The appellant having been convicted for an offence under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code after finding him guilty has been ordered to undergo sentence of rigorous imprisonment for life. This appeal has been filed by him against the order of the Addl Sessions Judge, Kamrup, Guwahati in Sessions CaseNo.232(K)/95.

2. The prosecution story as has been unfolded in the First Information Report and the evidence brought on the record of the case, in short, is that the appellant-husband has burnt his wife alive by pouring kerosene oil on the night of 9.9.95 at about 10.30PM after a quarrel ensued between the two. She died on the next day at 5 AM. The prosecution has produced as many as 7 witnesses in order to bring home the guilt to the accused. The Addl Sessions Judge has primarily recorded the order of conviction on the sole testimony of maid servant (PW 5) Kantibala Roy who is alleged to have seen the entire occurrence.

3. The learned counsel for the appellant Shri JM Choudhury, a Senior Advocate at the very outset has strenuously argued that the conduct of the investigating agency in the instant case was not fair inasmuch as the-sole eye witness was kept under detention