Honble KOCHHAR, J. – The appellant was prosecuted under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), besides under Section 4/25 of the Arms Act, 1959 ("the Arms Act"), in Case FIR No. 58/93, of Police Station - Viral Nagar, District - Jaipur, and the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Kotputli vide his impugned judgment date 28th October, 1994, has acquitted him of the charge under Section 4/25 of the Arms Act, but has convicted him under Section 302 IPC and vide the impugned order of the same date, has sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for life and to pay a fine in the sum of Rs. 1,000/- and in default of payment of fine, to undergo regorous imprisonment for a further period of three months.

The prosecution-story, in short, was as under :–

(2). On the morning of 7th July, 1993, at about 6 a.m., PW 3, Laxman Singh (the complainant) went to Police Station-Virat Nagar and presented to PW 16, Head-Constable Maliram, who was then the senior-most official at the police station, a written report (Ex.P.17), stating that he was resident of Jaisinghpura and that they were three brothers; two to them; namely, he himself and Kishan Singh (the deceased), had been residing together; whereas, their third and elder brother, Bharat Singh (the appellant) had been residing separately. At about 9 p.m. the previous night, the deceased had consumed liquor and under the influence thereof, he was hurling abuses at the family-members and in spite of he and the appellant trying to pacify the deceased, he did not stop doing so and, as such, the appellant got angry, but was pacified by the complainant and the appellant went to his house but returned to the house of the complainant at about 12 p.m. and told him that the deceased was continuing hurling abuses and wanted to ruin the family, but the complainant told him that the deceased would automatically go to sleep and that the appellant should go to his house and thereafter, the complainant himself went to sleep. At about 4-4.30 a.m., because of slight rain, the complainant got up but did not find the deceased sleeping on his cot, and thinking that he must have gone inside his room to sleep, the complainant went inside his own room and slept there. After some time, he heard the cries of the wife of the deceased, from the `Gali, by the side of his house and when he, along with his wife, rushed there, they saw that the deceased was lying there, with his neck chopped off and blood was lying at the spot. He covered the deadbody with a rag and raised alarm, but no one came there, and he went to the house of the appellant, to inform him about it, but did not find him there. He reported that someone had killed his brother by cutting his neck, with a sharp-edged weapon and that he had come to the police station to lodge the report. Head-Constable Maliram made an endorsement at the foot of Ex.P. 17 and registered a case vide formal FIR No. 58/93 (Ex.P.18), under Section 302, IPC. The Head-Constable thereafter went to the spot, where he prepared a `Panchnama (Ex.P.20) in respect of the deadbody of the deceased. In the meanwhile, the Circle Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Shri Ranjit Khan (the Investigating Offi- cer) reached the spot and took over the investigation. He inspected the spot and prepared the site-plan (Ex.P.19). He took into possession the blood- stained earth and plain earth vide memo (Ex.P.22). The rag, with which the deadbody of the deceased had been covered, was taken into possession by the Investigating Officer, vide memo (Ex.P.25). The Investigating Officer, also took into possession a glass- bottle, containing liquor and a steel-glass vide memo (Ex.P.24). He arrested the appellant at about 12.15 p.m. and prepared the arrest-memo (Ex.P.29) in this regard, in presence of the witnesses. At the time of his arrest, the appellant was wearing a `Pajama, having blood-stains on its lower portion and the Investigating Officer took it into possession vide memo (Ex.P.23). During the course of

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