JUDGMENT :

Mohan Lal, J

1. Instant Criminal Conviction Appeal is directed by the appellant against the judgment of conviction dated 21.11.2013 r/w order of sentence dated 26.11.2013 rendered by the court of Pr. Sessions Judge Kargil in File No. 03/Sessions bearing FIR No. 68/2010 of Police Station Kargil for commission of offence punishable under section 302 RPC titled State through Police Station Kargil Vs. Bhagwat Dass, whereby, appellant has been held guilty, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment and fine of Rs. 5000/- for murder of one small baby girl of 3 years of age. The trial judge has also made a reference to this court vide his order dated 26.11.2013 for confirmation of the sentence which has been registered as Criminal Reference No.9/2013.

2. Aggrieved of and dissatisfied with the impugned judgment of conviction and order of sentence, appellant has assailed it’s legality, propriety and correctness, and moreso, Ld. Counsel Sh. Muzaffar Nabi Lone appearing for the appellant has strenuously argued and vehemently sought the setting aside of impugned judgment and acquittal of the appellant on the following grounds:-

(i) that PW-1 complainant Kamla Devi has turned hostile in the trial court, and therefore whatever she has said in the complaint or even her statement recorded u/s 164-A Cr.pc before the Judicial Magistrate it has lost it’s significance as she has completely denied the commission of offence by appellant/convict, complainant’s evidence has crumbled the entire prosecution story in as much as she has categorically deposed that appellant was always kind to the step children and never took them as burden, even the motive of the crime as projected by the prosecution has lost significance and is completely missing, therefore as the case is built on circumstantial evidence the very foundation of it has crumbled down and smashed the case of prosecution to smithereens;

(ii) that in so far as confession is concerned which is stated to have been made by appellant in front of witnesses, the said confessional statement has been made after recovery of dead body and the same therefore carries no significance and weight, even otherwise also there is contradiction among prosecution witnesses in as much as PW-5 Haji Ali has deposed that the accused/appellant confessed his guilty in Hindi Language whereas PW-8 I/O has deposed that appellant has confessed his guilty in Urdu, which creates cracks in the veracity of confession;

(iii) that PW-1 Kamla Devi on 22.09.2010 at 12 pm lodged complainant/ written report in P/S Kargil leveling allegations against appellant of beating her children as he being her 2nd husband, not only this it is only the complainant who has first disclosed that she found dead body of her daughter “Anu Pawan” in a septic tank at the court yard of one Haji Mohd Ali (PW-5), so without any ambiguity it can be said that it is not the police or accused/appellant who have first seen the dead body in septic tank, PW-5 Haji Mohd Ali in his deposition has stated that he saw the lid of septic tank in wrong position and on his instructions labourers took away the lid of the septic tank and saw dead body of the child and on this wife of accused told him that accused had killed the child and threw her in the septic tank, complainant PW-1 Kamla Devi in her statement during cross-examination stated that when she reached home Anu was not present there and during night when she did not