Circumstantial evidence under murder charge requires unbroken chain proving guilt beyond doubt, established motive, and exclusion of other possibilities; inconclusive links like blood-stained clothes, proximity, and poor investigation insufficient for conviction.

JUDGMENT :

KAMAL KHATA, J.

1) By this Appeal, the Appellant seeks to set aside the impugned Judgment and Order dated 8^th November, 2024 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Greater Mumbai in Session Case No. 556 of 2022 and consequently seeks acquittal.

2) The Appellant is presently undergoing life imprisonment at Kolhapur Central Prison, Kolhapur (C-8213), having been convicted by the learned Additional Sessions Judge in Sessions Case No. 556 of 2022 for an offence punishable under Sections 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860(IPC). He has been sentenced to imprisonment for life with a fine of Rs.2000/-, in default to suffer rigorous imprisonment for four months.

3) The prosecution's case is that the Complainant (PW-1), a resident of the Wadi, was aware that, both the deceased and the Appellant were working in the said area and for the past 8 to 10 years, prior to the date of incident, had been sleeping in front of the Rajashree Card Manufacturing Company.

4) According to PW-1 a social worker, on 3^rd March 2022 at about 10 p.m., upon returning to the Wadi area after parking his two-wheeler, he noticed the deceased and Appellant quarreling and scuffling with each other over money in front of the said Rajashree Card Manufacturing Company. He, however, did not intervene, as such incidents were not uncommon.

5) At around 1.58 a.m. on 4^th March 2022, PW-2 informed PW-1 that, a person was lying near Rajashree Card Manufacturing Company in a pool of blood with visible injuries. PW-1 immediately proceeded to the spot and found the deceased lying in a pool of blood, with a large blood-stained stone lying nearby. The Appellant was seen sleeping at a short distance with blood stained clothes. PW-1 woke him and enquired about the assailant, but the Appellant gave vague replies and left the spot on the pretext of going to the urinal.

6) PW-1 then dialed No. 100 and upon receiving no response, contacted the V. P. Marg Police Station and informed them about the incident. The police arrived within a few minutes and shifted the deceased in an ambulance to the J.J. Hospital. PW-1’s wife, who had accompanied him, informed him that she had seen the Appellant, with blood-stained clothes, hurriedly leaving the scene and strongly suspected that the Appellant had committed the alleged offence. On this basis, Crime No. 32 of 2022 came to be registered on 4^th March 2022 for an offence punishable under Section 302 of the IPC. Upon completion of investigation, a charge sheet was filed against the Appellant for offence under of the .

7) On 15th October 2022, charges were framed below Exh. No.02, against the Appellant for an offence punishable under Section 302 of the IPC. The Appellant pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried.

8) Upon appreciation of the evidence of twelve witnesses, the learned Additional Sessions Judge convicted the Appellant for an offence punishable under Section 302 of the IPC and sentenced him to imprisonment for life with a fine of Rs. 2000/-, in default to suffer rigorous imprisonment for four months.

9) Mr. Prosper D'souza, Advocate appointed through the Legal Aid for the Appellant submitted that, the chain of circumstantial evidence was incomplete and insufficient to establish the guilt of the Appellant. According to him, the circumstances relied upon were neither fully proved nor of a conclusive nature. He further contended that the prosecution had