Judgment

P. JAGANMOHAN REDDY, J:- This Appeal is by Special leave against the Judgment of the Himachal Bench of the High Court of Delhi acquitting the accused who had been sentenced to death for an offence of murder under S. 302 of the Indian Penal Code. The accused Respondent was a Manager at the Kotkhai Branch of the Himachal Pradesh State Co-operative Bank of which Sunder Lal Chaturvedi the deceased was the General Manager. It appears that during the period the accused was working in that Bank there was a fire in the Kotkhai Brach in which the records of the Bank were burnt and a sum of Rs. 10,000/- was found missing. The deceased had suspended the accused from the ser vice and subsequently he was dismissed. In or about 1964, the deceased retired from the Bank and in 1965 started a Private Limited Company under the name of Himprasth Financiers with the Head Office at Nagina Singh Building which was situated in the Mall at Simla of which he was the Managing Director. He used to also live in the same building in one of the rooms of the office and have his meals in the Mansarover Hotel. The other Directors of this company were Gurucharan Singh, Puran Chand Sood and Kailash Devi wife