IMPORTANT POINT
The judgment emphasizes the importance of corroboration of witness testimony, the voluntary and truthful nature of an extra-judicial confession, and the evidentiary value of recovered blood-stained items in criminal cases.

JUDGMENT :

Sanjay K. Agrawal, J.

1. Invoking criminal appellate jurisdiction of this Court under Section 374(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (in short ‘CrPC’), the present criminal appeal has been preferred by the appellant, Jeevan Yadav, calling in question the legality, validity and correctness of the judgment & order dated 10.1.2018 passed by learned First Additional Sessions Judge, Raigarh (in short ‘Trial Court’) in Sessions Case No.97 of 2017, by which the appellant has been convicted for the offences punishable under Sections 450 and 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (in short ‘IPC’) and sentenced as under:-

2. Factual matrix of the case, in brief, is that the appellant, in the intervening of 21/22.5.2017, is said to have committed house-trespass by entering into the hut/makeshift shop of Nilesh Jaiswal situated at the footpath in front of Shyam Petrol Pump on the Laxmipur main road under the jurisdiction of Police Station City Kotwali, Raigarh and caused murder of Nilesh Jaiswal by a sharp edged weapon, thereby committed the aforesaid offences.

3. According to the prosecution case, Nilesh Jaiswal (deceased), used to reside at Turipara, Raigarh along his brother Sunil Jaiswal (PW-6) and their family and they used to sell vegetables and fruits in the said shop. On 21.5.2017, at about 9:30 pm, Nilesh Jaiswal had left his shop for having meal at his house and returned to the shop at about 10:00 pm to stay there in the night and thereafter his brother Sunil Jaiswal (PW-6) is said to have left for the house for having meal. In the same night, their guest, Bhupendra Singh (PW-15), was also sleeping in the place adjoining to the said shop. It is further case of the prosecution that in the morning at about 4:50 am, when Sunil Jaiswal (PW-6) returned to the shop, he found his brother, Nilesh Jaiswal, seriously injured with multiple injuries on his face, head and left hand. He escorted Nilesh Jaiswal to the hospital where after some time he succumbed to the injuries. As per the prosecution case, the appellant had entered into the shop of Nilesh Jaiswal in the night and on account a previous enmity, he assaulted Nilesh Jaiswal with a sharp edged weapon which is used to cut coconut, on account of which Nilesh Jaiswal sustained grievous injuries and died.

4. First Information Report (Exhibit P-11) was lodged by Sunil Jaiswal (PW-6). Merg Intimation (Exhibit P-8) was lodged by Kamleshwar Patel (PW-5), Ward Boy of Kirodimal Government Hospital, Raigarh. Summons under Section 175 of CrPC were issued to the witnesses vide Exhibit P-9 and Inquest was conducted vide Exhibit P-10. Dead-body of deceased Nilesh Jaiswal was subjected to post-mortem which was conducted by Dr. Rajesh B. Goswami (PW-4) vide Exhibit P-1 in which he found multiple incised and chop wounds on the face, head and left hand of deceased Nilesh Jaiswal and opined his cause of death to be shock and hemorrhage as a result of multiple cranio-cerebral injuries and nature of his death to be homicidal. Spot Map was prepared vide Exhibit P-12. Vide Seizure Memo (Exhibit P-13), an iron chopper (coconut cutting knife), a kathari, a shirt, a full-pant, a vest and some currency notes, all smeared with blood like stains, were seized from the spot.

5. On the basis of the statement, under Section 161 of CrPC, of the witnesses who were acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case, the appellant was apprehended and his memorandum statement was recorded vide Exhibit P-18 in which he confessed to have committi