MANU BINDHANI Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS jail criminal appeal is directed against the judgment and order dated 28.07.2003 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Baripada in Sessions Trial No.12/60 of 2001 convicting the appellant for commission of offence punishable under Section 302, I.P.C. and sentencing him to undergo imprisonment for life.

(2.) PROSECUTION case in brief is that on 29.07.2000 at about 9 A.M. the deceased had been to the shed of one Biswanath Bindhani (P.W.5) of village -Arpata for work. At about 5 P.M. the informant (P.W.14) got information from Biswanath that the deceased lying in a serious condition inside Daundia reserve forest. He along with Biswanath immediately rushed to the place of occurrence and saw the deceased lying senseless on the ground with piercing injury on his right side leg above the knee joint and his cycle was kept by his side. The informant with the help of others first took the deceased to the house of Biswanath and while making arrangement to shift him to his (informant s) house in a trolley, the deceased died. Suspecting foul play the informant reported the matter at Barsahi Police Station consequent upon which a case was registered and investigation taken up. During the course of investigation, the I.O. visited the spot, examined the witnesses and recorded their statement, seized the cycle, a pair of chapel along with blood -stained earth and sample earth from the spot in presence of the witnesses. On getting information from confidential source, the I.O. interrogated one Sadhu Bindhani, Padmolochan Bindhani and Pabana Bindhani and came to learn that one Padmini Bindhani (P.W.11) is the eye witness to the occurrence. When she was examined by the I.O., in her statement she disclosed to have seen the accused -appellant shooting the deceased by means of bow and arrow inside the forest. On the strength of her statement, the accused -appellant was arrested and while in custody he made disclosure statement admitting to have shot the deceased and concealing the arrow in a branch of a tree and gave recovery of the arrow to the police in presence of the witnesses. The I.O. also recovered the bow and thread of the bow from the house of the accused -appellant. On completion of investigation the I.O. laid charge -sheet against the accused -appellant and Saiba Bindhani (since acquitted) for commission of offence punishable under Section 302/34, IPC.

(3.) UPON receipt of charge -sheet, cognizance was taken and the case was committed to the Court of Session where the present appellant and the acquitted accused Saiba Bindhani faced trial. During trial they took the plea of complete denial and false implication. The prosecution, in order to prove the charge, examined as many as 24 witnesses including the I.O. and the doctor and exhibited 16 documents in evidence. But the accused persons did not choose to adduce either any oral or documentary evidence. The learned Additional Sessions Judge on assessment of the evidence on record convicted the accused -appellant for commission of offence punishable under Section 302, IPC and sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for life inter alia basing upon the eyewitness account of P.W.11 and the evidence with regard to leading to discovery of the weapon of offence. He, however, acquitted co -accused Saiba Bindhani of the charge.