Judgment

ALAGIRISWAMI, J.:- The appellant, a constable in the Border Security Force posted in Jammu, has been convicted by the Sessions Judge of Jammu and sentenced to death for the murder of his wife, On appeal the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir has upheld the conviction but commuted the sentence to one of life imprisonment,

2. In June l968 the appellant had gone to the village in Ferozepur District of Punjab where his wife was living in her parents house and took her with him to Jammu and reached there at 7.30 p. m. on 21-6-1968, The next morning the body of an unidentified woman was found in the river Tawi. In November 1968 the uncle of the appellant s wife as well as his son came to Jammu and met the Inspector and the Commandant of the company to which the appellant was attached. The appellant thereafter made an extra-judicial confession to all these four persons about his having murdered his wife. The photograph of the unidentified woman referred to earlier was recognized by the wife s uncle and cousin as that of the appellant s wife. The appellant was later prosecuted with the result mentioned above.

3. The appellant s father-in-law, Nathu Ram P. W. 2, gave evidence that the appe