In a case resting entirely on circumstantial evidence, the prosecution must establish a complete chain of events which is consistent only with the guilt of the accused and inconsistent with any reasonable hypothesis of innocence.

B.C. Chakrabarti, J. :- This is an appeal against an order of convic-tion under S.302 of the Penal Code passed by the learned Additional Ses-sions Judge, Nadia in Sessions Trial No.3 of December 1979 sentencing the appellant to imprisonment for life.

2. The appellant was accused of mur-dering his wife Sabita alias Chhabi Rani. The prosecution case shortly put is as follows : The appellant Mahadeb Ghose and his wile Sabita lived sepa-rately from the mother of the accused since Sabita was not pulling on well with her mother-in-law. The appellant works at Dhubulia which is at a dis-tance of about 50 miles from village Bhabanipur where the victim resided. On 9-8-1978 the accused came to the village and was seen leaving the village along with his wife Sabita at about 3.30 p.m. by PWs 10 and 11. PWs 10 and 11 are residents of Bhabanipur. On their query the accused gave out that they were going to the place of their Guru while the wife gave out that they were against to the place of work of the appellant. Sometime later at about 5 p.m. the accused and his wife were seen by PWs 3 and 4 at a place known as Karuigachhi. There also the prosecu-tion case is that the accused gave out to PWs.3 and 4 that they were going to the house at their Guru. Sometime thereafter at about dusk, PW 2 was proceeding from Shyamnagar to his vil-lage at Swaruppur and while going along the village pathway he saw near a pakur tree by the side of Hatasisha field a man sitting upon a woman lying on the ground. As PW 2 tried to ap-proach that man the latter threatened him and thereupon PW 2 came to his village, informed people and came back to the site. When he came back he did not see the man there nor the woman but a groaning sound of a woman was heard coming from inside a paddy-field about 5/6 rasis away. They went to that snot and found a woman lying in an unconscious -state. She was removed to Shyamnagar hospital, PW 2 identified the accused as the person who was seen sitting on the chest of the woman. The victim woman ultimately succumbed to the injuries on 11-8-1978. On informa-tion of the death being communicated to the P.S. initially an unnatural death case was started and later on a written complaint being lodged by PW 1, the father of the victim girl on 12-8-1978, the formal F.I.R, (Ext.1) was drawn up.

3. After completion of investigation the police submitted charge-sheet against the accused who is none other than the husband of the victim under S.302, I.P.C.

4. As many as 22 witnesses were examined in this case although the material witnesses are PWs 2, 3, 4, 10, 11 and 15. The case essentially was one depending on circumstantial evidence.

5. The learned Additional Sessions Judge upon a consideration of the evi-dence on record found that the victim and the accused were found leaving their house at about 3.30 p.m., that they were found together at about 5 p.m. at Karuigachhi, that sometime thereafter she was found alive towards the evening near the house of PW 15 at Swaruppur and that thereafter she was found still alive under a pakur tree where she was being assaulted by this accused and that thereafter she was found lying unconscious not very far away from that pakur tree. The learned Judge felt that the circumstances that have been brought out by the evidence on record formed a complete chain of events which is consistent only with the guilt of the accused and inconsistent with any reasonable hypothesis of this innocence. On such a view of the matter the learned Judge found the appellant guilty under S.302, I.P.C. and in consideration of his age and the fact that he has to maintain his aged parents and unmarried sister imposed the lesser sentence, viz., imprisonment for life. Being aggrieved the appellant has preferred the present appeal.

6. Mr. Adhikari appearing on behalf of the appellant argued that the chain of events sought to be established by the prosecution do not make a complete whole, that there are many missing links that in any eve