PROSTEROY LYNGKHOI Vs. STATE OF MEGHALAYA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant questions a judgment of conviction of February 27, 2020 and the consequential sentence of life imprisonment with a fine of Rs.20,000.00 for the offence he was found to have committed under Sec. 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

(2.) Of the several grounds raised in the appeal, the principal aspect of challenge pertains to the perceived shoddy investigation conducted and the alleged failure by the investigating agency in following the procedure as laid down by law. The appellant questions the circumstances in which an inquest over the dead body was conducted at a time when the first information report had not been registered; he refers to the dubious circumstances surrounding the purported confessional statement that he made and which was recorded under Sec. 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 by an Executive Magistrate; he focuses on the fact that he was administered oath at the time that his statement under Sec. 164 of the Code was recorded, which is contrary to the express stipulation of Sec. 164(5) of the Code; he emphasises that there is no recorded statement attributed to him of having indicated where the murder weapon could be found; and, he questions the cavalier manner in which several anomalies which resulted in the chain of circumstances being snapped being overlooked by the trial court despite the trial court being critical of the way in which the prosecution conducted the case.

(3.) The incident occurred on December 15, 2007. As per the prosecution version, an initial information was received by the police over telephone in the early hours of December 16, 2007 at about 1:44 am, but the formal FIR was lodged only in the evening of December 16, 2007, by which time an inquest over the body had already been conducted after the police reached the place of occurrence at or about 9:30 am on December 16, 2007.