Kailash Gambhir, J.

1. By this appeal filed under Section 374(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as Cr.P.C), Appellant– Vinod Kumar seeks to challenge the Judgment dated 27th August, 1999 and Order on Sentence dated 31st August, 1999 passed by the Court of Shri I.C. Tiwari, Ld. Additional Sessions Judge, Shahdara, Delhi, whereby the appellant has been convicted for committing an offence punishable under Section 302 Indian Penal Code, 1806 (hereinafter referred to as IPC) and sentenced to undergo Imprisonment for life together with imposition of fine of Rs.2,000/- and in default thereof to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for a period of one year.

2. The prosecution story as has been unfolded in the Charge Sheet filed by the prosecution is as under:-

“The appellant is the neighbor of the deceased. On 12.07.1995 at about 12 in the noon the appellant came to the residence of the deceased and called the deceased o accompany him. Upon this PW3 being Mother of the deceased inquired from the accused as to where are they going. The accused replied that they will return soon and after this he took the deceased along with him holding his hand. Father of the deceased, PW3 was also present in the house, but was sleeping as he had done his duty of Security Guard on the previous night. The deceased did not turn up till 1 pm. On this PW 3 went to accused’s house to inquire about the whereabouts of the deceased. Accused told her that the deceased has gone to watch movie and he will be back. However the deceased did not return for the whole night. On 13.07.1995 at about 7 A.M PW3 again went to the house of the accused to inquire about the whereabouts of the deceased. There the Mother of the accused informed PW3 that the accused has gone to work and he will be back by 9 PM. For the whole day PW1 and PW3 kept on searching the deceased but they could not find him. In the night at around 8 PM PW1 and PW3 again went to the house of accused, where they met the accused and inquired from him about the whereabouts of their son. The accused first informed them that the deceased has gone to purchase MANJHA (thread for flying kites). At this, when PW-1 and PW-3 said that Dharminder has not returned since yesterday, the accused replied that he had left Dharminder on the road and when PW-1 and PW-3 again inquired, then the accused replied that he had left Dharminder at their residence. After getting no satisfactory reply about the whereabouts of deceased, PW1 and PW3 threatened the accused that they will report the matter to the police if he does not tell them the truth. Thereafter PW1 at about 10 PM went to the Police Station to lodge a Missing Report of the deceased. After lodging the Missing Report the Police accompanied PW1 and PW3 to the house of accused, where they came to know that the accused has absconded from his house as soon as PW1 and PW3 left for Police Station.

On 14.07.1995 at about 8 AM PW5, Kamal Singh, cousin brother of the deceased, told PW1 that the dead body of deceased is lying in the bathroom which is on the terrace of Shanti Gopal Building. On hearing this PW1 reached the spot and identified the body of the deceased. A rope was tied with the neck of the dead body, the hands of the body were tied on the back side. PW1 suspected that the deceased has been murdered by the accused. The SHO made his endorsement on the said rukka and sent the rukka to Police Station. On the basis of the said rukka a case was registered under Section 302 Indian Penal Code, 1860.”

3. After the completion of investigation, the Charge-Sheet was filed. The accused was charged for the offence punishable under Section 302 of IPC. Prosecution in support of their case examined as many as 24 witnesses.

4. In order to afford an opportunity to explain circumstances appearing in evidence against the accused person, he was examined under section 313 Cr.P.C. His case has been of denial simplicitor. He claimed his implication in th