Dua, J. - (1.) The facts giving rise to this appeal by special leave may briefly be stated.
(2.) Udai Pal Singh, appellant, was admittedly married to Savitri Devi, deceased, in 1958 and since March, 1964 till her death which occurred on the night between 18th and 19th April, 1964 she was staying in her husband's house in village Mundgaon in which her husband Udai Pal Singh, appellant, her father-in-law Harnath Singh and her mother-in-law Bari Beti all lived together. She died an unnatural death in her bedroom which was also the bedroom of her husband on the night between 18th and 19th April, 1964. Information about her death was lodged by her father-in-law Harnath Singh at the Police Station Mohammadabad, four miles away from Mundgaon at about 10.30 am. On April 19, 1964. That report deserves to be reproduced in extenso as recorded in the general diary. It reads: "Time 10.30 a.m. Mohammadabad. At this time Shri Harnath Singh son of Mahuker Singh Thakur of village Mandgaon which is at a distance of four miles from this Police Station and to its east came to the Police Station and informed that his son Udaipal Singh was clerk of Sri Babu Singh Vakil of Fatehgarh. He used to go to Fatehgarh daily every morning. On the previous day when he was going there he found that his wife who belonged to Parbatpur, had not prepared his meals. The son abused his wife and left for Fatehgarh without taking any meals. He did not return to his house that evening. At about 8 or 9 p.m. his daughter-in-law informed his wife that she had some headache. She went to her room to lie on a cot and when she did not get up early that morning his wife went to her room and found that she was lying dead on her cot. She conveyed that information to him. He also went there and saw everything himself. In all probability the daughter-in-law in an angry mood has eaten something (poison) with the result that she is now dead. "An inquest would be held because it is reported to be a case of suicide."
(3.) Ganga Prasad Tripathi (P. W. 3) who was at that time Sub-Inspector (II) at the Police Station Mohammadabad thereupon left for Village Mundgaon and arrived at the appellant's house at about 12 noon. There he found Harnath Singh, father of the appellant, present at the door. The Sub-Inspector then collected the Panchas and found the dead body of Savitri Devi lying on a cot inside a room close to the court yard. The dead body was covered with a chaddar. Smt. Bari Beti, mother of the appellant, was present in the house. She was asked by the Sub-Inspector to remove the chaddar so that the necessary investigation into the apparent cause of death could be held. But Bari Beti declined to comply with this request. After some time, however, she was persuaded by the Sub-Inspector and the panchas to do so. She then went inside the room where the dead body was lying and removed the chaddar but not completely. She kept the face of the dead body covered. When the Sub-Inspector insisted on seeing the face for the purpose of preparing his report Harnath Singh, the father of the appellant, Jagdeep Singh, brother of Harnath Singh and others present objected to it saying that it was a question of family honour and prestige and that the face of the deceased could not be uncovered. When every effort made by the Sub-Inspector to persuade the people to comply with his request failed, he himself removed the chaddar from the face of the dead body and saw an incised wound on her face. One corner of her sari was also besmeared with blood. Harnath Singh and Bari Beti then moved away towards the court yard. On enquiry by the Sub-Inspector as to what they had to say about the injuries on the face of the deceased Harnath Singh and Bari Beti kept quiet and gave no reply. The atmosphere seems to have become tense and the Sub-Inspector found it to be very difficult to continue the examination of the injuries on the body of the deceased. Harnath Singh and Bari Beti as also other present started pleading with the Sub-Inspector not to send the body for postmortem. Ultimately the panchas recorded their separate opinion on the report prepared by the Sub-Inspector. This opinion reads:- "Smt. Savitri Devi died as a result of her having taken some poison." The Sub-Inspector disagreed with this opinion and prepared his report (Ex. Ka 9). The dead body was then sent to the mortuary for postmortem examination. The Sub-Inspector also took the following other precautions. Some water in a small katori (bowl) and phial which were kept beneath the cot of the deceased were duly sealed in the presence of the witness. Some stains on the ground indicating that somebody had vomited there were also found by the Sub-Inspector. A sample of that earth was also taken and duly sealed. The doctor who was to perform the postmortem examination was directed to preserve the viscera. All these articles, namely, the blood stained clothes of the deceased, the viscera, the earth having dirty stains, the water and the phial were sent to the chemical examiner for analysis and report. No chemical poison was detected in any of the aforesaid articles. The clothes of the deceased were, however, found to be stained with human blood.;