PRATAP SINGH Vs. STATE OF UTTARAKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BOTH the appeals have arisen out of the same judgment, hence are being adjudicated together.

(2.) APPELLANT Radhika Devi (A1) and Pratap Singh (A2) are the real sister and brother. There was also a third accused Dev Singh, husband of A1, who died during the course of trial, so the trial stood abated against him and the impugned judgment was rendered only against A1 and A2. Deceased Jagat Singh is yet another real brother of A1. At the time of incident, A2 resided in his own village which is almost 80 -90 kilometers away from the place of incident while deceased Jagat Singh, for a quite good time, either resided or kept on coming at the house of his sister frequently and residing there for a long time. The villagers, when did not notice the presence of Jagat Singh for more than a week in the house of A1, apprehended some mishappening and informed the Village Pradhan Prem Ballabh, who in turn, reported the matter to the Patwari concerned. The Patwari also got information that perhaps Jagat Singh had been murdered and buried in an agricultural field around the village. Subsequently, the Patwari reported the matter further to the Sub Divisional Magistrate who sent a Naib Tehsildar on the spot and at the instance of A1 and her husband Dev Singh, the dead body, allegedly of Jagat Singh, was excavated from their agricultural field. The spot was identified by the villagers because it had an unusual heap of cow dung on it and that too in the rainy season. In that season, generally the villagers store the cow dung inside their own house rather than to throw it in the agricultural fields. On 10.7.1997, dead body was recovered from a field which is around 200 meters away from the house of A1. In presence of all the villagers and Naib Tehsildar, A1 confessed that Jagat Singh was killed by her and her husband, after inflicting fatal injuries on his body. She further disclosed that after killing him, they, with the assistance of A2, buried the deceased in the field.

(3.) HAVING considered the pros and cons, the most significant aspect of the finding recorded by the Trial Judge, revolves around the acceptance of extra -judicial confession.