Judgement

THOMAS, J.:- A young housewife (Kanta Devi) enceinte by four months, was shot at with a double barrel gun by an assailant who gatecrashed into her courtyard during the odd hours of the night when she was sleeping. The shoal of pellets spewed out of the mouth of the gun had pierced into her lungs and heart and she died instantaneously. Appellant - an ex-armyman - was challenged by the police for the said murder. Sessions Court acquitted him but a Division Bench of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, on appeal by the State, convicted him under Section 302, I.P.C. and sentenced him to imprisonment for life. He has filed this appeal under Section 2 of the Supreme Court (Enlargement of Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction) Act, 1970 and also under Section 379 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

2. The following is the story which prosecution has unfurled in the trial Court :

Kanta Devi (aged 21) was married to Puran Chand and she was living with her in-laws in her husbands house at Bhali village. Her husband was working in the Public Works Department and most-often he was living away from his family. Her sister-in-law Sheela Devi (PW 10) though married was also residing in the same hou