HAJI ABDULBHAI GHUGHA Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) FEELING aggrieved by and dissatisfied with the impugned judgment and order rendered by the Ld. Addl. Sessions Judge, Rajkot, on 6/2/2002 in Sessions Case No. 102 of 2000, recording conviction of the appellant herein, who was original accused in said Sessions Case, for the commission of offence of murder of one Rajnikant Pragjibhai, punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code [IPC], the appellant preferred this appeal in this Court.

(2.) THE prosecution case, in short, is that the incident occurred at about 5.45. p.m., on 14/5/2000 near Rameshwar Auto Garage situated in the area called Nehru Industries, Rajkot. It is the case of the prosecution that the accused inflicted blows with knife on deceased and deceased sustained bodily injuries. He was immediately shifted to the private hospital. The hospital authority informed police and P.S.I. Shambhubhai Vashrambhai came to the hospital and recorded the FIR of the deceased himself. The Executive Magistrate recorded his dying declaration. During the course of treatment the deceased succumbed to the injuries. During the course of investigation, statements of material witnesses came to be recorded. Muddamal weapon and clothes came to be recovered. After completion of the investigation, charge -sheet came to be filed in the Court of the Ld. Chief Judicial Magistrate, Rajkot. Since the offence was exclusively triable by the Court of Sessions, the Ld. Chief Judicial Magistrate committed the case to the Court of Sessions, which came to be registered as Sessions Case No. 102 of 2000.

(3.) THE Ld. Trial Judge framed charge at Exh. 1 against the accused for the offences punishable under Sections 302 and 504 of the IPC and under Section 135 of the Bombay Police Act, to which the accused did not plead guilty and claimed to be tried. The prosecution adduced its oral and documentary evidence. After the prosecution concluded its evidence, the trial Court recorded the further statement of the accused under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The accused denied generally all the allegations levelled against him by the prosecution and stated that he was falsely implicated in this case. After appreciating the evidence on record and the submissions made on behalf of both the sides, the Ld. Trial Judge concluded that the prosecution successfully proved its case regarding murder of deceased Rajnikant caused by the accused and recorded his conviction for the offence punishable under Section 302 of the IPC and awarded the sentence as hereinbefore referred to in this judgment.