JIVABHAI LAXMANBHAI TALPADA Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present appeal, under section 374 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for brevity, 'the Code'), assails the judgment and order dated 10.08.2010 passed by the learned Sessions Judge, Anand in Sessions Case No. 44 of 2010, whereby the appellant herein - original accused came to be convicted for the offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for brevity, 'the IPC') and sentenced to undergo life imprisonment and a fine of Rs.500/- with a default clause to undergo further simple imprisonment for three months if fine is not paid.

(2.) Facts in nutshell of the prosecution case are that the appellant herein and one of the deceased namely, Leelaben had a love affair and when Leelaben refused to keep the relations any further, the accused got excited and on 24.12.2009 at about 1:30 a.m., he went to the house of Leelaben so as to talk about their relations and he disconnected the power supply of the house of Leelaben by cutting the wires from the nearby electric pole and thereafter, woke up Leelaben and when Leelaben refused to carry on the relations, the accused assaulted her with a scythe (dhariya) and gave repeated blows on her head. Hearing the commotion, Leelaben's son namely, Ranjit @ Bhampa and the brother-in-law namely, Laljibhai, awoke and hence, the accused also assaulted them with the scythe (dhariya) causing serious injuries. The trio, eventually, succumbed to the injuries and for the said alleged offence, a complaint came to be lodged against the accused for the offence punishable under Sections 302 of the Indian Penal Code (for brevity, 'the IPC') and Section 135 of the Bombay Police Act.

(3.) We have heard Mr. Pratik Barot, learned advocate for the appellant - accused, appointed through the High Court Legal Services Committee and Mr. N. J. Shah, learned Additional Public Prosecutor for the respondent.