JUDGMENT

CHANDRACHUD, J. : — The appellants, Munnu Raja Chhuttan, were tried by the learned Sessions Judge, Chhatarpur on the charge that at about 10 a.m. on April 30, 1969 they committed the murder of one Bhadur Singh. In support of its case, the prosecution relied upon the evidence of Santosh Singh (P. W. 1) and Mst. Gummi (P.W. 4) who claimed to be eye-witnesses and on three dying declaration alleged to have been made by the deceased. The two eye-witnesses were permitted to be cross-examined by the Public Prosecutor as they supported the case of the prosecution only partly. Santosh Singh stated that he saw Chhuttan assaulting Bhadur Singh with a spear but that he did not see Munnu Raja at all. On the other hand, Mst. Gummi stated that it was Munnu Raja and not Chhuttan who assaulted the deceased. Since the two principal witnesses turned hostile, the learned Sessions Judge thought it unsafe to rely on their testimony and, in our opinion, rightly. The learned Judge was also not impressed by any of the dying declarations with the result that he came to the conclusion that the prosecution had failed to establish its case beyond a reasonable doubt. In that view of the matter, the app