S.L.TALATI - (1.)The appellant was original accused in Sessions Case No. 77 of 1979 before the Court of the Additional Sessions Judge Banaskantha Palanpur. He has challenged his order of conviction and sentence passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge Banaskantha at Palanpur on 8-2-1980 for an offence under sec. 302 I. P. C. He has been sentenced to imprisonment for life.
(2.)It is not necessary in this case to go into all the details as most of the facts are stated in the judgment. However prosecution case in short was that the deceased Krushnasing Gagsing Rathod was serving as an Inspector in Banaskantha District Central Co-operative Bank Limited at Deodar while the appellant was a peon in that Bank. The incident had happened on 17-6-1979 at about 9.00 p. m. and the dead body of the deceased was ultimately found in the field of Ghanchi Baba Chuna. Postmartem report revealed that there were as many as 33 incised wounds inflicted on different parts of the body and the death was due to shock and haemorrhage due to fractures of skull bones and wound of left lung. Thus it was clear that the wounds were inflicted by some sort of knife. There was no direct evidence in the case and the prosecution solely depended upon several circumstances appearing against the accused in the present case.
(3.)The first circumstance on which the prosecution relied upon was that the deceased had left his house on that day at about 7.00 P. M. and he had informed the members of his family that he was going to a Mataji temple at village Sandar in the company of the accused. To prove this aspect of the case the prosecution examined the son of the deceased aged about 18 years by name Chandrakant at Ex. 5. According to him the deceased his father had left for Sandar for Darsan at the temple of Mataji and he had told while leaving that he was going with the accused. Sandar is at a distance of about 2 kms from the house of the deceased. The witness further stated that he had come to know in the Bazar on that very night at about 8.30. p.m. that his father was done to death. Thereafter according to the witness several persons had gathered. Now therefore from the evidence of this witness the prosecution could establish that while the deceased left the place he had told that he was going to village Sandar in the company of the accused and at about 7.30 p.m. he had learnt that his father was done to death. However no information was lodged. Thereafter there was no further evidence that in fact the deceased had left in company with the accused or not. Now therefore it could be stated that this particular circumstances on which the prosecution relied upon was established.