JUDGMENT

Ranjan Gogoi, J.-The appellant who has been convicted under Section 302 IPC and sentenced to undergo the imprisonment for life by the learned trial court seeks to challenge the order of affirmation passed by the High Court of Chhattisgarh by means of the present appeal.

2. The relevant facts, in brief, may be noted at the outset: According to the prosecution, on 1.8.1998 the accused-appellant had attacked his wife Shantibai in his own house with the backside of an axe resulting in her death. In the next morning, PW 2 (Ramchandra) informed PW 5 (Bandhanram), who was the Sarpanch of the village, that the wife of the accused was not to be found. Thereafter, along with some other persons PW 2 and PW 5 had inquired from the accused-appellant the whereabouts of his wife. According to the prosecution, initially, the accused had disclosed that his wife had gone to her sister’s place but subsequently, on insistence, the accused disclosed that he had committed the murder of his wife by attacking her with an axe and that he had thrown the dead body in the Dhawraghat Nala. It is the further case of the prosecution that the accused took PW 2, PW 5 and the other persons to the place where he had thrown the dead body and that the same was recovered from the spot pointed out by the accused. Thereafter, PW 2 lodged the report of the incident in the Police Station at Kamleshwarpur at 9.00 PM on 2.8.1998, on receipt of which a case was registered and investigation was undertaken by PW 4 (Ranjit Ekka), Sub-Inspector of Police. In the course of investigation, the police visited the house of the accused and seized therefrom the broken bangles of the deceased, plain soil and bloodstained earth as well as some blood stained clothes of the deceased. Furthermore, on the basis of the statement made by the accused, the police recovered an axe from the house of the accused and also a T-shirt belonging to the accused which was also bloodstained. The dead body was sent for post-mortem examination which confirmed injuries on the front side of the head caused by a blunt weapon. The recovered articles were also sent for chemical examination, the report of which confirmed the presence of human blood.

3. On the basis of the aforesaid materials the accused was tried for the offence of murder and was found guilty by the learned trial court. The aforesaid conviction and sentence has been affirmed in appeal by the High Court. Aggrieved, the appellant has instituted the present appeal.

4. We heard Sh. Naresh Kumar, learned Amicus Curiae and Sh. Atul Jha, learned counsel for the State. We have carefully considered the contentions advanced by the learned counsel for the parties and the evidence and materials on record.

5. PW 1, Dr. Vedprakash Patel had conducted the post-mortem of the deceased, Shantibai, in the course of which he found two lacerated wounds on the right side of the head. There were some other injuries on the head of the deceased. According to PW 1, all the injuries were caused by a hard and blunt weapon and the same were sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course. PW 2 (Ramchander Yadav) had deposed that he was informed by one Baburam that the accused-appellant had killed his wife Shantibai, whereafter, PW 2 went to the house of the accused. On being asked about his wife the accused had informed PW 2 that he had killed her and thrown her dead body in the Dhawraghat Nala. According to PW 2, the accused had also informed him that he had killed his wife in his house. PW 2 had further deposed that he found blood scattered all over in a room of the house of the accused. Thereafter, according to PW 2, he had informed PW 5 (Bandhanram), who is the Sarpanch of the village, about the incident and along with PW 5 and some other persons they had gone to the Dhawraghat Nala from where they recovered the dead body of the deceased, Shantibai, as pointed out by the accused. PW 2 had further deposed that the accused had killed his first wife in July