VIJAY GUPTA Vs. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) APPELLANT Vijay Gupta has been convicted under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to imprisonment for life with fine of rs. 500/-, for causing the murder of his wife Lalitabai, by the impugned judgment dated 30. 11. 1998 passed in Sessions Trial No. 122/1997 by the Sixth additional Sessions Judge, Jabalpur.

(2.) ACCORDING to the prosecution case, on 23. 06. 1996 at 3:10 a. m. , pw-1 Batsiya Bai, mother of appellant, lodged the report at Police Station hanuman Tal that for last three days an altercation over some domestic matters was going on between her son Vijay and daughter-in-law Lalitabai. A day before the incident, quarrel was pacified. In the night intervening between 22nd and 23rd june, 1996 at about 2:00 a. m. , again a hot altercation between them erupted and suddenly, Vijay dealt a blow by hammer on the head of Lalitabai. Lalitabai started squirming and became unconscious. Blood was oozing out from her head, ear and nose. Vijay then ran away from the house. On her raising hue and cry, neighbours Subhash Gupta, Madan Gupta and other persons came to her house to whom she narrated the occurrence. Lalitabai was lying unconscious in the house.

(3.) ON the aforesaid report, Station Officer Girish Bohre (PW-13)reached at the house of Batsiya Bai (PW-1) and sent Lalitabai to the Victoria hospital, Jabalpur, where she succumbed to injuries. Her dead body was then sent for post mortem examination to the Medical College, Jabalpur. Dr. A. K. Yadu performed the post mortem examination. He found haematoma on the right parieto temporal region of her scalp, measuring 4 x 3 " x 1 inches and a swelling red and blue around the eye. On internal examination, he also found blood below the scalp in the right parieto temporal scalp region. There was depressed fracture of lower part of the parietal bone. Size of the fracture was 3 x 1 " x " inches and bones were in four small irregular pieces. A fracture on the right middle cranial fossa transverse measuring four inch long, was also found. There was subdural haematoma all around the right half of the brain. Brain inside the right temporal region was depressed for one inch below the fracture. In his opinion, the injuries were antemortem in nature and were caused by the hard and blunt object and death was caused by head injuries, which were homicidal and were sufficient to cause death in ordinary course of nature.