Judgment

G.B. Pattanaik, J.-The appellant has been convicted under Section 302 IPC and sentenced to imprisonment for life and a fine of Rs. 200/-, in default, to further undergo imprisonment for four months by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Sirohi and the said conviction and sentence has been upheld by the Division Bench of Rajasthan High Court at Jodhpur in Criminal Appeal No. 141 of 1979. It was alleged by the prosecution that on 16.10.78 during the morning hours the cattle of the deceased entered into the field of the accused Deva and damaged the crop. Accused, therefore, put those cattle in the cattle pond. Deceased however agreed to give six Maund of maize as compensation, after which the cattle were released. The further case of prosecution is that Deva had gone out and on his return in the evening, there was some altercation between him and the deceased. P.W. 14 however inter­vened and got them separated. In the night, while accused was sitting at a hotel belonging to P.W. 7, the deceased came out of his house and seeing him coming out the accused left the hotel and inflicted in­juries upon him by a dagger (Chhuri) on the stomach of the deceased. The deceased then wen