(1.) This capital criminal appeal along with the connected death reference arises from the judgment and order dated 03.05.2007 passed by the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Court No. 9 Agra whereby death sentence has been awarded to the appellant Gaurav under section 302 IPC.
(2.) We have heard Shri Dilip Kumar, learned counsel for the appellant and learned Government Advocate assisted by Sri Anand Tiwari, AGA for the State and have perused the trial court judgment and record. We have also perused the written submissions filed by the parties.
(3.) The prosecution case described in the FIR lodged by the informant, PW 1 Ajay Kumar Garg, was that in the evening of 16.09.2005, his aunt Meera Agrawal, the divorced wife of Vinod Agrawal and her daughter Bheeni Agrawal came to his flat in Pushpanjali Apartments, Agra. Meera Agrawal disclosed that a dispute regarding their Sadabad property, which stood in her name, was to be settled with her son Gaurav, who was to come to their house on the same evening. At about 6.30 PM Gaurav arrived at their residence and asked Meera Agrawal and his sister Bheeni Agrawal to transfer the property in his name. Gaurav asked the informant's wife Smt. Jyoti Agrawal to warm some tea in the kitchen and asked the informant's father Shri Bhagwan, PW 6 to leave the room as he wanted to talk with Meera Agrawal and Bheeni privately. On leaving the room cries were heard by Smt. Jyoti Agrawal and Shri Bhagwan. When they rushed back on the cries they saw Gaurav assaulting Meera Agrawal and Bheeni indiscriminately with a knife and declaring that he was permanently resolving the dispute of the case and property. On the alarm of Smt. Jyoti, the Chaukidars of Pushpanjali Apartments, Sampat and Kalicharan arrived, who witnessed the incident and caught hold of Gaurav red handed on the spot. Smt. Meera and Bheeni were admitted to Pushpanjali Hospital in a critical condition. Smt. Jyoti telephoned the informant at his shop, who reached his house and obtained information of the incident and then he proceeded to the hospital where he found Bheeni Agrawal and Meera Agrawal in a very serious condition. The informant lodged the report of this incident (Ext. Ka 1) at 8.15 PM on 16.09.2005 at case crime No. 456 of 2005 at PS Hariparwat, district Agra.