ORDER :

1. The appellant-accused has preferred this appeal against the impugned judgment passed by the High Court whereby the High Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the conviction and sentence of the appellant passed by the trial court. The trial court convicted the appellant for offence punishable under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (for short, the 'IPC') and sentenced him to undergo life imprisonment, for having committed murder of his wife viz., Laxmi @ Lalitha.

2. At this stage, the questions of motive, intention, etc., are not of much consequence. Indeed, the arguments have not been advanced on that aspect by learned counsel for both sides. The main question for our consideration is whether the deceased Laxmi @ Lalitha who was found hanging by a plastic rope, died due to homicide or suicide. Obviously, the appellant can be found guilty only if death is caused due to homicidal hanging. The body of the deceased Laxmi @ Lalitha was found hanging from a high beam by a plastic rope. There were two ligature marks on the neck of the deceased-one was horizontal on the Hyoid bone and the other higher up, where the knot went up along the side of the ear. This ligature mark was