In a murder case, it is not advisable to accept a plea of guilty unless the accused fully understands the implications of the plea, and evidence should be taken as if the plea was one of not guilty to ensure a fair trial.

The appellant Gavisiddappa has been convicted and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life for the murder of his wife Shivalingavva on the 7th of January 1965 in Survey Number 36 of Kukanapalli Village. He has also been convicted under Section 309 I. P.C. But in view of the life sentence passed against the appellant under Section 302 I. P.C., the learned Sessions Judge passed no order of sentence for the offence under Section 309 I. P.C. The appellant has been convicted by the Sessions Judge, Raichur on his plea of guilty.

2. The case against the appellant was that he murdered his wife and thereafter attempted to commit suicide by stabbing himself. His plea, as recorded, is as follows :

"Guilty. It is true that I killed my wife. She was immoral. Having seen her in an act of adultery with my own eyes, I killed her. Then I stabbed myself".

3. The appellant has preferred this appeal through the Superintendent of Central Jail, Bellary, against the said conviction and sentence. Mr. Devaraj, the learned counsel, who appeared for the appellant in this Court as amicus curiae, as our request, has urged that the conviction of the appellant is illegal on the grounds : (1) that the statement made by the appellant is not an unequivocal admission of the fact that he committed the murder of his wife to make him liable under S. 302 I. P.C., as at best the statement amounted to a plea that he killed his wife on grave and sudden provocation when he found her in the act of co-habiting with any other person, and (2) that the learned Judge should not have accepted the plea of guilty and based a conviction against the appellant in a serious case like this in which an accused has been charged for murder. In order to appreciate these contentions raised by Mr. Devaraj, it is necessary to quote the brief judgment of the learned Sessions Judge. It reads thus :

"The accused pleads guilty to the charges levelled against him. He has stated that he killed his wife as she was leading an immoral life. Then in regard to suicide he has stated that he got himself struck in the heat of the moment.

I, therefore, hold him guilty of murder and as well as guilty under S. 309 I. P.C. The accused impressed me as straightforward person and it may be that his wife was infidel to him. No husband kills his wife for the sake of fun. As such I am inclined to pass lesser punishment provided for under Section 302 I. P.C.

I felt like taking some action under Section 401 Cr. P.C. in respect of the accused but since I did not find any material in the record of this case, to show that the deceased was disloyal and as such I leave this matter of communication to the Jail committee.

I. therefore, proceed to pass the following order.

ORDER

The accused is guilty under Section 302 I. P.C. I therefore sentence him to undergo life imprisonment. In view of the life sentence passed by me against the accused under Section 302 I. P.C. I pass no order of sentence under Section 309 I. P.C. Mangelsutra and nose-ring to be returned to the accused. The other properties being valueless, are ordered to be destroyed under Section 517 Cr. P.C."

4. The learned Sessions Judge has not at all noticed the entire plea of the appellant. The most important circumstance pleaded by the appellant has been omitted. The plea of the appellant that he committed the murder of his wife on grave and sudden provocation when he found her cohabiting with another person, if had been noticed by the learned Sessions Judge, in all probability, he would not have convicted the appellant under S. 302 I. P.C. His failure to notice it undoubtedly has resulted in miscarriage of justice and in the conviction of the appellant.

5. Under Section 271(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code an accused person may be convicted on his plea of guilty. It is, however, a settled practice not to accept the plea of guilty in a murder case unless the Court is satisfied that the accused knew exactly what was implied by his plea of guilty and its effe