IMPORTANT POINT
Murder – If accused offers no explanation or furnishes a wrong explanation, absconds, motive is established and some other corroborative evidence in form of recovery of weapon etc. forming a chain of circumstances is established, conviction could be based on such evidence.

JUDGMENT :

BELA M. TRIVEDI, J.

1. The impugned judgment and order dated 13.07.2018 passed by the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, Bench at Gwalior in Criminal Appeal No. 70/2000 has been sought to be challenged by the petitioner-accused by way of present petition. The said appeal was dismissed by the High Court confirming the judgment and order dated 17.01.2000 passed by the First Additional Sessions Judge, Morena (hereinafter referred to as the “Sessions Court”) in ST No. 205/1996, whereby the petitioner was convicted for the offence under Section 302 IPC and was sentenced to undergo life imprisonment with fine of Rs. 5,000/-, in default thereof to suffer further rigorous imprisonment for a period of two years.

2. The petitioner-accused Ramgopal alias Gopal was the Ex-Sarpanch of the village Har Gangoli. On 20.12.1995 at about 09:30 AM, the complainant Upendra Singh (PW-1) reported at the Police Station Baghchini that on 19.12.1995 at about 5 PM his uncle (Tau) Pratap Singh Sikarwar was taken by the Sarpanch Ram Gopal from Arhela, and the dead body of his uncle Pratap Singh was lying on the road near the house of Bharosibaba at village Chachiha. He further alleged in the complaint that there were injuries found on the head and ear of his uncle and blood was oozing out from the said parts. The said complaint was registered at the Police Station Baghchini as FIR No. 132/95 on 20.12.1995. The Investigating Officer after carrying out the investigation submitted the chargesheet against the petitioner-Ramgopal along with other three accused i.e., Suresh Singh, Chhotalli @ Chhotey Singh and Mintoo @ Karan Singh. The Sessions Court framed charge against the accused for the offence under Section 302 and in the alternative Section 302 read with 34 IPC. The Sessions Court after appreciating the evidence on record convicted the petitioner-Ramgopal for the charged offence under Section 302 IPC, however acquitted the other three accused giving them benefit of doubt. Being aggrieved by the same, the petitioner had preferred the appeal before the High Court, which came to be dismissed by the impugned order.

3. The learned Senior Counsel Mr. Salman Khurshid appearing for the petitioner submitted that the case of the prosecution rested solely on the circumstantial evidence, however the prosecution had miserably failed to prove the entire chain of circumstances leading unerringly to the guilt of the petitioner-accused. According to him, the courts below have committed an error in convicting the petitioner merely on the theory of “last seen together”, however there was a big time gap between the time when the petitioner was lastly seen with the deceased and the time when the dead body of the deceased was recovered. The alleged recovery of weapon axe from the petitioner also could not be a ground for conviction, more particularly when the doctor who had carried out the post-mortem of the dead body of the deceased, had not opined that the injuries found on the dead body of the deceased were possible with the said weapon. According to Mr. Khurshid, there was no animosity between the deceased and the petitioner, and on the contrary as per the evidence of PW-1 Upendra Singh and PW-8 Ramshree, their relations were quite cordial. In absence of examination of any independent witness, runs the submission of Mr. Khurshid, the benefit of doubt deserves to be given to the petitioner, when the other three co-accused were given such benefit. Mr. Khurshid has placed heavy reliance on the decision of this Court in the case of Padala Veera Reddy vs. State of Andhra Pradesh and others, 1989 Supp (2) SCC 706 , in case of Shahaja alias Shahajan Ismail Mohd. Shaikh vs. State of Maharashtra(2022) SCC OnLine SC 883, and in case of Nizam and another vs. State of Rajasthan, (2016) 1 SCC 550 in support of his submissions.

4. However, the learned Advocate Mr. D.S. Parmar appearing for the respondent-State submitted that there being concurrent findings of the guilt recorded by the