MADHUKAR GANESH JADHAV Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an Appeal filed by the appellant-accused against the judgment end order dated 15th September, 2000, by the Additional Sessions judge, Pune, whereby, he has been convicted for the offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for life.

(2.) THE appellant-accused was tried and convicted for assaulting one nandansingh with a koyta in the early hours of 27th January, 2000, in hotel "mohur" at Dighie, Pune. The deceased Nandansingh was the main cook in the said hotel. The accused, along with other four waiters was working in the said hotel run by the complainant PW1 - Satish Manohar Kamatkar. On 26th January, 2000, the hotel was closed. The deceased, the appellant and the other waiters used to sleep in the hall of the hotel. There was a television set in the said hall. On 27th January, 2000, at about 3. 00 a. m. in the morning, the appellant Madhukar suddenly started giving blows with koyta on the various vital parts of the deceased Nandansingh who was fast asleep. The other waiters got up and witnessed the incident. They were all frightened and, therefore, they came out of the hotel and waited outside till 5. 30 a. m. At about 5. 30 a. m. , PW-4 Ramzan Rafiq Shaikh and PW2 -Ulhas Shankar Raul went to Datta Nagar and approached PW5 - Mrs. Rekha ananda Ghule, who opened the door of her house and permitted them to make a telephone call. The Hotel Manager Chandrashekar More, after receiving this call and information, reached the spot and found the dead body of Nandansingh lying in a pool of blood. The accused was not on the spot Satish Kumar and Chandrashekar went to Alandi Road Police Chowky where they found the accused with blood stained koyta in his hand. His clothes were also stained with blood. The accused, on enquiry, told Satish that deceased Nandansingh used to tease him by saying that his body has been suffering from leprosy and AIDS, therefore, he got annoyed with the deceased. There used to be a regular quarrel between them for the same. Accused, therefore, planned to kill the deceased and accordingly, concealed the koyta in the room where they all used to sleep. Accordingly, as planned, he killed Nandansingh and came voluntarily to the Police Chowky. The FIR (Exhibit-12) was lodged by Shri Kamatkar in the Police Chowky. The offence was registered and further investigation proceeded. The Police attached the blood stained clothes of the accused and the koyta with blood stains on it. They recorded the Inquest Panchanama of the dead body of nandansingh. The Spot Panchanama was also recorded. The blood samples of the spot wete collected and the statements were recorded. The body was sent to Sassoon Hospital for the post mortem. The clothes of the deceased were also seized and sent for the Chemical Analyzer's Report. After completion of the investigation, the accused was charge-sheeted. The accused denied the charges. The prosecution has examined 8 witnesses. No defence witness was examined. The learned Judge, after considering the evidence, as well as the material on the record, has convicted the accused. Therefore, this Appeal against the order of conviction.

(3.) WE have heard the learned Advocate appearing for the accused and the learned A. P. P. for the State. We have also perused the record and noted the contentions, as raised in the Memo of Appeal, as well as, the oral submissions. After re-appreciating the material on the record, including the reasoning given by the learned Sessions Judge, we are of the view that the order of the conviction and imposition of sentence is within the framework of law and record and, therefore, we are not interfering with the impugned judgment and order.