MATHUR, J. - (1.) WHEN in the morning of 2. 06. 1996 three shephered boys viz; Kalu Ram aged 14 years, Dayal Ram aged 9 years and another Kalu Ram S/o Ram Karan aged 15 years, left for the forest for grazing cattle, they had no forebonding that it was their last journey. The disappearance of three boys and the cattle rocked the villagers of Fatehgarh. The search did not yield, as such, in the morning of next day, P. W. 1 Mani Ram lodged the missing report at Police Station, Hanumangarh. In the afternoon at about 4, dead bodies of two missing boys were detected floating in a pond constructed in the field of Ram Kumar Bhakhar in Chak 23 SSW. The dead body of third child was found in a field on the eastern side of the pond. The cattle were missing. It was suspected that somebody committed theft and murdered the boys. On this information, police registered a case for offence u/ss 302, 379 IPC and triggered the investigation. Police prepared the inquest report and sent dead bodies for autopsy. Appellant Sarwan Ram was arrested and recoveries were made. After usual investigation, police laid chargesheet against the appellant for the offence u/ss 302, 382 IPC.
(2.) APPELLANT denied the charges levelled against him and claimed trial. Prosecution examined as many as 20 witnesses and produced certain documents. In statement u/s 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, appellant denied the correctness of the prosecution evidence appearing against him. Trial Court found the charges levelled against the appellant proved and convicted & sentenced in the manner already noticed. The prosecution relied upon the following piece of circumstances to prove the guilt of the appellant. i. Appellant had motive to commit the murder of Kalu Ram S/o Mani Ram, Kalu Ram S/o Ram Karan and Dayal Ram; ii. Recovery of the she-goats and the sheep in pursuance of the information given by the appellant; iii. Recovery of blood stained `gandasi' in pursuance of the information of the appellant; iv. Recovery of blood stained pants, bushirt, pair of shoes and the socks belonging to appellant in pursuance of his information; and v. Non-explanation of circumstances appearing against him; Assailing the conviction, it is contended by the learned counsel for the appellant that the prosecution has failed to prove the circumstance of recovery of she-goats and sheep by positive evidence for the simple reason that there is no identification of the she-goats and the sheep by way of arranging an identification parade or before the court, as such, the recovery can not be connected with the crime. On the other hand, learned Public Prosecutor has supported the judgment of the trial Court. It is well established that in a case of circumstantial evidence, the prosecution must establish each circumstance firmly by cogent evidence and all the circumstances, taken together, should form a chain pointing towards the guilt of the accused and the cumulative effect of the circumstances must lead to no other inference but the guilt of the accused. Before proceeding to deal with each circumstance formulated by the prosecution, we shall briefly survey the oral evidence produced by the prosecution.
(3.) P. W. 1 Mani Ram stated that his son Kalu Ram & grand son Dayal Ram and Kalu Ram, son of his brother-in-law Ram Karan had gone with herd of the cattle for grazing in the forest. They did not return in the evening. A search was made without yield. On the next day, intensive search was made. At about 4 PM, the dead bodies of two boys were found in a diggi (pond) in Chak 23 SSW belonging to Ram Kumar Bhakhar. Another dead body was found on the eastern side of the pond. He also stated that the herd consisted of 35 she-goats and six sheep belonging to him. He lodged the F. I. R. of the incident at Pobice Station, Hanumangarh. He identified the she-goats belonging to him. Some of the she- goats were recovered from the place known as `semnala'. The weapon of offence and the clothes of the deceased were also recovered in his presence. He admitted in the cross examination that no identification parade of the cattle was arranged. There is lengthy cross examination but nothing has elicited to discredit the testimony of this witness. P. W. 2 Hari Ram & P. W. 3 Hans Raj are the formal witnesses of the police memos pertaining to recovery of the dead bodies. P. W. 4 Ramesh, P. W. 5 Sita Ram, P. W. 6 Balani Sahni and P. W. 7 Phul Singh have stated that they purchased she-goats for Rs. 225/- each from the appellant. Police had brought him to their places and got recovered the she-goats. P. W. 8 Prabhu Ram identified the recovered she-goats and the sheep as he used to take them regularly for grazing. He has stated that his brother Kalu Ram, another Kalu Ram and Dayal Ram left the village at about BAM for grazing the cattle. In the evening, they did not return and, therefore, he also went in search of them. On the next day, two dead bodies were found in the diggi belonging to Ram Kumar. He identified the she-goats and the sheep recovered by the police. He proved the recovery memos. In the cross examination, he admitted that no identification parade of the she-goats was arranged. P. W. 9 Nihal Singh is a motbir of recovery memo. P. W. 10 Hari Singh is a business man engaged in sale & purchase of cattle. He stated that the appellant approached him for sale of she-goats and sheep. He purchased 14 she-goats and 7 sheep from him. In consideration, he paid Rs. 5000/ -. He purchased the she-goats & sheep at the rate of Rs. 500/- each. Five cattle were sold by him to Noora Ram. He also stated that the appellant got the said sold cattle recovered from him. In the cross examination, he admitted that when the police arrived for recovery of the she-goats, appellant was already sitting at his place. ;