JUDGMENT

BEG, J.:—The appellant before us was acquitted by the Additional Sessions Judge of Kolhapur of the charge of murder. The State of Maharashtra had, however, succeeded in its appeal to the High Court. Consequently, the appellant was convicted under Section 302, Indian Penal Code and sentenced to life imprisonment. The High Court also convicted him under Section 25 (1) (a) of the Arms Act and sentenced him to one year s rigorous imprisonment, the sentences running concurrently. The question before us is whether the Trial Court s judgment and order of acquittal of the appellant was reasonably capable of being sustained so that, if two views were fairly open, the High Court ought not to have interfered.

2. The prosecution case was that the appellant had, at about 4 p.m. on 31-10-1966, committed the murder of Dattu Rama Patil in village Khochi by shooting him with a gun with the intention of killing him. The Trial Court had considered the medical evidence in the case to be decisive. It referred to the post-mortem report which said:

"17. Surface wounds and injuries:- Their nature, position, dimensions (measured) and directions to be accurately stated - their probable age and causes