PRABHU BHAU PAWAR Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This criminal appeal is directed against the judgment and order dated 28th August, 1980 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Pune, convicting the accused of the offence of murder punishable under section 302 I.P.C. and also of the offence of causing disappearance of the evidence of murder punishable under section 201 I.P.C., and sentencing him on the first count to suffer imprisonment for life and on the second count to suffer R.I. for one year, in Sessions Case No. 197 of 1979. The substantive sentences were ordered to run concurrently.

(2.) The prosecution case was that the accused married Sindhubai about five years before the date of the incident and during the wedlock a daughter, Sunita, was born and she was aged about three years at the time of the incident. The accused and his wife Sindhubai and daughter Sunita resided in a hut at a solitary place surrounded by hillocks at a distance of about one furlong from Thapevasti in Shirur Telsil of Pune District. It is alleged that the accused ill-treated his wife since the marriage till the date of the incident, that is, 30th July, 1979. On 30th July, 1979 Mrs. Vatsalabai Abhimanyu Gavane (P.W. 7) -wife of Abimanyu Bajirao Gavane (P.W. 2) and her mother-in-law Yashodabhai Bajirao Gavane (P.W. 8) from their Village Danewadi had gone to a dispensary at Shirur for medical treatment to the ailing daughter of Abhimanyu. These two ladies after their work was over at Shirur, in the afternoon left for their Village Danewadi. On the way they went to the house of deceased Sindhubai over a casual visit. Deceased Sindhubai was a cousin sister of Abhimanyu. When they went to the house of the accused, they found the accused sitting in front of the door of his house with his daughter Sunita on his lap and his clothes were seen stained with blood and the blood had fallen on the ground around him. Sunita was dead. The ladies enquired with the accused about the whereabouts of Sindhubai and the accused replied that he had killed Sindhubai by hitting her with a stone on the head and he had also killed his daughter. The accused, frowning at the ladies, threatened them, and thereby the ladies got scared and they ran away. They reached their house at Danewadi at about 8 p.m. and narrated to Abhimanyu what they had seen at the house of the accused and what they had learnt from him. Abhimanyu immediately sent for Karbhari Yeshwant Gavane (P.W. 9), father of deceased Sindhubai, who resided at the Village Pimpalgaon. On the arrival of Karbhari, Abhimanyu, his wife Vatsalabai and mother Yashodabai narrated him the incident. Thereafter Karbhari and Abhimanyu went to the house of the accused. They reached there at about 10.30 p.m. They found the accused sleeping and by his side the dead body of Sunita was lying. They awoke the accused, and when interrogated by them, the accused told them that he had killed Sindhubai by hitting her with stone and also killed his daughter. Karbhari and Abhimanyu caught hold of the accused and tied him with a rope to a nearby babhul tree, lest he might run away. One Namdeo Gore was sent for and he was asked to give company to Karbhari for keeping watch on the accused. Abhimanyu went to Rangangaon and from there he brought Laxman, brother of the accused, to the house of the accused. The situation on the spot was shown to Laxman. Thereafter Karbhari and Abhimanyu went to Tadobachi Wadi to report the matter to the Police Patil, but the Police Patil was not found at his house. Hence both of them went to the police-station at Shirur. They reached the police-station at about 9 or 9.15 a.m. on 31st July, 1979. Abhimanyu lodged the report Ex. 9 and on the basis of the said report the Police Jamadar Gopinath Janardan Deshpande (P.W. 12) registered offence under section 302 I.P.C. against the accused.

(3.) Police Jamadar Deshpande (P.W. 12) after registering the offence sent some staff members to the scene of offence to bring the accused who was kept there tied to a babhul tree. They brought the accused to the police-station. After preparing the panchanama Ex. 16, the clothes (Articles 11,12 and 13) from the person of the accused and the rope (Article 14) were seized. On the clothes of the accused there were blood stains. The Police Jamadar went to the spot and in the presence of the panchas prepared the spot panchanama Ex. 11 and attached the bloodstained stone (Article 1) and other articles found lying at the spot. He also prepared the inquest panchanama Ex. 12 of the dead body of Sunita and handed over the dead body to a police constable for carrying it to the hospital for postmortem. The Police Jamadar returned to the police-station and in the presence of the panchas interrogated the accused, who agreed to show the place where he had concealed the dead body of his wife. The memorandum of the information given by the accused was prepared. The accused led the police and the panchas to a place at a distance of about one furlong to the east of his house and showed the dead body of his wife Sindhubai which was lying in the streamlet vksgksG covered with a sari. The inquest panchanama Ex. 14 was made. From the place where the dead body was found some stones stained with blood and earth mixed with blood was seized. The dead body of Sindhubai was sent for autopsy. As some injuries were noticed on the person of the accused, he was also sent to the Medical Officer for examination. Dr. Vasudeo Kashinath Umbarker (P.W. 6) held autopsy on the dead bodies of Sunita and Sindhubai and he opined that both of them instantaneously succumbed to the injuries found on their person. The bloodstained stones, clothes and blood-mixed earth were sent to the Chemical Analyser and the report Ex. 33 was received from him. After completing the investigation, charge-sheet was submitted against the accused in the Court of the Judicial Magistrate, First class, Shirur, for the offence under section 302 I.P.C. The learned Magistrate committed the case to the Court of Sessions.