KANAI MUNDA Vs. STATE OF JHARKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal arises from the judgement of conviction and order of sentence dated 21.05.2003 and 22.05.2003 respectively passed by the Learned Sessions Judge, Seraikella-Kharsawan at Seraikella in Sessions Trial No. 30 of 2002, convicting the appellants under sections 302/34 IPC and sentencing them to undergo R.I. for life.

(2.) The prosecution case in short is that the informant-Soyna Munda (PW-1) lodged a fardbeyan on 05.08.2001 at about 12.30 PM in the presence of PWs 4 & 5 stating therein that in the previous night at about 8.00 PM his neighbour (appellants) came to his house and asked about his son Kole Munda (deceased). Thereafter, Kole Munda went to the house of the appellants whereupon the appellants inflicted tangi blow on him, due to which he fell down and died at the spot. The appellants fled away. It was alleged that due to the land dispute between the co-sharers, the appellants had committed the said crime.

(3.) PW-1 in his examination-in-chief though supported the said version, but he also said that there was no dispute with the appellants. In the cross-examination, he said that the night was dark and his family members were sleeping and when he woke up in the morning, he found the dead body of his son in the aangan. Similarly, PW-2, wife of the deceased, in her examination-in-chief, said that the appellants came to her house in intoxicated condition and killed her husband, but in the cross-examination she said that she was sleeping in her house and in the morning she found the dead body of herhusband in the aangan. Then she informed the villagers. PWs 3 & 4 though said in their examination-in-chief that they saw the appellants fleeing away from the place of occurrence, but in their crossexamination, they said that when they went at the place of occurrence, villagers had already assembled. Thus, there appears to be no eyewitness in this case.