Judgment

KRISHNA IYER, J. :- This appeal by special leave relates to a tragic case of one young doctor murdering his fellow doctor with whom he was on very friendly terms - an act of motiveless malignity, if the case of the prosecution were true. The accused 28 years old, and the deceased of around the same age, were both students in the Ganesh Shanker Vidyarathi Memorial Medical College, Kanpur, and were both employed in the same college and were residing together in the same hostel. Obviously they were as thick as brothers and indeed spent their evenings often together.

2. On the fateful day, April 11, 1969, the accused and the deceased went to see a picture in the Natraj Cinema around 6 p.m. After witnessing the show they returned together and looked out for the whereabouts of one Dr. Shah, in which connection they went to the police outpost, Govind Nagar, at about 10 p.m. They left the outpost but took an out of the way route to the Medical College hostel via the Juhi Railway yard. The action-packed hour begins now, but we are left with no direct evidence about the happenings except the circumstantial testimony provided by PWs 3 and 5, the two Rakshaks of the Railway Protection