Judgment

P. Venkatarama Reddi, J.—The appellant along with seven others were charged by the Additional Sessions Judge, Madhubani under Section 396 IPC for committing dacoity on the night of 28.5.1994 in the course of which one of them fired at and killed one of the inmates of the house, namely, Rajendra Thakur. Four were acquitted by the trial Court and on appeal by the remaining four accused, three were acquitted by the High Court. The appellant alone was convicted under Section 396 IPC and sentenced to life imprisonment. It appears that the appellant has so far undergone imprisonment for about six years.

2. PW1 - a neighbor, PW3— the minor daughter of the deceased, PW4 — the brother of the deceased who was also injured by the marauders and PW5 — the sister-in-law of the deceased are the eye-witnesses. Though the information in regard to the incident was supposed to have been conveyed to the police station by PW1, the FIR was not recorded on that basis. However, the police arrived at the scene at about 2 a.m. and then recorded the statement of PW5 i.e. the sister-in-law of the deceased, which was treated as First Information Report.

3. According to the statement of PW5 as incorporate