Dr. Maithli Sharan, J. - (1.) THIS judgment will dispose of two Criminal appeals, namely Crl. Appeal Nos. 231 of 1992 and 230 of 1992 preferred respectively by accused persons Maheshwar and Smt. Shanti Singh who were convicted in Sessions Trial No. 194 of 1991 by Ilnd Addl. District and Sessions Judge, Sitapur for the offences under Sections 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced respectively to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and rigorous imprisonment for three years each.
(2.) THE prosecution case, in brief, runs thus : THE informant, Taluqdar Singh (P.W. 2) and the deceased Havaldar Singh were real brothers but they were living separately in different villages after the division of their agricultural land sometime back. Accused Smt. Shanti Singh is the wife of the deceased Havaldar Singh and this couple had one son Urmil (P.W. 1) and one daughter. According to the prosecution, accused Smt. Shanti Singh and illicit relations with the other accused Maheshwar and their affair had been going on for quite sometime. THE prosecution case is that when the informant Taluqdar Singh (P.W. 2) did not meet his brother deceased Havaldar Singh for about three-four months, then he went to the latter's wife accused Smt. Shanti Singh and enquired regarding whereabouts of his brother, deceased Havaldar Singh ; she told him, that there had occurred some quarrel between her and her husband and then the latter had gone out of the house saying that he would never see her face again. THEn on 14.1.91 in the noon time Urmil (P.W. 1) s/o accused Smt. Shanti Singh and deceased Havaldar Singh went to his uncle. Taluqdar Singh (P.W. 2) and informed him of the incident in question, that his mother, Smt. Shanti Singh and accused Maheshwar had killed his father, Havaldar Singh and he had seen the occurrence. He (P.W. 1) further told him (P.W. 2) that accused Maheshwar had threatened him that if he told of the incident to any body, he would kill him as well, and accused Maheshwar kept him (P.W. 1) with him and they used to go on some brick-kiln (Bhatta) for work. Taluqdar Singh (P.W. 2) thereafter reached his brother's (deceased, Havaldar Singh) house along with some persons and threatened accused persons Smt. Shanti Singh and Maheshwar, then they disclosed that they had committed the murder of Havaldar Singh. Meanwhile, Taluqdar Singh (P.W. 2) went to the Police Station Reusa and lodged the first information report Ext. Ka. 1 ; the police reached the spot and recorded the statements of the witnesses. Accused persons Maheshwar and Smt. Shanti Singh met on the spot and in the presence of the witnesses, they showed to the police the place where they had hidden the dead-body of the deceased. Havaldar Singh. Accused Smt. Shanti Singh also gave the 'gandasa' to the police and told that she had killed Havaldar Singh by that 'gandasa' and the blood stuck on it had been washed off. She also gave the shoes of the deceased Havaldar Singh to the Police. THE place shown by the accused person was dug and then a skeleton was found over which clothes, namely, Kurta, Dhoti, Angouchha etc. were there. THE Police also prepared the site-plan and conducted other necessary investigations in the case. THE dead body was sent for post-mortem examination which was done by Dr. S. K. Sinha (P.W 6). After complete investigation having been done the charge-sheet was filed in the Court of the Magistrate concerned wherefrom the case was committed to the Court of Session. The charges for the offences under Sections 302/34 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code were framed against both.the accused persons. They denied having committed the offences, and they were tried for these offences. The prosecution examined seven witnesses out of whom P.W. 1 is Urmil, who is the son of the deceased Havaldar Singh and accused Smt. Shanti Singh (P.W. 2) Taluqdar Singh is the brother of the deceased Havaldar Singh, Mule Singh (P.W. 3) is the person in whose presence the skeleton of the deceased was removed from the hidden place under the earth, Raj Kumar (P.W. 4) is also a witness of this fact. Ram Naresh Yadav (P.W. 5) is the police witness who recorded first information report, lodged by Taluqdar (P.W. 2) while Dr. S. K. Sinha (P.W. 6) conducted the autopsy on the dead-body of Havaldar Singh. Sub- Inspector Police, Natvar Yadav (P.W. 7) conducted the investigation in this case and filed the charge-sheet in the Court.
(3.) LEARNED Addl. Sessions Judge, on complete appraisal of the prosecution evidence available on record, came to the conclusion that the prosecution had proved the offences levelled against both the accused persons and, thus, he convicted and sentenced them as aforesaid. Being aggrieved by the judgment of conviction and sentence passed by the Addl. Sessions Judge, both the accused persons have preferred these two jail appeals. We heard the vehement arguments of the learned counsel of both the accused persons and learned Government Advocate. The main-thrust of the counsel for the accused is that Urmil (P.W. 1), the son of the deceased Havaldar Singh and accused Shanti Singh is the sole alleged eye-witness of the incident in question and, thus, he is the star witness of this case, but his evidence is so shaky and improbable that it cannot be relied upon and hence the prosecution case gets shattered. Thus, it is proper, at the outset to analyse and scrutinise the evidence of this star witness Urmil (P.W. 1). According to him, it was night when incident occurred and he, his sister and his mother, namely, accused Shanti Singh were lying on one and the same cot while his father (deceased Havaldar Singh) was sleeping on a cot outside the house ; at about midnight his mother, Smt. Shanti Singh got up, went to ease herself and after sometime came back along with other, accused Maheshwar near the cot of his father (deceased Havaldar Singh), accused Maheshwar pressed his father and his mother accused Smt. Shanti Singh attacked his father (deceased Havaldar Singh) by the gandasa, and when the deceased shouted, then he (P.W. 1) got up. He further told that accused Maheshwar took gandasa from his mother, Smt. Shanti Singh, threatened him to sit down else he would kill him as well. After a while, both these accused persons giving him (P.W. 1) cowdung and straw (Bhoosa) asked him to go near the cow and and burn them there to make smoke. According to him (P.W. 1), in the morning accused Maheshwar told his mother, accused Smt. Shanti Singh, that he would be taking him (P.W. 1) along with him. The other accused Maheshwar also told accused Smt. Shanti Singh to burn clothes, namely, Angauchha and kurta of the deceased and wash off gandasa by which they had killed the deceased, Havaldar Singh. According to him (P.W. 1) after the incident he used to go on work at some brick-kiln where other persons were also working ; the accused Maheshwar had threatened him and asked him not to tell about this incident in question to anybody, else he would kill him ; after the work he used to come back along with accused Maheshwar. He has further deposed that after some days on getting opportunity, he went to his uncle Taluqdar Singh (P.W. 2) and told him all about the incident in question, and then Taluqdar Singh (P.W. 2) went to accused Shanti Singh along with some persons and then the first information report Ext. Ka. 1 was lodged at the police station.;