STATE Vs. ABDUL GANI BHAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present appeal has been preferred against the judgment of acquittal dated 03.05.2018 passed by the learned Sessions Judge, Kulgam by virtue of which the respondents have been acquitted for commission of offences under sections 364, 302 and 120-B RPC in FIR bearing No. 111/2015 of Police Station, Kulgam.

(2.) The present appeal has been filed, inter alia, on the grounds that the judgment is bad in the eyes of law as the prosecution has succeeded to prove the motive behind the murder of the deceased who was having love affair with the daughter of respondent No.1, namely, Abdul Gani Bhat. It is further stated that the trial court has given much weight to the delay in recording the statement of the witnesses, ignoring the fact that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted to investigate the case and Sub Inspector Bashir Ahmad was appointed as member of the SIT. The learned trial court has wrongly ignored the disclosure/confessional statement of juvenile, Aafia Jan, particularly when the prosecution has succeeded to prove the disclosure/confessional statement.

(3.) Before appreciating the challenge thrown to the acquittal of the respondents, it is necessary to have a brief resume of the prosecution story. FIR No. 111/2015 was registered on a written complaint filed by the complainant, namely, Firdous Ahmad Wani with Police Station, Kulgam, wherein it was alleged by the complainant that on 19.06.2015 his brother, Altaf Wani, left his home last evening and did not return back. It was further stated in the complaint that at 8 AM, the dead body of his brother was found hanging on the apple tree in the garden of Sayar Ahmad Bhat S/o Mohammad Abdullah Bhat R/o. Okey. It was further stated that his brother was abducted by Abdul Gani Bhat and Mohammad Abass Bhat, respondent Nos. 1 and 5 herein and tortured. After registration of the case, the investigation of the case was entrusted to PW No. 27-Sub Inspector Mohammad Iqbal. During the course of investigation, the body of the deceased was recovered and identified as Altaf Ahmad Wani S/o Abdul Rehman Wani R/o Okey. The Police also recovered one dupatta which was around the neck of the deceased. The Police also recovered one chappal and one hair clip on spot. During the personal search of the deceased, one mobile phone along with sim card and some cash amount were also recovered. During investigation, the dead body was taken to the Hospital Kulgam for post-mortem and after completion of the post-mortem, the body of deceased was handed over to the parents of the deceased for last rites. It is further submitted that during the course of investigation, Ms. Aafia Jan made a disclosure/confessional statement thereby admitting that on 18.06.2015 in the evening, she called the deceased in the garden of Sayar Ahmad Bhat through phone of her friend Irshada wherefrom she took the deceased to the second storey of her residential house and subsequently her father, namely, Abdul Gani Bhat, her brother Abass Bhat, her mother Nabza Begum including uncle Rashid Bhat, Rehman Bhat, Ghulam Bhat, Hassan Bhat, Hameed Bhat her cousin Ishfaq Bhat, Ishtiyaz Bhat, Aaquib Bhat, Imtiyaz Bhat, her maternal uncle Ammerullah, Sayar Bhat and Murtaza also came in the said room. Meanwhile, Abdul Gani Bhat and Abass Bhat gagged the mouth of the deceased by a frock and dupatta due to which deceased died on the spot. Thereafter, the dead body of the deceased was taken to the garden of Sayar Ahmad Bhat and was hanged on an apple tree so that people may get an impression that deceased has committed suicide. Pursuant to the disclosure statement and on the identification of Aafia Jan, one frock and one dupatta were also recovered. FSL opinion and post-mortem report was also obtained and from the opinion of Doctor, it transpired that deceased has died due to smothering and subsequently the dead body of the deceased was hanged. During the course of investigation, it was established that the deceased and Aafia Jan were having love affair for the last three years and they wanted to marry and in this regard the family members of the deceased repeatedly went to the house of respondent No. 1 with the proposal of marriage. However, respondent No. 1 and his other relatives were against such marriage. After the conclusion of the investigation, the challan for commission of offences under sections 364, 302 and 120-B RPC was filed and the charges were framed against all the respondents. As the respondents did not plead guilty, the prosecution was directed to lead evidence. The prosecution has examined almost all the witnesses and in order to properly appreciate the issues raised by the appellant, it is better to have a brief resume of the prosecution witnesses.