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IN THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM & ARUNACHAL PRADESH)
MICHAEL ZOTHANKHUMA, N.UNNI KRISHNAN NAIR
Billal Hussain, S/o. Sahadat Ali – Appellant
Versus
State Of Assam, Represented By The PP Assam – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
M. Zothankhuma, J.
1. Heard Mr. H.R.A. Choudhury, learned Senior Counsel assisted by Mr. I.U. Choudhury, learned counsel for the appellant. Also heard Ms. B. Bhuyan, learned Senior Counsel and Additional Public Prosecutor, Assam assisted by Ms. R. Das, learned counsel for the State respondent.
2. This appeal is directed against the judgment dated 26.09.2022 passed by the learned Sessions Judge, Kokrajhar, in Sessions Case No.54/2017, convicting the appellant under Section 302 IPC for killing his wife by strangulation and sentencing him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs.5,000/-, in default simple imprisonment for 6 (six) months.
3. The prosecution case is that Prosecution Witness (PW) No.1 submitted an FIR dated 27.03.2015, stating that his niece (victim) had been married to the appellant about 2 years back and a baby girl had been born to them. The appellant thereafter, in collusion with his father and two uncles, started torturing the victim mentally as well as physically. Further, the appellant and Md. Rashid Ali, who is the brother of the appellant’s father, had killed his niece and fled, leaving her body inside the house of the appellant.
The prosecution must prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt; suspicion alone is insufficient for conviction.
The burden of proof in a criminal case lies on the prosecution, but in cases of circumstantial evidence, the burden on the accused to provide a cogent explanation is lighter. Motive and conduct are r....
The prosecution must prove the case beyond reasonable doubt, and the court must put all incriminating circumstances to the accused under Section 313 of the Cr.P.C.
(1) Murder – If in a case based on circumstantial evidence, accused evades response to an incriminating question or offers a response which is not true, such a response, in itself, would become an ad....
The main legal point established in the judgment is the requirement for fair trial, proper opportunity for the accused to defend himself, and the need for conclusive circumstances to support a convic....
Point of law : It is clearly discernable that for a conviction to stand on the basis of circumstantial evidence, the facts so established should be consistent only with the hypothesis of guilt of the....
The prosecution's successful establishment of the chain of events and the application of Section 106 of the Evidence Act placed the burden on the appellants to prove otherwise.
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