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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT DHARWAD BENCH
R.NATARAJ, RAJESH RAI K.
Ravi @ Raviraj, S/o. Umakant Dandavatimath – Appellant
Versus
State of Karnataka, Represented By The State Public Prosecutor, Dharwad Bench, Through Mal Maruti Police Station, Belagavi – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
(RAJESH RAI K., J.)
This appeal is directed against the judgment of conviction dated 06.12.2022 and order of sentence dated 13.12.2022 passed in Sessions Case No.182/2018 by the Prl. District and Sessions Judge at Belagavi (hereinafter referred to as the ‘learned Sessions Judge’), whereby the learned Sessions Judge convicted the accused for the offence punishable under Sections 302 of IPC and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs.50,000/-, in default of payment of fine, to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of one year for the offence punishable under Section 302 of IPC .
2. The abridged facts of the case are as follows:
The deceased Dr.Umakant in the instant case is the father of PW.1-Rashmi Vishal Halagatti and accused-Ravi is her younger brother. The deceased-Umakant had transferred 10 guntas of land in Sambra village in the name of accused and desired to construct a commercial complex by raising loan from the Bank for the benefit of accused. However, accused was not ready to sign the loan papers. In this connection, there were frequent tussles between the deceased and the accused. Against this backdrop, on 31.01.2018 accuse
The conviction under Section 302 of IPC was upheld due to circumstantial evidence demonstrating motive and opportunity, proving guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Evidentiary value of eyewitness testimony can support a conviction even if the witness is related to the victim, provided the testimony is credible and corroborated by additional evidence.
The court affirmed that eyewitness testimony, corroborated by forensic evidence, established the accused's guilt beyond reasonable doubt for murder and intimidation.
Criminal Law – Offence of Murder - Burden of proving fact especially within knowledge - Prosecution has succeeded in establishing other circumstances in chain raising a strong presumption of guilt ag....
Section 106 of the Evidence Act reads Burden of proving fact especially within knowledge – When any fact is especially within the knowledge of any person, the burden of proving that fact is upon him.
The court held that conviction based on circumstantial evidence requires a complete, unbroken chain of circumstances that unerringly point to guilt, which was not established in this case.
The reliability of eyewitness testimony, particularly in murder cases, affirms conviction even when the witness is a relative, unless significant contradictions are proven.
The prosecution must prove the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt, and in cases relying on circumstantial evidence, the evidence must form a complete chain that excludes any reasonable do....
The main legal point established in the judgment is the reliance on circumstantial evidence to establish the guilt of the accused under IPC Section 302.
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