STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH Vs. AVNEESH PATYAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal has been filed against judgment dated 30.09.2008 vide which the Court of learned Additional Sessions Judge, Mandi has acquitted the accused of offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code in Sessions Trial No. 15 of 2007.

(2.) The case of the prosecution was that in the morning of 01.01.2007 at around 5:30 a.m., accused Avneesh Patyal went to Police Station, Sarkaghat, District Mandi and disclosed to Sub -Inspector Uttam Singh, Station House Officer of Police Station, Sarkaghat that his sister Miss Anjana Patyal who was undergoing E.T.T. training from Jammu and who had come to her native village was sleeping in her room in the ground floor of their house on the intervening night of 31st December, 2006 and 1st January, 2007 and he was sleeping in the adjacent room in the same house. He heard voice of someone talking from the room of his sister at 2:00 a.m. On hearing the said voice, he got up and went to the door of his sister's room and opened the same and saw that Kamal Kishore @ Kamlu, son of Jiva Nand of the same village was in her room with her. On seeing Kamal Kishore with his sister in her room at such odd night hour, he went out of rage and picked up a drat from gallery of the house and killed both Kamal Kishore as well as his sister Anjana Patyal by giving blows with drat. He further disclosed that after killing both of them, he locked door of the room and kept the drat in the gallery of the house and thereafter came to the Police Station, where he disclosed the occurrence to SHO Uttam Singh.

(3.) This information was entered by the SHO in daily diary No. 28 dated 1.1.2007, on the basis of which FIR Ex. PW14/N under Section 302 I.P.C. was registered against the accused. The accused was confined at Police Station, Sarkaghat by the SHO. He alongwith police officials went to village Karari. He called photographer Sanjeev Kumar, Pardhan Brij Lal, Ward Member Tulsi Ram of Gram Panchayat, Paplog to the spot. Villagers Promila Devi etc. were also on the spot. Thereafter, lock of the door of the room in the house of the accused was opened by mother of the accused Smt. Kanta Devi in the presence of Pardhan Brij Lal, Ward Member Tulsi Ram and other villagers. The dead bodies of Kamal Kishore and Anjana Patyal were lying on the floor of the room in a pool of blood. SI Uttam Singh inspected the dead bodies and prepared inquest reports. The photographer took the photographs of the spot and those of the dead bodies. Thereafter, SI Uttam Singh sent both dead bodies to Referral Hospital, Sarkaghat for conducting post mortem examination. He also collected blood in two vials, hair, cap, lock and key and after sealing the same in separate parcels took the same in possession vide memo Ex. PW1/A. The drat Ex. P -11 was also recovered by him from the gallery of the house. He also prepared sketch of the same and took the same into possession vide memo Ex. PW1/C. The accused was arrested. On 02.01.2007, the accused handed over his track suit vide Ex. P -14 and Ex. P -15 to SI Uttam Singh which was taken into possession vide memo Ex. PW12/A