Judgment :

Dr. Mukundakam Sharma, J.

1. This is an appeal against the judgment and order of acquittal of the accused-respondent by the Division Bench of the Himachal Pradesh High Court whereby the High Court acquitted the accused-respondent after he was found guilty under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (for short the `IPC) by the Trial Court, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh. Pursuant to the aforesaid order of conviction the trial court sentenced the respondent to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and also to pay a fine of Rs. 5,000/- and in default to undergo simple imprisonment for six months.

2. Being aggrieved by the aforesaid order of conviction and sentence, the respondent filed an appeal from jail before the Himachal Pradesh High Court which was heard and at the end, the aforesaid order of acquittal was passed which is under challenge in this appeal.

3. Before we deal with the contentions raised by the counsel appearing for the parties, it would be necessary to notice the facts which are the basis of the aforesaid criminal case. Yash Pal (PW-3) was working as Chowkidar in Income Tax Office at Mandi. Sanjiv Rana (PW-2) was working as Clerk in Agriculture Land Development Ba