ANNAPPA DURGAPPA KAMBLE Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellant aggrieved by the judgment and order dated 2nd January 1993 passed by the 2nd Additional Sessions Judge, Kolhapur in Sessions Case No. 145 of 1987, convicting and sentencing him to undergo imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 1000/- and in default to further undergo 6 months R. I. under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, has come up in appeal before us.

(2.) THE prosecution case in brief is that the deceased Shivputra Kamble was the son of the informant Shankarawwa (P. W. 1 ). According to the prosecution on 26-2-1987 at about 7 a. m. he had gone for work but did not return on that day. The next day i. e. on 27-2-1987, Laxman Bhima Masane (P. W. 3) came and informed the informant Shankarawwa (P. W. 1) that her son Shivputra was sleeping in a field known as Guddi. On that information the informant and her daughter in law Shevanta Shivputra Kamble (P. W. 2) (the wife of the deceased) went to the aforesaid field and there they found that Shivputra was lying in a semi-conscious condition. Understandably the informant shouted and consequently villagers came there. Thereafter Shivputra was taken to the hospital at Halkarni, but on the way he succumbed to his injuries. The informant then kept the corpse of her son at the door of her house and went to the Police Station, Gadhinglay where she lodged her F. I. R. The F. I. R. is Exhibit 15. During the course of investigation it transpired that the deceased Shivputra had gone to the liquor shop of one Ramu Bhogalkar (P. W. 10) where the appellant had also come to take liquor and there an altercation between the two developed, resulting in the appellant assaulting the deceased:

(3.) THE investigation in this case was conducted by A. S. I. Abdul Sattar Nabi Shahapure (P. W. 8 ). It was he who had reduced the F. I. R. of the complainant in writing. On the basis of the F. I. R. an offence under section 302 I. P. C. was registered. He went to the place of the incident and prepared the spot panchanama (Exhibit 11 ). Thereafter he sent the dead body for post-mortem examination. Latter part of the investigation was conducted by P. S. I. Madhukar Mote (P. W. 13 ). On the evening of 27-2-1987 he had taken over the investigation from A. S. I. Shahapure (P. W. 8 ). After recording the statements of witnesses he searched for the appellant and finally on 3-3-1987 arrested the appellant. He recovered the blood stained half-pant and the shirt which the appellant was wearing on his person. While the appellant was in custody he disclosed his desire that he could have the weapon of assault (a sickle) recovered. Accordingly, the memorandum of panchanama (Exhibit 19) was drawn by PSI Mote (P. W. 13 ). Thereafter in a jeep along with the panchas and the appellant P. S. I. Mote went to the house of the appellant. From his house from a bag which was concealed in the heap of earth near the gobar gas, a blood stained sickle was recovered. The blood stained sickle along with the clothes of the appellant and deceased were sent by P. S. I. Mote to the Chemical Analyst. The reports of the Chemical Analyst are Exhibits 43 and 44. On 22-5-1987 P. S. I. Mote submitted the charge-sheet under section 302 I. P. C. against the appellant.