NAVIN Vs. STATE OF SIKKIM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Whether the Appellant committed the murder of the victim, his grandmother, is the question that craves determination in the instant matter.

(2.) The Court of the Learned Sessions Judge, Special Division-I, Gangtok District, Sikkim, vide the impugned Judgment and Order on Sentence, both dtd. 30/8/2024, in Sessions Trial Case No.01 of 2023 (State of Sikkim vs. Navin alias Nar Bahadur Baraily), convicted the Appellant of the offence under Sec. 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short, 'IPC') and sentenced him to undergo simple imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of ? 500/-(Rupees five hundred) only.

(3.) Before embarking on the merits of the matter, for clear comprehension, a brief summation of the Prosecution narrative is essential. The Appellant then aged about 29 years, attacked the victim, his grandmother, aged about 82 years, with a sharp object on her throat on 1/11/2022, around 1130 hours, at Majhi Gaon. She was evacuated to the Rangpo PHC by her relatives where they reached at around 1155 hours. The Doctor on Duty PW-2, informed the Station House Officer (SHO), Rangpo PS, via 'Call Book Intimation', that, a lady had been brought dead to the PHC with her throat cut, which could possibly be homicidal. At around 1224 hours, the SHO Rangpo PS, also received information from Lnk Dawa Tamang, PW-18 about the assault. At around 1259 hours, the Appellant was apprehended near the riverside and brought to the Rangpo PS by PW-18, with the help of other persons of the locality, including off duty India Reserve Battalion (IRBn) personnel, who were off duty and reside in the same colony as the deceased and the Appellant.