The main legal point established is the sufficiency of evidence to prove the offence under Section 201 I.P.C. and the involvement of the appellants in the disappearance of evidence.

JUDGMENT

Pushpendra Singh Bhati, J. - This Criminal Appeal has been preferred under Section 374 Cr.P.C. has been preferred with the following reliefs:-

"It is, therefore, respectfully prayed that this appeal may kindly be accepted and the accused appellants be acquitted under Section I.P.C."

2. The matter pertains to an incident which occurred in the year 1975 and the present criminal revision has been pending since the year 1989.

3. This Criminal Appeal has been preferred against the judgment, dated 25.09.1989, passed by the learned Addl. Sessions Judge, Jaisalmer, in Sessions Case No. 11/88 whereby the appellants were convicted for the offence under Section 201 I.P.C. and awarded a sentence of 5 years R.I. along with a fine of RS. 200/-, in default of payment of which he was to further undergo 1 month S.I. Section 201 I.P.C. is reproduced hereinbelow for the sake of brevity:-

201. Causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender.--

Whoever, knowing or having reason to believe that an offence has been committed, causes any evidence of the commission of that offence to disappear, with the intention of screening the offender from legal punishment, or with that intention gives any information respecting the offence which he knows or believes to be false,

if a capital offence.--shall, if the offence which he knows or believes to have been committed is punishable with death be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine;

if punishable with imprisonment for life.--and if the offence is punishable with 1[imprisonment for life], or with imprisonment which may extend to ten years, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, and shall also be liable to fine;

if punishable with less than ten years' imprisonment.--and if the offence is punishable with imprisonment for any term not extending to ten years, shall be punished with imprisonment of the description provided for the offence, for a term which may extend to one-fourth part of the longest term of the imprisonment provided for the offence, or with fine, or with both."

4. Learned counsel for the appellants submits that the appellant No. 1 Ridmal Khan has passed away during the pendency of the appeal, and that only appellant No. 2 Mehran Khan survives.

5. Learned counsel further submits that the sentence so awarded to Mehran Khan, appellant No. 2 was suspended by this Hon'ble Court, vide order dated 28.09.1989 in S.B. Criminal Misc. Bail Petition No. 375/1989.

6. Learned counsel for the appellant also submits that the appellant has undergone about 5 months in custody out of the total sentence so awarded to him by the learned Courts below.

7. Learned counsel for the appellant further submits that the "Bori" which was recovered at the instance of the deceased Ridmal, who had apparently buried it about 1/1.5 kms. from his house, was not identified by P.W. 9 nor by P.W. 10. Furthermore, that there were only a few blood stains on the the said sack/'bori' make the prosecution story, that it contained a severed head of Karna, unbelievable.

8. Learned counsel for the appellant also submits that the recovery of the said gunny bag/sack/'Bori' was in fact stage-managed, and that the fact that the motbir witnesses were relatives of the deceased victim, and therefore their testimonies as recovery witness should not be believed.

9. Learned counsel for the appellant further submits that the main accused in the present case, being one Hasan and Mubarak, are absconding till date. And that, as per the version of the prosecution, the said persons committed the murder, and carried the severed head of the deceased victim to the house of the now deceased Ridmal, which is proven by the blood stained soil recovered from outside Ridmal's house, who in turn attempted to assist them to cover up the crime, and flee from India to Pakistan.

10. Lear