KOLI BHIKHA LAXMAN CHUDASAMA Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant came to be tried and convicted by Sessions Court, Junagadh, Camping at Veraval for the offence of murder of his wife Savitaben allegedly committed by him by inflicting an axe blow on her head on 16th June, 1997 at about 10.00 a.m. at the parental house of the deceased situated at Jhunjharpur, Chorwad. The judgment was rendered on 21st March, 2000 in Sessions Case No.304 of 1999.

(2.) The prosecution case, in brief, is that the appellant and deceased Savita were married in recent past of the date of incident. On the day of incident, the deceased had gone to her parental house and was resting on a cot at about 10.00 a.m. Near the cot, her sister Benaben was cleaning vessels and her brother Sudhir was playing around. At that time, the appellant went to the house of his in-laws. He made a demand of Rs.100/- from his wife which she declined to give saying that she did not have money. The appellant went out of the house, went to the rear side, found an axe, came back and inflicted axe blow on the head of the deceased. The axe fell on fronto-parietal region resulting into fracture of the skull and internal haemorrhage. The deceased was taken to the doctor who referred her to a better hospital. Ultimately, she was taken to Rajkot where she succumbed to the injury. F.I.R. in respect of the incident was lodged by one Hareshbhai Rajabhai Koli Dabhi before Veraval City Police Station. He is the brother-in-law of the deceased i.e. sister's husband of the deceased. On basis of the F.I.R., offence was registered, case investigated and ultimately chargesheet came to be filed in the Court of JMFC, Maliya Hatina who committed the case to the Court of Sessions and Sessions Case No.304 of 1999 came to be registered. Charge was framed against the accused at Exh.1 to which he pleaded not guilty and came to be tried. The Sessions Court, after considering the evidence led before it, came to the conclusion that the prosecution was successful in establishing charges against the accused appellant and recorded conviction for the offence of murder and sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for life. The Sessions Court also found that offence punishable under Section 135 of Bombay Police Act was also proved and recorded conviction thereunder but did not award any separate sentence therefor.

(3.) We have heard learned advocate Mr. Anil Thakore for the appellant and learned APP Mr. Desai for the State. We have examined the record and proceedings in light of the contentions raised before us by rival sides.