IN THE HIGH COURT OF GAUHATI
M.R.PATHAK, SONGKHUPCHUNG SERTO, JJ.
JOLEN KANDULANA - Appellant
Versus
STATE OF ASSAM - Respondent
Criminal Appeal (J) No. 50 of 2016
Decided on : 13-02-2019
Indian Penal Code, 1860 - Sections 34 and 302 - Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 - Sections 161 and 164 – Criminal - Victim was invited by one to his house for dinner - As invited deceased victim went to house and while they were having dinner accused appellant came with an iron rod and hit deceased victim on his head twice - Soon thereafter victim was taken to hospital but was brought back to house and in early morning of next day he was once again taken to same hospital but he succumbed to his injuries before he could reach hospital - Police was informed by lodging by daughter of deceased victim - PS at registered FIR and investigated case - They also arrested accused appellant and seized weapon allegedly used i-e iron rod - In process post mortem was conducted on dead body of deceased victim - After completion of collection of evidence including examination of witnesses was of opinion that there was sufficient materials to go for trial against both accused appellant and owner of house therefore charge sheet was submitted against them before Chief Judicial Magistrate who forwarded same to learned Sessions Judge - In trial witnesses were examined by prosecution but not a single witness was examined by defence – Held, We need not consider question of motive in this case if we are satisfied that evidence that was assailant is acceptable - Medical evidence showed that died of a single injury which was a stab wound through heart left ventricle was cut and heart was drained of all blood pericardium had also a tear but on its upper reach and evidence of doctor who performed autopsy shows that pericardium was full of blood clothes of deceased were also profusely stained but no blood was found inside house where deceased was first sleeping but some blood was found at Ota where dead body was found but source of blood could not be identified from this learned Counsel raised contention that scene of offence was probably not what prosecution case described and his contention is wound up with rest of story given by eye witnesses particularly wife who named appellant as one of assailants - Therefore we must turn to that - Before we part with judgment we record our appreciation for assistance rendered by learned Amicus Curiae and direct High Court Legal Services Committee to pay her professional fee - Appeal is disposed of.
SONGKHUPCHUNG SERTO, J.
1. Heard Ms. M. Bujarbaruah, learned Amicus Curiae appearing for the appellant and Mr. M. Phukan, learned Addl. Public Prosecutor, Assam.
2. This is a Jail appeal directed against the judgment dated 30/4/2016 passed by the learned Addl. Sessions Judge-1 (FTC), Tinsukia in Sessions Case No.168 (T)/2012, wherein the learned Sessions Judge held the appellant guilty of having committed the offence punishable under section 302 IPC and sentenced him to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 30,000/- and a stipulated imprisonment of 6 months which is also rigorous, in default of payment of fine.
3. The prosecution case in brief is that on the night of 16/3/2012 around 8.30 PM, the deceased/victim Johan Soley was invited by one Soren Soley to his house for dinner. As invited, the deceased victim went to the house of Soren Soley and while they were having dinner, the accused-appellant came with an iron rod and hit the deceased victim on his head twice. Soon thereafter, the victim was taken to Kakopathar hospital but was brought back to the house of one Bishram Soley and in the early morning of the next day he was once again taken to the same hospital but, he succumbed to his injuries before he could reach the hospital. The Police was informed by lodging an ejahar by Neloni, daughter of the deceased victim on 17/3/2012. The P.S at Tongona registered the FIR and investigated the case. They also arrested the accused appellant and seized the weapon allegedly used i.e. iron rod. In the process, post mortem was conducted on the dead body of the deceased victim by one Dr. Apurba Kumar Borthakur. After completion of collection of evidence including examination of the witnesses under section 161 Cr.PC, the I.O. of the case was of the opinion that there was sufficient materials to go for trial against both the accused-appellant and the owner of the house (P.O) therefore, charge sheet was submitted against them before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Tinsukia who forwarded the same to the learned Sessions Judge, Tinsukia. On receipt of the same, the learned Sessions Judge made over the case to the learned Addl. Sessions Judge-1(FTC) and the learned Addl. Sessions Judge, on 14/8/2012 framed the charge under section 302 read with section 34 IPC both against the accused appellant and the owner of the house where the incident took place. In the trial 13 witnesses were examined by the prosecution but not a single witness was examined by the defence. After examining the evidence and on hearing the parties, the learned Sessions Judge held the accused Soren Soley, owner of the house where the incident took place not guilty but held the accused appellant guilty of having committed the offence under section 302 IPC and sentenced him as stated above. Not satisfied with the judgment of the learned Addl. Sessions Judge, the accused-appellant has approached this Court on appeal from jail.
4. Ms. M. Bujarbaruah, learned Amicus Curiae after leading us through the evidence given by the 13 witnesses submitted that the evidence on record are not sufficient to held the accused-appellant guilty under section 302 of IPC. The learned counsel further submitted that there are discrepancies between the evidence given by the witnesses therefore, the learned Addl. Sessions Judge has erred in convicting the accused appellant. According to the learned Amicus Curiae, there are only 2 eye witnesses to the incident i.e. PW 8 and PW 9 and according to their statements, at the time, when the incident took place, the light was dim inside the house (P.O.) as the room was lighted with lamp. Therefore, it is not possible that the 2 eye witnesses would have been able to clearly see as to who caused the injuries on the head of the deceased victim. The learned Amicus Curiae also submitted that PW 9 though stated in his examination in chief that the accused appellant came with an iron rod and hit twice on the deceased-victim, in hier cross examination she had stat
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