DASARATHI BISWAL Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant has challenged the judgment passed by the learned Sessions Judge, Sambalpur, convicting him for offences under sections 302, 380 and 457 I.P.C. and sentencing him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life for the first offence.

(2.) Prosecution case in brief was that informant, Sambhunath Dalabehera (P.W. 8) had a grocery shop at village Rengalbeda with in Reamal; Police Station of Deogarh Sub Division. Deceased Baisnab Sahu was serving as his watchman. In the morning of 5-8-1983 he found that a hole was cut in one of the walls of the shop house. Seeing this, he called some villagers and when the shop was opened, it was found that the deceased was lying dead inside in a pool of blood and grocery articles worth Rs. 200/-, had been stolen. He suspected the appellant and one Santosh Meher, who had previously committed theft of cash from the shop, and lodged F.I.R. (Ext. 6) at the police station. Investigation commenced, in course of which post mortem of the dead body of the deceased was performed, the weapon of assault, an axe (M.O. 1) and the wearing apparels of the appellant were seized by seizure lists (Exts. 8 and 10), the incriminating articles suspected to have contained blood stains were sent for chemical and serological tests and reports (Exts. 12 and 13) were obtained, the appellant was medically examine ed and last of all arrangement was made for recording of his confessional statement by the learned Sub-divisional Judicial Magistrate, Deogarh. After close of investigation, charge sheet was submitted against him.

(3.) The defence of the appellant was denial of his involvement in the murder of the deceased. Further, he retracted the confession and stated that he had been tortured and forced to make a confessional statement.