Judgment :-

V.S. Sirpurkar, J.

1.1. Appellant herein challenges his conviction for the offence under Sections 302 and 392 read with Section 397 of Indian Penal Code (hereinafter called "IPC" for short) by the Trial Court and its confirmation by the Appellate Court. The prosecution case, in brief, is as follows.

2. The Appellant Pannayar was charged with the aforementioned offences on the allegation that on the night between 18.1.1995 and 19.1.1995, he committed the murder of one Thilagavalli (deceased) and also committed theft of the gold ornaments worn by her. The prosecution examined as many as 13 witnesses and relied on 22 documents and also pointed out the 15 material objects. Thilagavalli was married to Subbiah Naicker (PW-1). She was a working woman in the mid-day meal scheme. They used to live in Village Keelamarikadu in Tamil Nadu. On the fateful day, she told her husband at about 8.30 p.m. that she would be going out for attending the natures call towards south side of the Village. The prosecution alleged that normally, the villagers went near the pond called Kanmai (local tank). When she did not return till 9O clock, he (Subbiah) started her search alongwith his son. Howev