Judgment

S. K. DAS

( 1 ) J, : This is an appeal by special leave. The appellant is Ratan Gond, aged about 28 years. Tried on a charge under S. 302, Indian Penal Code, he was convicted and sentenced to death by the learned Additional Judicial Commissioner of Ranchi in the State of Bihar. The learned Additional Judicial Commissioner submitted the record to the High Court of Patna for confirmation of the sentence, as he was required to do under the provisions of S. 374 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Ratan Gond also preferred an appeal to the High Court. The appeal and the reference under S. 374, Criminal Procedure Code, were heard together by a Division Bench of the said High Court and it accepted the reference and dismissed the appeal thereby confirming the sentence of death passed upon the appellant. On 19/05/1958, the appellant prayed for and obtained special leave and then filed the present appeal in pursuance of the leave granted to him.

( 2 ) THE facts lie within a narrow compass. The appellant was a resident of village Urte, Tola Banmunda, police station Kolebera in the district of Ranchi. One Mst. Jatri (Prosecution Witness 2), who was a widow, also lived in the same village