The court's decision highlights the importance of carefully assessing the evidence in cases involving child witnesses and the need for thorough investigations in criminal cases.

( 1 ) PREM Shankar Sachhan alias Prem Shankar Thakur, aged about 22 years of village Nonaptor, District Kanpur (U. P.), stands convicted under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code for having committed the murder of Smt. Ved Khanna, aged about 53 years, on the night between 5th and 6th October, 1977, at her residence at No. 89, Darya Ganj, Delhi. The sentence awarded was imprisonment for life. He was also sentenced under section 342 I. P. C. for having wrongfully confined her maternal grand-son Sumedh Bhardwaj (P. W. 1) in a room of the said house to two months rigorous imprisonment.

( 2 ) THE prosecution case has been that Mr. P. L. Khanna (P. W. 12) and his wife late Smt. Ved Khanna resided at No. 89 Darya Ganj, Delhi. They had a retenu of employees attending to house-hold and other duties. Their son Sharan Khanna (P. W. 13) also resided in the same property, but he had separate set of servants. On the night of occurrence, be was not at Delhi but had gone to Bombay. His employee Narinder Singh alias Nainu (P. W. 4), however, was left behind in the house.

( 3 ) SHRI P. L. Khanna has a daughter who had gone to Chicago, U. S. A. , to join her husband there some months before the occurrence. She left behind her son named Sumedh Bhardwaj, aged 7 years, with her parents as he was studying in IInd standard of St. Columbus School. New Delhi. Inorder to look after Sumedh, an Ayah named Adarsh Mathur (P. W. 14) had been engaged. She was 20 Years of Age. She used to sleep in the room where Sumedh slept. She, however, decided to get married on 8-10-1977, and, therefore, wanted that she should he released from the service. An advertisement was, therefore, issued by the Khannas innav Bharat Times of 29th September, 1977, which is Ex. Public Witness 12]a, seeking services of anexperienced Ayahjservant who could look after and keep company with a seven years old child. He was expected to know some reading and writing. In response thereto, the appellant approached them on the afternoon of the same date, and stated that though he had no experience of looking after children, he was a graduate and had been working at a dhaba at Rs. 30 per month with a single meal a day. Mr. P. L. Khanna, however, told him that without verification of his antecedents he could not be engaged, and asked him to leave. On the next afternoon, the appellant again called on them and brought his certificates and photo- graph. Mrs. Ved Khanna then interviewed him and ultimately engeged him at Rs. 70 per month with free board and lodging.

( 4 ) ON 2-10-1977, Mr. P. L. Khanna left for Mumorric as their house was underconstruction there, leaving behind his wife and Sumedh. On 3rd and 4th there was a telephonic talk bet- ween Mrs. Ved Khanria and Mr. P. L. Khanna, in which the for- mer apprised him that Ra]"u Phillips, one of the servants employed by them was not upto the mark, and enquired whether she shciild allow him to continue in the job. He told her that he should be paid off. Raju Phillips, therefore, left on 4-10-1977. Mrs. Ved Khanna had also informed Mr. P. L. Khanna that Adatsh Ayah also wished to leave on 4-10-1977 on which the latter told her why she could not stay till his return on 6-10-1977.

( 5 ) ADARSH, however, left the job on the morning of 4-10-1977. She as Public Witness 14 stated that when ^he appellant had joined service as a servant, he had told her on her enquiry as to why he had so taken up the employment, that his father had been murdered due to some property dispute, and on that score his mind was upset and he had to leave his house and join such petty jobs. He gave his address of Kanpur to her and also said that he was aplayerof kabaddi .

( 6 ) ON the evening of 5th October, 1977, there was a dinner party at the house of the sister of Mrs. Ved Khanna at 9. Panchsheel Park, New Delhi. Mrs. Ved Khanna, Sumedh and the appellant then went there in a car driven by Slikh Dev Singh (P. W. 3 ). The dinner was attended by a large number of in