PITABASH LOHARA Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellants in both the cases assail their convictions under Section 302/34 of the Indian Penal Code (hereinafter referred to as the IPC for brevity) in S. C. No. 46/11 of 1999-2000 of the Court of learned Addl. District and Sessions Judge, Nuapada. Bereft of unnecessary details the prosecution gravamen is that on 15.3.1999 in the night the accused persons organized a feast with the deceased in his house and took their dinner. Due to some reason there was a quarrel between the appellants and the deceased. In such quarrel appellant Pitabash Lohara caught hold of the deceased from the back and the other appellant Paramananda Gahir stabbed him by means of a knife, consequently the deceased died instantaneously on the village road of Hirapur.

(2.) Hearing the noise Dushasan Pandey and others, who were watching the "T.V. in the house of the deceased, came out and saw that the appellants were running away along the weapon of offence, i.e., the knife by withdrawing the same from the chest of the deceased. After the said incident the informant Rudra Charan Patnaik lodged an F.I.R. before the O.I.C., Sinapali on 16.3.1999. On the basis of which the O.I.C. registered the case took up investigation and after completion of investigation submitted charge-sheet against the appellants under Section 302/34 of the I.P.C.

(3.) To establish the charges levelled the prosecution examined ten witnesses out of whom PW1 is the informant. PWs. 2, 6, 7 and 8 are the independent witnesses who have seen the appellants running away from the spot with the weapon of offence i.e. the knife after the deceased fell down on the ground. P.Ws. 3 and 5 are the post occurrence Witnesses. P.W. 9 is a witness to the discovery of the weapon of offence on the disclosure statement made by the accused. Paramananda Gahir. PW4 the doctor, who had conducted post-mortem examination on the dead body of the deceased and PW10 is the investigation officer.