JUDGMENT :

Bhaskar Bhattacharya, J.

This appeal is at the instance of a convicted person and is directed against an order of conviction and consequential sentence dated February 26, 2007, passed by the learned Presiding Officer & Fast Track Court No.11, Vadodara, in Sessions Case No. 78 of 2006. By the said order, the learned Presiding Officer & FTC No.11, convicted the appellant under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code [“IPC” for short] and sentenced him for life imprisonment and a further fine of Rs. 2000/-. It was further ordered that in default of the payment of such fine, the appellant should undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year.

2. For the offence punishable under Section 364 of the IPC, the appellant was sentenced for rigorous imprisonment for two years and a further fine of Rs. 1,000/- with a stipulation that in default of payment of such fine, he would undergo rigorous imprisonment for one month.

3. Lastly, for the offence punishable under Section 506[2] of the IPC, a fine of Rs. 500/- was awarded with further direction that in case of failure on the part of the appellant in making the payment of fine, he would undergo rigorous imprisonment for seven days.

4. The translated version of the Charge framed against the appellant is quoted below:

“As you, the accused, had love affair with Sonaben, the mother of the complainant Rupaben, you and Sonaben, both had been residing at Ghori village of Bharuch District; on account of Sonaben having strained relations with you the accused, she had come back to Haldarva village; you the accused bore a grudge in that connection; between 20.00 hrs and 24.00 hrs on 16.2.2006, you, the accused, took away Akash, aged 3 years, the son of the complainant, abducted him and by inflicting blows of stump on his forehead and the head, committed his murder; and you gave a threat by telling that “as your mother has run away leaving me alone I have committed murder of your son and would also commit murder of the remaining two sons” and thereby, you have committed the offence under Sections 302, 364, 506[2] of the IPC within the jurisdiction of this Court.”

5. The case made out by the prosecution may be summed up thus:

6. One Rupaben, the wife of Dhirajbhai Ambalal Vasava, lodged a complaint before the Karjan Police Station on February 17, 2006, alleging that the accused had a love affair with her mother, namely, Sonaben, and both of them used to live at Ghori village of District Bharuch. Of late, there were differences of opinion between Sonaben and the accused, as a result, she had returned to Haldarwa village. For the above reason, the accused got angry and on February 16, 2006, between 8.00 pm and 12.00 at night, he took up and kidnapped Akash, aged 3 years, the son of the complainant, and murdered him by hitting blows of stump on his forehead and on the head. The accused had asserted that since her mother had run away leaving him alone, he had killed her son and would also kill the other two children.

7. On the basis of the aforesaid complaint, the investigation had started and ultimately, a charge-sheet was presented in the court of the learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Karjan. However, as the offence was exclusively triable by the Court of Session, the learned Judicial Magistrate First Class at Karjan committed the case under Section 209 of the Code of Criminal Procedure [“the Code” for short] to the Sessions Court.

8. At the time of the trial, the prosecution examined the following witnesses in support of the prosecution case: