has not
been substantiated on record. We also find that the ocular
evidence is fully borne out by the medical evidence as Dr. A.
Akram had recovered a pellet from the dead body at the time
H
814 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 14 (ADDL.) S.C.R.
A · of the post-mortem examination.
4. Mr. Luthra, the learned counsel for the appellants has
submitted that as only one entr}' wound had been detected on
the dead body from two shots, the prosecution story suffered
8 from a serious flaw. It is true that two shots were alleged to have
been fired at the deceased whereas only one wound entry on
the head by a fire arm had been detected at the time of post-
- mortem. We are of the opinion, however, that it would be
impossible for any witness in a case of simultaneous firing of
C two or more shots to give a categorical statement as to which
of the two shots had hit the victim. We also see from the
evidence of ASl-Ram Prakash Shukla (PWS) that two spent
cartridge cases had been picked up from the place of incident
meaning thereby that both Ashok Singh and Shyam Saran
Singh had fired a shot each at the deceased. We also believe.
D that if two different types of weapons had been used it would
have been open to the defence to argue that in the light_ of the -
fact that a shot gun pellet had been recovered from the dead
body, the other weapon had not been used, which factor
undoubtedly could cause some speculation about the_
E prosecution's case. Admittedly, this is not the situation before
us, as both the appellants had been armed with shot guns. We,.
therefore, confirm the judgment of the High court. The appeal '
is dismissed.
- ,
B.B.B.
Appeal dismissed .. -.=