CHHOTEY LAL @ CHOTTU Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant has filed the present appeal impugning the judgment dated 02.11.2015 passed by ASJ (North-West), Rohini Courts whereby the appellant was convicted for the offence under Section 304 (Part-II) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC). The appellant further impugns the order on sentence dated 05.11.2015, whereby he was sentenced to undergo ten years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs. 30,000/- and in default of payment, to undergo three months of simple imprisonment.

(2.) The petitioner was prosecuted pursuant to FIR no. 126/2014 under Section 308 of the IPC, registered with PS Ashok Vihar. The case of the prosecution is that on 01.03.2014, at about 9:30 PM, the complainant had returned to her jhuggi after buying vegetables (muli) from the nearby market. On her return, she met Chotey Lal (the appellant/accused) and he demanded muli (radish) from her. She refused to give him the vegetable; consequently, the appellant started abusing her. In the meantime, her husband (Kishan) came out of the jhuggi and asked the appellant why he was abusing his wife. The appellant got annoyed and he picked up kassi (phawda), which was lying there and threatened to kill the complainant's husband - he shouted "saale aaj main tera kaam tamaam kar deta hu". He followed through his threat and delivered blows on parts of his body with the phawda. As a result, the complainant's husband fell down on the ground. The complainant raised an alarm; however, the appellant ran away from the spot. Thereafter, someone dialed 100 and consequently, PCR came and took the complainant's husband to the hospital. The appellant was initially charged under Section 308 of the IPC. On 03.03.2014, it was informed that complainant's husband has passed away as a result of the injuries sustained by him. Accordingly, Section 302 of the IPC was added to the charges against the appellant.

(3.) During the course of trial, the accused (the appellant) recorded his statement under Section 313 of the CrPC in which he denied the charges against him and pleaded not guilty. A total of 29 witnesses were examined by the prosecution and one witness (DW-1) was examined on behalf of the defence.