JIWAN SINGH Vs. STATE OF UTTARANCHAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS Criminal Appeal, preferred under Section 374 (2) read with Section 383 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (herein after for brevity Cr.PC.), is di­rected against judgment and order dated 27.1.2001, passed by the then learned Sessions Judge, Pithoragarh in Sessions Trial No. 23 of 1999, whereby appellant has been convicted under Section 304 Part-I of Indian Penal Code, 1860 (herein after for brevity I.PC.) and sentenced to life imprison­ment. ,

(2.) WE heard Shri Rajendra Kotiyal, Amicus Curaie, for the appellant and learned Additional Government Advo­cate at length.

(3.) IN brief, prosecution story is that Smt. Bimla (deceased) was married daughter of the appellant who had come to her parents house about fifteen days before the date of the incident. On 6.4.1999, at about noon appellant Jiwan Singh came in a drunken state from Wadda to his village Lelu and started hurling abuses against the in­laws of his daughter Bimla (deceased). The deceased objected to it. On this, appellant Jiwan Singh started beating his daughter and dragged her to a room and poured kerosene oil on her and set her on fire. The other children of the appellant P.W. 1 Kumari Maya (daughter of the appellant) and PW. 2 Jagdeesh Singh (minor son of the appellant), witnessed the incident and started crying from outside the room. On this, several villagers collected and immediately broke open the door and found that appellant Jiwan Singh, lying in a drunken state under a cot while Bimla Devi (deceased) was lying with burn injuries. When the villagers en­tered into the room, appellant at­tempted to run away but was caught then and there. The villagers took out Bimla Devi and rushed her to District Hospital, Pithoragarh. On fifteenth day of the incident, Bimla Devi succumbed to the burn injuries and died. The de­ceased was a witness in the earlier Ses­sions Trial, which related to killing by appellant of his own wife. First Informa­tion Report (Exh. A-2) was lodged on the very day i.e. on 6.4.1999 at about 5:10 PM. with Police Station Kotwali, Pithoragarh by Deepa Giri P.W. 4 (Pradhan of village Lelu). On its basis, Check Report (Exh. A-3) was prepared and an entry was made at serial No. 26 in the General Diary (copy of Extract Exh. A-4). Initially the crime was regis­tered against the appellant under Sec­tion 326 of I.PC. and was investigated by Sub-Inspector Anand Lal (PW 5). He recorded the statements of wit­nesses under Section 161 of Cr.PC. and prepared Site Plan (Exh. A-6). He further collected from the site, a plas­tic jar can, a match box, broken ban­gles, a DANDA and parts of burnt clothes and prepared Memo (Exh. A-7). The Investigating Officer on 20.4.1999, submitted chargesheet (Exh. A-8), against.the appellant for his trial under Section 326 Meanwhile, Bimla Devi remained admitted for her treatment in District Hospital Pithoragarh. On 23.4.1999, information was received in the Police Station that Smt. Bimla Devi has succumbed to the injuries, on which an entry in the General Diary (Exh. A-9) was made and crime was converted into one under Section 304 I.PC. and the same was re-investigated. The Inquest Report (Exh. A-10) was prepared by Sub-Inspector, Om Pal Singh on the very day i.e. on 23.4.1999. After preparing diagram of the dead body (Exh. A-11), Police form No. 13 (Exh. A-12), letter of the Chief Medical Officer, requesting for post­mortem examination (copy of letter Exh. A-13), the dead body was sent for autopsy.