The main legal point established in the judgment is the reliance on the testimony of the injured eye-witness, corroborated by medical evidence and other witnesses, to prove the prosecution case beyond doubt.

ORDER :

Joymalya Bagchi, J.

Appeals are directed against judgment and order of conviction and sentence dated 25.08.2014 and 26.08.2014 passed by the learned Additional District & Sessions Judge, 2nd Court, Tamluk convicting the appellants for commission of offence punishable under section 302/34 of the Indian Penal Code and sentencing Monirul Molla to suffer imprisonment for life till his death and to pay a fine of Rs. 10,000/-, in default, to suffer simple imprisonment for another three years and Jiarul Molla @ Jiarul Ali Molla to suffer imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 5,000/-, in default, to suffer simple imprisonment for two years and six months and further convicting Jiarul Molla for commission of offence punishable under section 25(1-A) and 25(1-B) of the Arms Act and sentencing him to suffer imprisonment for five years and pay a fine of Rs. 3,000/-, in default, to suffer simple imprisonment for three hundred days for the offence punishable under section 25(1-A) of the Arms Act and further to suffer imprisonment for three years and pay a fine of Rs.2,000/-, in default, to suffer simple imprisonment for two hundred days for the offence punishable under section 25(1-B) of the Arms Act. Sentences imposed on Jiarul Molla to run concurrently.

Prosecution case:-

2. Prosecution case as alleged against the appellants are as follows: On 10.11.2011 at 7 a.m. Monirul Molla had contacted a driver, namely, SanjayMondal (P.W. 1) who belonged to an adjacent village, for the purpose of visiting Digha in his car along with his mother and wife. Sanjay Mondal agreed to such proposal. Around 7 p.m. he went to village Kataliya and Monirul and another companion boarded the vehicle. The other person got out of the vehicle and they proceeded. Thereafter, Monirul stated his mother would not go for the trip but a lady who was introduced as the wife of Monirul boarded the vehicle. Monirul and the lady sat in the rear of the vehicle whereas the other person who was referred to as Jiarul sat beside Sanjay. Around 9:15 p.m. they reached Kolaghat and had a dinner in a hotel which was situated opposite to hotel Ser-e-Punjab. Thereafter, they again proceeded on their journey. After 15-20 minutes, there was a sudden feud inside the car. Sanjay felt irritation in his eyes and some liquid drops fell on his left hand which caused burning sensation. When he raised alarm, Jiarul who was sitting beside him, put a gun to his head and threatened him to proceed. He proceeded for sometime and upon reaching an island he somehow turned around and proceeded towards Mecheda. At that time Monirul again abused the lady and started assaulting her. When they reached near Ser-e-Punjab Sanjay saw few vehicles and to save his life he tried to stop the car but the car fell into a drain. Sanjay ran out of the car shouting "dakat dakat". Hearing commotion Tarlok Singh, cashier of Ser-e-Punjab Hotel rushed to the spot and saw two persons running away from the vehicle. He sent intimation to Kolaghat Police Station which was diarised by duty officer Dipak Chakraborty (P.W. 24). Pursuant to intimation, the then Officer-in-Charge, Basukinath Banerjee (P.W. 23) came to the spot along with his force. He found a dead body of a lady with severe acid burn injuries inside a Scorpio vehicle. He found a firearm on the seat of the vehicle. He recorded the statement of Sanjay which was dispatched to the police station through Constable Asit De (P.W. 22) and Kolaghat Police Case No. 313 dated 11.11.2011 under section 326/302/34 and 25/27 Arms Act was registered against Monirul Molla and another. In the meantime, inquest was made over the dead body and the vehicle along with a firearm and other articles were seized. Investigation of the case was entrusted to Kashinath Chowdhury, P.W. 25. On the next day he went to Kashipur Police Station, under South 24-Parganas, to investigate the first information report. On interrogation he found the identity of the deceased. He examined her family