The court affirmed that circumstantial evidence must form a complete chain pointing to the guilt of the accused, with no reasonable hypothesis of innocence, and that confessions can be used against co-accused if corroborated.

Judgment :

(Ramesh Sinha, CJ.)

1. Since the above-captioned appeals arise out of a common factual matrix and impugned judgment, they are clubbed and heard together and are being disposed of by this common judgment.

2. These criminal appeals preferred under Section 374(2) of the CrPC are directed against the impugned judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 12.12.2023 passed by the learned First Additional Sessions Judge, Mahasamund (C.G.) in Sessions Trial No. 40/2018 by which the appellants have been convicted and sentenced with a direction to run all the sentences concurrently in the following manner :-

3. Case of the prosecution, in nutshell, is that the complainant, Suresh Khunte (later impleaded as accused by the prosecution) came to Police Station Pithora and reported that on 31.05.2018, while he was at his home in the morning, at that time he received information from the village's Mitanin, Hiraudi Sahu, about a murder that occurred at the government residence of the Sub- Health Center in Kishanpur. Upon receiving the said information, he arrived at the Sub-Health Center, wherein he saw the dead bodies of nurse (Yogmaya Sahu), her husband (Chetan Sahu), and their son (Tanmay Sahu) lying in the courtyard, with blood spread on the ground and severe injuries were visible on all three bodies. When he went inside the room, he saw the dead body of (Kunal Sahu) with a severe head injury. An iron shovel was lying near the door. It was alleged that an unknown person had entered the residence of the Sub-Health Center Kishanpur at night and with the help of sharp weapon has attacked the deceased Yogmaya Sahu, Chetan Sahu, Tanmay Sahu and Kunal Sahu, causing them fatal injuries which resulted in their death.

4. On receiving aforesaid information, the Investigating Officer along with his staff reached the place of occurrence and recorded Dehati Merg Intimations (Merg Nos. 0/2018) vide Exs.P-66 to P-69, thereafter, Dehati Nalishi was registered against unknown person under Crime No. 0/2018 and numbered Merg Intimations were recorded vide Exs.P-87 to P-90. Panchnama was conducted vide Ex.P-3. After summoning the witnesses vide Exs.P-51 to P-54, inquest over the dead bodies of deceased were recorded vide Exs.P-55 to P-58. Thereafter, the dead bodies of the deceased were sent to Community Health Centre, Pithora for conducting postmortem vide Exs. P-4, P-5, P-72 and P-73.

5. Dr. Mol Singh Kanwar (PW-3) conducted postmortem over the dead body of deceased Yogmaya Sahu vide Ex.P-5 and found following injuries :

(1) There was a cut wound in size 12.5 cm length x 3.5 cm deep and 2.5 cm wide from right eyebrow to the back of head and the bones were broken. There was clot and dark colored blood present. Right eye was ruptured.

(2) There was another versal injury in the head, that brain was ruptured and there was blood clot in that too.

(3) There was a deep horizontal cut wound on the front side of the neck which was slightly slanted downwards, in this wound artery vein, trachia, oesochagus, muscle were all cut, there were 2, 3, 4 fractures in cervical vertebral disc, nerve & artery were also cut, size of this injury was 22cm x 10.00 cm and blood was clotted.

(4) There was a 4 x 1.5cm transverse incised wound on the left anterior forehead with blood clot.

(5) There was an oval shaped stab wound of size 4 x 2 cm in the right forearm with blood clot

(6) There was an oval shaped 3 x 2 c