Punjab and Haryana High Court confirms death penalty of man who killed his wife, kids and sister-in-law

The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently confirmed the death sentence of a man who was convicted in 2020 for murdering his wife, two children and sister-in-law in 2013 in Punjab's Phagwara area [State of Punjab Versus Baljinder Kumar @ Kala]..A division bench of Acting Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia and Justice Lapita Banerji upheld the conviction of Baljinder Kumar and declared it to be a 'rarest of rare' case.“In the present case, the appellant had committed the murder of his wife for whom it was her second marriage and his children. In the absence of any residuary doubt and the brutality in which he had done his children to death, there is apparently no mitigating circumstance in his favour,” the Court said..The Court also reasoned that the manner in which Kumar killed his own children, wife and sister-in-law was pre-planned and it cannot be said to have been done in the heat of passion.“The brutality of the incident is thus one which we would describe as a diabolic act whereby the conscience of the society as a whole has been shocked,” it added..A diabolic act whereby the conscience of the society as a whole has been shocked.Punjab and Haryana High Court.Kumar killed his wife Seema Rani, his kids 3-year-old Suman Kumari and 2-year-old Harsh, sister-in-law Reena Rani and injured two others on November 29, 2013. According to the prosecution, Kumar just days before the murders had visited his mother-in-law Manjit Kaur and threatened to kill his own wife and children - who had left him due to disputes with him.The threat had its origin in a dispute related to an amount of ₹35,000 which was to be paid to Kumar and his sister Rekha Rani by her former husband as part of their divorce settlement. Since Kaur had arranged Rani's marriage, which did not work out, and also stood as guarantor for the return of the money, Kumar held a grudge against her as she failed to ensure return of the money, the prosecution said..A Sessions Court in Kapurthala convicted him in February 2020 and sentenced him to death.While a reference for confirmation of the death sentence was sent to the High Court, Kumar also appealed against the conviction..The High Court after analysing the evidence concluded that the assault had been carried out by a person who was keenly nursing a grudge and it was not a case of robbery by unknown persons.It also relied upon the eyewitness account of the survivor Harry, who was 5 years old at the time of incident."The statement of the child witness has been evaluated carefully by us and with great circumspection and we see no plausible reason to reject the same, even partly or fully, in the absence of any reason or suggestion that the child had been tutored in any manner to depose against his uncle," the Court said. .On the argument that Kumar himself had suffered serious injuries and was admitted to a hospital on the same day, the Court noted that the medical report revealed he had fallen from a height.“The incident having occurred on the same day and the appellant residing at a considerable distance from the place of incident but cycling to the place and receiving injuries during assault in the morning, on account of defence put by two deceased and injured male witness, is the conclusion we have to draw on account of the lack of explanation given by him,” it said..Thus, the Court said there was no valid reason to interfere with the conviction. It accordingly upheld the trial court verdict.“Resultantly, we confirm the sentence of death under Section 368 Cr.P.C. and direct that the order of confirmation be sent to the Court of Sessions,” it ordered..Additional Advocate General VG Jauhar represented the State of PunjabAdvocate Naveen Sharma represented the appellant Baljinder Kumar @ Kala[Read Judgment].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.