JUDGMENT

Dr. Arijit Pasayat, J. —

1. Leave granted.

2. Challenge in this appeal is to the judgment of the Division Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court at Jabalpur, upholding the conviction and sentence of the appellant for the offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (in short the ‘IPC’) and sentence of imprisonment for life and fine of Rs.2,000/- with default stipulation. Appellant Gopal was arraigned in the charge sheet as A1.

3. Prosecution version as unfolded during trial is as follows:

Saraswati Bai-deceased was a woman of questionable character. After being deserted by her husband Motilal, she developed illicit relationship with Amol Singh (A2) who ultimately kept her as mistress. At the relevant point of time, she was residing in Tapariya (hut) at village Bichhua.

On 17th March, 1992 at about 8.00 p.m. hearing screams of Saraswati Bai, persons residing in the neighbourhood viz. Rajesh Gupta (PW6), Santosh Gudda (PW2), Mukundi Lal (PW4), Kaliram (PW5), Chhindami Lal (PW3), and Chandra Bhushan rushed towards her hut. In the transit, some of them had seen A1 running away. They found Saraswati Bai lying in a severely burnt condi