TANAJI BAJIRAO CHAWAN Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Present Criminal Appeal arose out of judgment and order dated 7-10-2003 passed by learned Vlth Additional Sessions Judge, Satara, who found the appellant guilty of the offence punishable under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to suffer rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay fine in the sum of Rs. 500/- in default to suffer further rigorous imprisonment for five months. The appellant was further found guilty of the offence punishable under section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, the appellant was sentenced to suffer S.I. for 3 years and to pay fine in the sum of Rs. 400/- in default to suffer further S. I. for four months . The appellant was also found guilty of the offence punishable under section 504 of IPC and sentenced to suffer R.I. for one year and to pay fine in the sum of Rs. 200/- in default to undergo R. I. for two months.

(2.) The case of the prosecution briefly stated is as under :

(3.) On 3-5-2002 A.S. I. Narendra Shankar Jagtap (PW-7) who went to Civil hospital, Satara had recorded the statement of Lata at Exh.37 in presence of Dr. Ravindra Ghongade (PW-9) and had registered the offence as C.R. No. 25 of 2002 at Kudal police station. During the investigation the panchnama regarding the scene of offence was drawn, burnt pieces of clothes and one stove was seized. Statement of witnesses were recorded. On 7-5-2002 a requisition letter was sent to Special Judicial Magistrate Sanjay Anant Mulik (PW-1) to record dying declaration of Lata, which was recorded on the same day between 10.40 p.m. to 11.40 p.m. by PW-1 in presence of Dr. Anil Shinde (PW-10). Ultimately Lata had succumbed to her burn injuries. Her dead body was referred for die postmortem examination and memorandum of postmortem (Exh.17) was issued. In the course of investigation, the glass bottle and a match stick were recovered at the instance of the accused (appellant).