R MARUTHAMUTHU Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE first accused in a case of murder, in which he stood charged under Sections 302 and 404 of Indian Penal Code along with the second accused, who stood charged under Sections 302 read with 109 and 404 read with 109 of I. P. C. , on being found guilty as per the charges and awarded punishment of life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs. 1,000/-, in default of which to undergo 6 months Rigorous Imprisonment, for the offence under Sec. 302 of I. P. C. and Rigorous Imprisonment for two years along with a fine of Rs. 1,000/-, in default of which to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for six months for the offence under Sec. 404 of I. P. C. , has preferred this appeal. THE second accused was acquitted of both the charges by the trial Court.

(2.) THE short facts necessary for the disposal of this appeal are: (a) P. W. 1 Rengaraj, is the husband of the deceased Ran i. THEy were living at Ammapalayam Village. THEy used to take the cattle for grazing. On the date of occurrence namely 3. 3. 1999 at about 3. 00 P. M. , she took her cow for grazing. Till 5. 00 P. M. she did not return. P. W. 3 Narayanan, who belonged to the same place, was working at the field of one Poosigounder. At that time, the cow of the deceased got into the field. Immediately, he tied the same. At about 6. 00 p. M. , he returned with the said cow and informed P. W. 1 about the same. When p. W. 3 was proceeding, he found the accused sitting under a banyan tree. P. W. 10 Radhakrishnan , who belonged to the same village, found the accused sitting under a karuveli tree. THE next morning, P. W. 1 was informed by a boy that the dead body of his wife was found near the bushes. P. W. 1 accompanied by his relatives, went over to the spot and found the dead body of his wife in the bushes. THEy have also noticed that 7 sovereigns of gold jewels marked as M. Os. 1 to 5, were found missing. THEn, p. W. 1 went to P. W. 4 Arjunan , Village Administrative officer, and gave a report. P. W. 4 recorded the same, which was marked as Ex. P1. Based on Ex. P1, he prepared a report Ex. P2. (b) P. W. 4 placed both Exs. P1 and P2 before P. W. 9 Elangovan , Sub Inspector of Police, attached to Perambalur Police Station, who on the strength of which, registered a case in Crime No. 222/99 against the accused under Sections 302 and 379 of I. P. C. THE First Information Report Ex. P8 was despatched to the Court. On receipt of the copy of the F. I. R. , P. W. 12 Syed Mohamed, Inspector of police, took up the investigation and proceeded to the spot. In the presence of witnesses, he made an inspection and prepared Ex. P3 observation mahazar and Ex. P15 rough sketch. THE bloodstained earth m. O. 6 and the sample earth M. O. 7 were collected from the place under Ex. P4 mahazar. In the presence of witnesses and panchayatdars , he conducted inquest on the dead body of Rani and prepared Ex. P16 inquest report. Through a constable, the dead body along with a requisition was sent to the Government Hospital for postmortem. (c) On receipt of the requisition, P. W. 7 Dr. Ganeshbabu , attached to the Government Hospital , Perambalur , conducted the autopsy on the dead body of Ran i and found the following injuries. External Injuries: 1. ILL defined abrasion seen encircling the neck above the hyoid bone, the abrasion becomes broken at the back of neck. 2. Abrasion 3 cm x 2 cm on the back of Right elbow, through which fluid blood oozing. 3. Abrasion in the back of left elbow 4 cm x 2 cm through which fluid blood oozing. 4. Abrasion left popliteal foss a 15 cm x 6 cm. 5. Multiple abrasions over the left thigh which extends to the lower part of left buttocks. 20 cm x 10 cm. 6. Multiple abrasions over the both scapular region 6 cm x 4 cm. 7. Abrasion on the both heel posterior aspect 6 cm x 3 cm. THE Doctor had issued a certificate Ex. P6 opining that the deceased would appear to have died of asphyxia 48-50 hrs before postmortem due to strangulation. (d) On 13. 6. 1999 at about 15. 00 hours, the first accused was arrested by P. W. 13 Ramachandran , Inspector of police, Padalur Police Station, at the time of the investigation in some other case. THE accused volunteered to give a confessional statement, and the same was recorded, pursuant to which he took the police personnel to his residence, and from there M. Os. 1 to 5 the gold jewels, were recovered under a search list. THE said articles were sent to court. Apart from that, the accused was also produced before the Court. A-2 was also arrested and produced before the Court. P. W. 14 Panneerselvam , inspector of Police, took up further investigation. A requisition was forwarded to the Court for sending the material objects for chemical analysis. Accordingly, they were subjected to chemical analysis. Ex. P25 Chemical analyst's report and Ex. P26 Serologist's report were received. On completion of the investigation, the Investigating Officer filed the final report, which was taken cognizance by the trial Court.

(3.) IN answer to the above, the learned Government advocate (Criminal Side) would submit that it is true that the prosecution has no direct evidence; but, the prosecution has clinchingl y brought home the guilt of the accused. P. W. 3 has clearly pointed out in his evidence that he saw the accused sitting under a banyan tree. His statement has been recorded by the police under Sec. 161 Cr. P. C. , and the same was forwarded to the Court within a short span of two months. It is true that he could not identify the first accused at the time of the first identification parade, but has tendered his explanation that he could not do so due to his ill-health, and the same was convincing and that has also been pointed out by the lower Court. IN the second identification parade conducted, he has clearly identified the first accused thrice, and hence, the lower Court has rightly relied on the identification of the first accused. Apart from the identification of the first accused by P. W. 3, P. W. 10 a villager and who was also a member of the Home Guard, has also identified the first accused before the trial Court, which has also been relied on by the lower Court.