ANANTA TUKARAM CHAUDHARY Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant, original accused, has questioned the correctness of his conviction and sentence by the present appeal challenging the judgment and order dated 27th April 2011 passed by the learned District Judge1 and Additional Sessions Judge, Palghar in Sessions Case No. 72 of 2009 thereby convicting the appellant for an offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to suffer rigorous imprisonment for life and also to pay fine of Rs.5,000/, in default of payment of fine to suffer simple imprisonment for 6 months. The appellant has also been convicted for an offence punishable under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to suffer imprisonment for 10 years and also to pay fine of Rs.5,000/, in default of payment of fine to suffer simple imprisonment for 6 months. The appellant has further been convicted for an offence punishable under Section 201 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 2 years and to pay fine of Rs.500/, in default of payment of fine to suffer simple imprisonment for one month. The learned District Judge1 and Additional Sessions Judge, Palghar has ordered that all the substantive sentences shall run concurrently.

(2.) The facts which can be enumerated from the record, may briefly be stated thus:

(3.) In order to effectively deal with the submissions advanced before us by Mr. Swapnil Ovalekar, the learned Counsel appointed for the appellant by the Legal Aid Committee and Smt. V.R. Bhonsale, the learned APP for the State, it would be useful to refer to the evidence in brief of the prosecution witnesses.