Judgment

SARKARIA, J.:- Appellant Sampat Tatyada Shinde (27) was tried and convicted for an offence under Section 302, Penal Code for the murder of his brother Tukaram and sentenced to imprisonment for life by the Additional Sessions Judge, Greater Bombay. The appellant s appeal was summarily dismissed by the Bombay High Court without recording any reasons. He has come up in appeal by special leave to this Court. The prosecution story runs as under:

2. The appellant and his brother, Tukaram deceased were natives of village Patan in Taluka Satara. At the material time, the two brothers were employed in Simplex Mills at Bombay, and, in that connection, Tukaram deceased was staying with his brother-in-law, Anna Kadam, in Patra Chawl, Bombay, while the appellant was residing in the same Chawl in a different place. There was a dispute between the appellant and the deceased over the partition of the lands situate in the area of their village. The appellant was pressing the deceased to agree to partition but the latter was evading to give his consent. The appellant took a month s leave from his employer for seeing through the partition. For that purpose, he wanted Tukaram to accompany him to the village. Tukaram refused. Incensed by the intransigent conduct of the deceased, the appellant resolved to belabour him.

3. On October 25, 1968, in the afternoon, the appellant assaulted Tukaram in front of a milk shop with an iron pipe (Art. A) which he had purchased earlier on the same day from the shop of Kurban Singh Hussanali. He inflicted a number of blows causing multiple injuries and fractures of bones. The appellant went away taking the weapon with him.

4. The occurrence was witnessed, among others, by P. W. Adam Khan who was working at the adjacent shop of Noor Mohd., Namdeo Pawar P. W. 3 and Abu Rehman P. W,. 4. One Ashok Shankar Nakashe, saw the deceased lying in a pool of blood at the spot soon after the assault. He went to the Agripada Police Station and lodged the First Information Report. Thereupon, at about 2.35 p.m. Ram Rao Suryavanshi, Sub-Inspector of Police, accompanies by the informant, rushed to the spot in a police jeep. He found Tukaram lying unconscious. He immediately removed him to B. Y. L. Nair Hospital where he was declared dead.

5. Appellant was arrested by Vishwanath Sawant on the night of October 25, 1968, while he was found sleeping on the platform at the Central Railway Dadar Station. A Railway ticket to Poona was found in his shirt pocket. His shirt and pajama were found blood-stained, and were seized. Subsequently, the appellant led the police in the presence of Panchas to the Municipal Compound and produced therefrom the blood-stained iron pipe (Ex. Art. A). These blood -stained articles were sent for chemical examination. Human blood was found on the clothes which were seized from the appellant at the time of his arrest.

6. Post-mortem examination of the dead body was performed by Dr. Frankline who found numerous injuries including fractures of the skull, bridge of the nose and the jaws. All these injuries were, in his opinion, sufficient to cause death within half an hour of the assault.

7. Two identification parades of the appellant were held by Shri J. P. Deshmane,. In the one held on October 26, 1968, P. W. Adamkhan correctly identified him. At the second held on October 27, 1968, P. Ws. N. D. Pawar and Abu Rahman correctly identified the appellant.

8. At the trial, Anna Kadam (P. W. 6), the brother-in-law, and K. T. Shinde (P. W. 12), the brother of the deceased testified how on account of the dispute over partition of land, relations between the appellant and the deceased were estranged.

9. The mainstay of the prosecution was the evidence of the three eye-witnesses. P. W. 2, Adam Khan, P. W. 3, N. D. Pawar and P. W. 4, Abu R. Shaik. At the material time, Adam Khan, was working in the bidi shop of Noor Mohammad at a distance of hardly 10 from the scene of murder. N. D. Pawar, a hawker, was residing in Kasamb