GOPAL Vs. THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant was prosecuted on the allegation of having committed an offence punishable under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code. The Adhoc Additional Session Judge at Sewree, Mumbai, after holding a trial, found him guilty of the said offence and sentenced him to suffer Rigorous Imprisonment for seven years and a fine of Rs.400/, in default to suffer Rigorous Imprisonment for one month. Being aggrieved by the Judgment and Order convicting him, the appellant has approached this Court by filing the present appeal.

(2.) The Prosecution Case, As Can Be Seen From The 'Brief facts of the case' reflected in Column No.16 of the printed prescribed proforma of the charge sheet, may be stated as follows :

(3.) In Order To Establish Its Case Against The Appellant, The prosecution examined five witnesses during the trial. The first witness is the victim herself. The second witness is one Dr.Ranjit Kale, who was, at the material time, attached to Rajawadi Hospital and who had, on 19/07/2009 at about 5.00 a.m., examined the victim medically. The third witness Narayan Pujari is a panch who was supposed to have acted as such in the spot panchanama drawn on 24/07/2009, but he did not support the case of the prosecution. The fourth witness Sainath Mangaonkar is the person, who had held a Test Identification Parade on 07/08/2009. The fifth witness is Smt.Lata Sutar, a SubInspector of Police, who was attached to Kurla Railway Police Station at the material time. She is the one who had recorded the First Information Report and had carried out certain investigation including the arrest of the accused, which was effected on 29/07/2009. The police officer who completed the investigation and filed the charge sheet was not examined.