The court upheld the conviction for murder based on credible eyewitness testimony and medical evidence, rejecting claims of false implication and communal riot.

JUDGMENT :

(ILESH J. VORA, J.)

1. This conviction appeal is filed by the appellant –original accused, against the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 07.03.2014, passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Anand in Sessions Case no. 118 of 2011, wherein, the appellant - Rashmikant @ Jalio Satishbhai Parmar came to be tried for offences punishable under Sections 302, 307 and 504 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (‘IPC’, for short).

2. At the end of the trial, the appellant came to be convicted and sentenced as tabulated hereunder:

3. Brief facts which are necessary to dispose of the present appeal are in nutshell as under:

3.1 The appellant – sole accused Rashmikant Satishbhai Parmar was charged for the murder of one Jabir Shaikh, resident of Village Borsad, Dist.: Anand. The incident took place on 20.07.2011 at about 07:30 p.m., near Mahakali Temple, Borsad. According to the case of the prosecution, the deceased Jabir Mohammad Shaikh was sitting near the area of common place and on seeing the deceased, the accused asked him to give his mobile which he had given to the accused and thereafter, the deceased requested the accused to give his mobile phone back. The accused got angry and took out the knife from his pocket and stabbed the deceased in left side of his chest causing serious injuries. It is further case of the prosecution that the cousin brother of the deceased Irfan Shaikh (PW:2), who came to rescue to the deceased, he was also stabbed by the accused on the right side of the chest with the same knife which allegedly used in causing the injuries to the deceased. After hue and cry, the complainant Ahemad Shaikh (PW:1) and others rushed to the scene of the offence where they saw the accused as well as deceased Jabir Shaikh and Irfan Shaikh. The deceased was taken to the local clinic Aashirwad Hospital, whereas the injured Irfan Shaikh taken to the Shriji Clinic, Borsad for treatment. The condition of the deceased was critical and therefore, he was referred to the higher centre at Karamsad Hospital where he succumbed to the injuries. The hospital authority informed the police and accordingly, PSI S.K. Mekwan was directed to reach at the hospital where after preliminary inquiry, the complaint was being disclosed by PW:1 Ahemad Shaikh, who happened to be the brother of the deceased. The offence was registered against the accused for the act of murder and causing injuries to the witness Irfan Shaikh. The investigation thereafter, entrusted to the PSI J.T. Rana (PW:19). The I.O., during the course of investigation, recorded the statement of eyewitnesses, drew the panchnama of place of occurrence and collected the blood samples for chemical analysis, arrested the accused, recovered the knife allegedly used in the offence, obtained the PM report and other medical case papers of the deceased as well as injured Irfan Shaikh, sent the seized articles to the FSL and obtained the report thereof. At the end of investigation, the chargesheet came to be filed against the accused before the Judicial Magistrate who committed the case to the Sessions Court, Anand.

4. After due framing of the charge and upon the accused pleaded not guilty, the trial commenced before the Additional Sessions Judge, Anand. In order to prove the charge, the prosecution has examined 19 witnesses and relied on the following exhibited documents:

Oral evidence