P.K. Banerji, J.

1. Kumar Jibeshwar Singh aged 36 years (hereinafter referred to as the appellant or Kumar), the sole appellant, convicted in the case under Section 302, Indian Penal Code, for having committed the murder of Shree Kant Choudhary by intentionally or knowingly causing his death with rifle, on the 30th November, 1966, at the portico of the Trust Office, Rajnagar, P.S. Madhubani, District Darbhanga, and sentenced to life imprisonment, happens to be the son of late Raja Bahadur Bisheshwar Singh, younger brother of Mahrajadhiraj Sir Kameshwar Singh Bahadur of Darbhanga. The person killed, viz., Shree Kant Choudhary, aged about 60 years (hereinafter referred to as the deceased or S.K.C.), was an old employee of the Rajnagar Raj and was, at the relevant time, the manager of this estate. The appellant is the proprietor of Rajnagar Raj and lives in his residential house within the Rajnagar Raj compound (hereinafter referred to as the Raj compound), within Madhubani P.S. in the district of Darbhanga. For the management of temples etc., of the Rajnagar Raj, there is a Trust of which the appellant happens to be the trustee. Within the Raj compound, at a distance of abou