IMPORTANT POINT
The court established that credible eyewitness testimony, corroborated by medical evidence, can suffice to prove guilt in a murder case, even in the absence of a clear motive.

JUDGMENT :

M. Choudhury, J.

The present criminal appeal from Jail is preferred taking exception to a Judgment dated 09.05.2019 and an Order on sentence dated 09.05.2019 passed by the Court of learned Sessions Judge, Karbi Anglong, Diphu in Sessions Case no. 08/2011, arising out of G.R. Case no. 94/2010 and Kheroni Police Station Case no. 54/2010. In the Judgment dated 09.05.2019, the accused-appellant has been held guilty of the offence under Section 300, Indian Penal Code [IPC]. By the Order on sentence dated 10.05.2019, the accused-appellant has been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs.20,000/-, in default of payment of fine, to undergo simple imprisonment for 1 [one] year.

2. As per the prosecution case, one Pradip Kumar Dibra as the informant lodged a First Information Report [FIR] before the In-Charge, Mailoo Police Out Post on 13.09.2010 whereby the informant had alleged that at around 11-00 a.m. on that day, that is, on 13.09.2010, the accused committed murder of his mother, Thaiphrangdi Dibra, aged about 60 [sixty] years, at a place near a bamboo grove behind their house and in a sugarcane plantation of Gobin Daulagophu. The informant had alleged that his mother was killed by the accused by hacking with a dao and leaving the deadbody in the sugarcane plantation, the accused fled away from the scene. However, the villagers apprehended the accused later and kept him detained.

3. On receipt of the FIR [Ext.-1], the In-Charge, Mailoo Police Out Post, at 12-30 p.m., registered the same as Mailoo Police Out Post General Diary Entry no. 214 dated 13.09.2010 and forwarded the FIR to the Officer In-Charge, Kheroni Police Station for registering the same under proper sections of law. On receipt of the FIR, the Officer In-Charge, Kheroni Police Station registered the same as Kheroni Police Station Case no. 54/2010 under Section 302, IPC. After receipt of the FIR, the In-Charge, Mailoo Police Out Post [P.W.10] proceeded to investigate the case and recorded statements of a number of witnesses under Section 164[1], CrPC. The inquest on the deadbody of the deceased was conducted by him in the house of the informant-P.W.1 on 13.09.2010 in presence of witnesses including the informant-P.W.1, and prepared an Inquest Report [Ext.-3]. The deadbody was thereafter, forwarded to Diphu Civil Hospital for post-mortem examination. The post-mortem examination was performed at Diphu Civil Hospital on 14.09.2010 and the Autopsy Doctor, P.W.5 prepared a Post-Mortem Examination [PME] Report [Ext.-4] recording his findings therein. As the accused was apprehended immediately after the incident by the villagers, the Investigating Officer [I.O.] [P.W.10] of the case took him into custody on the date of the incident itself.

4. It is also the case of the prosecution that the alleged weapon of assault, a dao was recovered by a Seizure List, M.R. no. 32/2010 [Ext.-2] at 04-00 p.m. on 13.09.2010. According to the prosecution, the confessional statement of the accused was recorded under Section 164, CrPC before the learned Magistrate, 1st Class, Hamren on 21.09.2010. In the meantime, the I.O. [P.W.10] also prepared a Sketch Map [Ext.-7] of the place of occurrence [P.O.]. The I.O., P.W.10 after conducting investigation to a certain extent, handed over the case diary and the remaining part of the investigation was completed by his successor In-Charge, Mailoo Police Out Post, P.W.-9. The subsequent I.O., P.W.-9 after collecting the PME Report on 30.10.2010 and finding that the investigation had already been completed, submitted a charge sheet under Section 173[2], CrPC vide Charge Sheet no. 54/2010 on 31.12.2010 finding a prima facie case against the accused to stand the trial for the offence under Section 302, IPC.

5. On receipt of the Charge Sheet, the Assistant to the Deputy Commissioner & the Magistrate, 1st Class, Hamren secured the production of the accused from Jail custody on 21.04.2011. As the offence under Section 302,