JAGANNATH LAXMAN PAWAR Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this Appeal, the Appellant, who is Original Accused in Sessions Case No.6 of 2008, questions the legality and validity of the Judgment and Order dated 30th December 2008 of Additional Sessions Judge, Satara, thereby convicting him for the offence punishable under Section 302 of IPC and sentencing him to suffer imprisonment for life and to pay fine of Rs. 10,000/-, in default to suffer R.I. for six months. By the impugned Judgment, he has also been convicted for the offence punishable under Sections 307 and 324 of IPC and sentenced to suffer R.I. for five years and to pay fine of Rs. 5,000/-, in default to suffer R.I. for six months on the first count, and R.I. for one year and fine of Rs. 1,000/-, in default to suffer R.I. for two months on the second count.

(2.) Factual matrix of the Appeal can be depicted as follows :-

(3.) The incident that gave rise to the present case took place on 16th August 2007. On that day, at about 9 pm, PW-4 Tai and her daughter-in-law PW-5 Sunita, wife of Vitthal, were sleeping in the house along with the children by name Nikhil, Vishal and PW-7 Amit. PW-8 Anusaya, wife of Prakash, had gone to latrine. At that time, Appellant returned to the house and started giving abuses as to why the tiles of the kitchen were washed. When PW-4 Tai told him not to give such abuses, Appellant got annoyed. He took the axe, which was kept on the wall, and gave the blow of axe by blunt side on the forehead of PW-4 Tai. When his mother Tai shouted, PW-5 Sunita got up. Appellant gave blow of axe on her head also. Then he assaulted PW-7 Amit with the same axe. As the other children, including deceased Vishal, son of Prakash, got up and started shouting, Appellant gave two blows of axe on the back of Vishal. The blow was so forceful that the axe was embedded in the back of Vishal. By that time, PW-8 Anusaya, mother of Vishal, on hearing the commotion, returned from the latrine and seeing her, the Appellant ran away from the spot. PW- 8 Anusaya removed the axe from the back of Vishal. Then some persons from the village brought all the injured, including deceased Vishal, to Civil Hospital. There complaint of PW-4 Tai was recorded by PW-10 PI Shivaji Patil.