Judgment :-

V. Gopala Gowda, J.

This appeal is filed by the appellants against the judgment and order dated 20.01.2004 passed in Criminal Appeal No. 255 of 1999 by the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, Bench at Aurangabad, whereby the High Court upheld the Trial Court’s decision of convicting the appellants under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (in short IPC) on the charge of murder of one Asaram and sentencing them to life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs.1,000/- and in default of payment of fine, to undergo further simple imprisonment for one year. The present appeal is filed by the appellants praying to set aside the impugned judgment and order of the High Court, urging various grounds.

2. The necessary relevant facts are briefly stated hereunder:

The accused-appellant Nos. 1 and 2 are husband and wife respectively, who are the residents of Village Motigavan in Jalgaon District in Maharashtra. They have been charged with the murder of one Asaram, as a result of a scuffle that took place between the accused and the deceased. An FIR was originally lodged by Madhav Gore, the complainant, who had witnessed the incident. Initially, the crime was registered under Section 307 re