- (1.) Leave granted.
(2.) Challenge in this appeal is to the judgment of a Division Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, Jabalpur Bench, dismissing of the appeal filed by the appellant questioning his conviction for offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (in short the IPC ) as was recorded by learned Additional Sessions Judge, Murwara, Katni.
(3.) Prosecution version as unfolded during trial in a nutshell is as follows: On 24.12.1997 at about 3.30 P.M. Ram Khilawan (hereinafter referred to as the deceased ) resident of Khirhani Gate, Katni went to the Hotel of Vijay after coming out of his house for having tea. There some dispute arose between accused Sone Lal and Ram Khilawan the deceased. Accused Sone Lal told him taking out a knife from his pocket, "I will finish you today". Sone Lal gave knife blow to deceased Ram Khilawan thrice in his stomach with an intention to kill him, whereby intestine came out of his stomach. The above said incident was witnessed by Sukh Ram Choudhary, Vijay Choudhary, Lala Choudhary and many others. Yashoda Bai W/o Ram Khilawan arrived there hearing the news of altercation. Accused-Sone Lal fled away from there towards Railway Lines after stabbing Ram Khilawan. Yashoda Bai had brought her husband Ram Khilawan to Police Thana carrying him on Rickshaw and had lodged FIR, Exhibit P-17 regarding the incident. P.S. Katni had sent Ram Khilawan to Government Hospital, Katni vide Exh.-P-21 for medical treatment. Dr. Arvind Chauhadda, Assistant Surgeon, had examined him vide his Report, Exh.-P-20. He had found injuries on his person. Injuries had been inflicted on Ram Khilawan s stomach and chest by sharp edged weapon. After an hour, Ram Khilawan succumbed to his injuries in the Government Hospital, Katni itself. Kamal Ram, Ward boy of Government Hospital had given death information of Ram Khilawan, vide Exh.-P15 to P.S.-Katni. P.S.-Katni entered this information as Merg Information, Exh.-P-16. ASI B.K. Mishra had prepared Panchnama of dead body of Ram Khilawan, Exh.-P.-13 before the witnesses. Assistant Civil Surgeon, Dr. S.K. Sharma (PW-15) according to Post mortem Report, Exh-P-25 found several injuries on the person of deceased Ram Khilawan i.e. towards left side of Chest, towards right side of chest, towards left side of Epigastric Region and. towards left side of stomach. These injuries had been inflicted by sharp edged weapon. Membrane of stomach, extruding outside, were visible. Right and left Pleural Cavity were ruptured. Peritoneum Cavity of the stomach and duodenum were ruptured. Small intestine was also ruptured. Death of Ram Khilawan was caused due to haemorrhage. In course of investigation of the case, Sri R. K. Gupta, Sl seized blood stained as well as plain earth from the place of occurrence vide Seizure Memo. Exh.-P-19 and prepared Site Plan, Exh.-P-18. Smt. Yashoda Bai had deposited blood stained shirt of her husband, deceased Ram Khilawan with Sri R.K. Gupta, SI and the same was seized vide Exh.P-22. Bharat La1 Constable deposited the sealed packet of Ram Khilawan s underwear at P.S. Katni receiving it back from Katni Hospital, which was seized by Exh. P-4. On 25th December, 1997 accused Sone Lal gave his statement in Police Custody vide Information memo Exh. P-8 that he has kept knife hidden in the bush adjacent to Tamarind Tree opposite to pond located opposite the Excise Ware House and he can give the recovery of the same. Thus, accused Sone Lal handed over the knife taking out of the bushes and the same was seized vide Exh.-P-9. One blue coloured shirt worn from the person of accused Sone Lal was seized vide Seizure Memo. Exh.-P-16. Seized articles were sent to FSL, Sagar for chemical Examination. Report of FSL, Sagar, Exh.-P-23 was received. As per FSL Report, blood was found on the knife, shirt and underwear seized from accused Sone Lal. Blood was also found on the shirt and underwear of deceased Ram Khilawan. Even blood was found in the earth being collected from the site. After completion of investigation, Charge Sheet was produced by the Police, Katni in the Court for hearing the charges against the accused. Since accused abjured guilt trial was held. The trial Court primarily relied on the evidence of Krishna Kumar (PW-6) the son of the deceased and Yashoda Bai (PW-9) the wife of the deceased. With reference to the evidence of PW-9 it was held that the same was trustworthy and inspired confidence. Accordingly, the appellant was found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment for life. In appeal, the conviction was questioned primarily on the ground that the evidence of PWs 6 and 9 should not have been relied upon. The High Court found that the report of the incident was lodged immediately by PW-9 which was recorded as Ext.P-17. It was pointed out that four others who were named as alleged eye-witnesses did not support the prosecution version. The High Court found that the doctor indicated about the location of the injuries and the medical evidence affirmed the fact that the deceased had been stabbed several times and the blood was found on the clothes of the deceased as well as on the knife seized from the accused. The knife was recovered on the basis of disclosure statement made by the accused. Accordingly, it dismissed the appeal.;