IMPORTANT POINT
[The court established that in cases of homicide occurring in private settings, the burden of proof shifts to the accused to explain the circumstances of the crime, particularly when direct evidence of the act is presented.]

JUDGMENT/ORDER

URMILA JOSHI-PHALKE, J. - By this appeal, the appellant (accused) challenges judgment and order dtd. 29/12/2018 passed by learned Sessions Judge, Nagpur in Sessions Trial No.464/2017 whereby the accused is convicted for offence punishable under Sec. 302 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to suffer life imprisonment.

2. Such of facts necessary for the decision of this appeal are as follows: Report was lodged with Ajni Police Station, district Nagpur by Sheela Ganesh Jaronde, the daughter of the deceased, on 23/5/2017 on allegations that the deceased is her mother and the accused is her real brother. At the time of incident, the deceased was residing along with the accused. As the accused was addicted to vices, his wife and his children are residing separately and, therefore, only the accused and deceased were residing together. On 22/5/2017, at about 8:00 am, when she was attending her duty, she received a phone call of her sister who disclosed that her mother is no more and, therefore, she went at the house of her mother and found that police were taking her mother to hospital and, therefore, she went in the hospital and saw that her mother had sustained injuries. The neighbours, who gathered in the hospital, disclosed that in night on 21/5/2017 Kishor, the accused, abused her mother and assaulted her. One of neighbours Maya Borkar informed the police and the police arrived at house and gave understanding to the accused. Thereafter, also, the accused assaulted her mother and caused her death. On the basis of the said report, the police have registered the offence vide Crime No.333/2017 under Sec. 302 of the Indian Penal Code. Prior to registration of the crime, the police have already registered the murge report on the basis of the report by neighbour Maya Borkar.

3. After registration of the crime, wheels of the investigation started rotating. During investigation, Investigating Officer has visited alleged spot of incident and drawn spot panchanama in presence of panchas. During spot panchanama, Investigating Officer has collected broken pieces of bangles, slipper (chappal) and alleged weapon of the offence i.e. a stick. The Investigating Officer has also drawn inquest panchanama and seized the clothes of the deceased. The accused was arrested and his clothes were also seized in presence of panchas. During investigation, Investigating Officer has collected postmortem notes and forwarded all the incriminating articles to Chemical Analyzer. After completion of investigation, he had submitted the chargesheet against the accused.

4. As the offence punishable under Sec. 302 of the Indian Penal Code was triable by Sessions Judge, learned Magistrate committed the case to Sessions Judge. Learned Sessions Judge framed the charge vide Exhibit-4. The accused pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried.

5. To substantiate the charge against the accused, the prosecution examined in all nine witnesses, which are as follows:

6. Besides the oral evidence, the prosecution also placed reliance on following documents:

1. report Exhibit-10; 2. F.I.R. Exhibit-11; 3. Spot panchanama Exhibit-16; 4. inquest panchanama Exhibit-18; 5. clothes seizure panchanama regarding clothes of the accused Exhibit-19; 6. murge report Exhibit-22; 7. postmortem report Exhibit-29; 8. examination report of weapon by Medical Officer Exhibit-31;

9. advance cause of death certificate Exhibit-33; 10. arrest panchanama Exhibit-44; 11. blood samples, seizure panchanama of the accused Exhibit-47; 12. clothes seizure panchanama regarding the deceased Exhibit-48; 13. murge report Exhibit-76; 14. requisition letter to Chemical Analyzer Exhibit77; 15. Chemical Analyzer's Reports Exhibits-80(4), 81(1), 81(2) 81(3);

16. DNA Report Exhibit-84; 17. letter addressed to the Assistant Commissioner of Police for obtaining extract of report given by dialing number 100 and extract of log book.

7. Learned Judge below recorded evidence and on the basis of the evidence, after he