MURARI Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal has been filed against the judgment and order dtd. 3/5/1983 passed by the Sessions Judge, Budaun by which the appellant-Murari was convicted under sec. 302 I.P.C. and was sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life.

(2.) The brief facts of the case are that on 6/7/1982 when Phool Singh was allegedly murdered, a first information report was lodged on the same day by his brother Sheodan Singh alleging that Murari Lal, accused, son of Shankar who was serving in the Military and who was inimical to the deceased and the first informant and who had on earlier occasions also attempted to pick up fights with them, had killed Phool Singh when the latter was going from his village to Wazeerganj. Sheodan Singh has further stated in the first information report that he had got the first information report lodged when information was given to him by Ram Autar Singh and Dhanpal Singh at around 04:30 PM that Murari Lal with his licensed gun had fired upon the brother of Sheodan Singh namely the deceased Phool Singh and that the dead-body of Phool Singh was lying in the field of Dheemar. Upon hearing this, the first informant Sheodan Singh had gone to the spot and thereafter had gone to get the first information report lodged. Upon the first information report being lodged, investigation commenced and the Investigating Officer had prepared a recovery memo of the bloodstained soil and the plain soil and had marked it as Exhibit Ka-6. Thereafter, the five empty cartridges of 12 bore were also recovered from the spot and the memo was numbered as Exhibit Ka-7. Exhibit Ka-14 was a list of the articles which were recovered when the accused-Murari was being searched for. A Panchayatnama was prepared which was exhibited as Exhibit Ka-8 and the other documents were exhibited as Exhibits Ka-9; Ka-10 and Ka-11 and they accompanied the dead-body to the postmortem house. Upon the conclusion of the investigation, the police report was sent and the charges were framed against the accused-Murari under Sec. 302 of Indian Penal Code and thereafter when he had denied the charges, the trial had commenced and when the trial Court by its judgment and order dtd. 3/5/1983 had found the accused-Murari guilty for the offence under Sec. 302 I.P.C., the instant Criminal Appeal was filed.

(3.) The prosecution from its side had produced as many as six prosecution witnesses.