Justice S K Kaul took a stern view of the accused’s defence in court that they had shot at their friend “light-heartedly”: “In my view, this kind of behaviour can hardly be an expression of joy or humour. Such conduct can endanger the lives of the parties involved as well as the public.”

Krishna Pal and Sunil Kumar had moved the High Court to quash an FIR for “attempt to murder” registered with the Vasant Kunj Police Station by their pal, Dharamvir, also a property dealer. Charges were also levied against them under the Arms Act.

Pal and Kumar, who are on bail since January 2008, contended before Justice Kaul that their relationship with Dharamvir was now of an amicable nature after all three had settled their “differences” outside the court.

The trio had come to Vasant Kunj for a friendly chat—a regular practice—in the evening of November 12, 2007. Pal and Kumar were accompanied by the former’s armed personal security at the time.

The conversation, on one pretext or the other, took an ugly turn, and Pal, went on to snatch his guard’s gun to fire at his friend, who fled the scene under a hail of bullets. The police found three bullet punctures on Dharamvir’s car.

Ordering the confiscation of the gun for a year, Justice Kaul directed the two accused to stop using the service of bodyguards, armed ones at that.