1. By this appeal, the appellant has challenged judgment and order dated 21.06.2004 whereby he has been convicted under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for a period of seven years, by the Court of Additional Sessions Judge, Nagpur (trial Court) in Sessions Trial No. 76 of 1999.

2. The prosecution case was that on 12.03.1998 at about 8.30 p.m. one Raju Bokde (injured victim) PW3 applied colour on the festival of Holi to the son of the appellant, a child aged about 5 years and this resulted in altercation between the appellant and the said injured victim PW3. On the next day i.e. on 13.03.1998 when the said Raju Bokde PW3 was standing in front of his house at about 10.30 a.m., the appellant came at the spot and inflicted a single blow by means of sharp weapon on the abdomen of the said PW3 resulting in bleeding injury. The friends and eyewitnesses to the incident then took the injured PW3 for treatment to the Government Medical College and Hospital at Nagpur. On the basis of the statement given by the injured PW3, a first information report (FIR) was registered against the appellant for offence punishable under 324 of