ANANDA YASHWANT MURKUTE Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant herein has been convicted by the Judgment and Order dtd. 20/2/2016 passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Pune, in Sessions Case No. 97 of 2014. The appellant/accused has been convicted for the offence punishable under Sec. 302 of the Indian Penal Code (I.P.C.), 1860, and is sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life and to pay fine of Rs.5,000.00, in default to further undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of six months. Being aggrieved by the said judgment and order of conviction, the present Appeal is preferred by the appellant under Sec. 374 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C.), 1973.

(2.) The brief facts leading to the present proceeding can be summarized as under:

(3.) The prosecution examined ten witnesses to prove its case. The statement of the accused was recorded under Sec. 313 of the Cr.P.C. He has taken a plea of innocence. The accused has also examined the witness Mr. Pradeep Ramchandra Khatmode, A.P.I., who was attached to the MIDC Police Chowky which comes under the jurisdiction of Hinjewadi Police Station. So far as the death of the deceased Sarika is concerned, it is not disputed that, it was a homicidal death. PW- 7- Dr. Madhav Waghmare has conducted the postmortem of the deceased. He in his deposition unequivocally stated that, the injuries mentioned in column No. 17 and corresponding internal injuries in column Nos. 18 to 19, are sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course. The nature of injuries have been mentioned in column Nos. 17, 18 and 19. He has further confirmed that the said injuries are possible by means of iron toppling (Article - C). In PW- 7's cross-examination, it is mentioned that he found ten external and internal injuries on the body of the deceased Sarika, which are possible by means of Article - C, and he has refuted the adverse suggestions put to him in the cross-examination. He has also denied that the said injuries are possible, if the person falls from the height of 14 to 15 ft. on stones or on hard and blunt object. According to him, such an injury is possible only with sharp weapon. The postmortem is proved by PW- 7 and deposition of the said witness is consistent with the postmortem report. Therefore, the prosecution proved that Sarika's death was homicidal.