P.N. Prakash, J.

The Reference, R.T.No.1 of 2015 is made by the learned III Additional District and Sessions Judge, Tiruvallur @ Poonamallee, under Section 366 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, seeking confirmation of the capital punishment imposed upon K.Ramajayam @ Appu, the sole accused, by Judgment dated 21.1.2015 in S.C.No.142 of 2013. The accused has independently preferred Crl.A.No.110 of 2015, challenging the conviction and sentence.

2. The case of the Prosecution culled out from the materials on record is as follows:

(a) Dhanaram (PW-1) and his deceased younger brother Gunaram were running a Pawn Broking & Jewellery Shop in the name and style of 'Balaji Pawn Brokers' at No.1, 13th Street, Sakthi Nagar, the place of occurrence.

(b) On 14.4.2012, the deceased Gunaram opened the shop around 8.00 a.m. At about 9.00 a.m. Dhanaram (PW-1) came there and after being there for some time, he left for other work. When he returned to the shop around 12.00 noon, he was shocked to see his younger brother Gunaram lying dead in a pool of blood. PW-1 raised an alarm, hearing which Sahadev Prohit (PW-2), Varadarajan (PW-3) and Selvi (PW4), who are all adjacent shop owners, came to the spot. On information, the Police also arrived soon.

(c) On the complaint (Ex.P-1) given by Dhanaram (PW-1), John Arumairaj, (PW-28) Inspector of Police, T-4 Maduravoyal Police Station registered a case in Cr.No.491 of 2012 at 2.00 p.m on 14.4.2012 for the offences under Section 302 read with 380 IPC. The complaint (Ex.P-1) and the FIR (Ex.P-17) reached the jurisdictional Magistrate on 14.4.2012 at 7.00 p.m., as could be seen from the endorsement made therein.

(d) In the complaint (Ex.P-1) given to the Police, Dhanaram (PW1) has stated that on 23.10.2011 when Gunaram was in the shop, someone had sprayed an anaesthetic substance, and had burgled around 935 grams of jewellery in connection with which a case in Maduravoyal Police Station Cr.No.986 of 2011 has been registered. The lost jewellery belonged to one Kalyanmal Ranka (PW-15), and he (PW-15) suspected some foulplay by Gunaram and that he must have hired a killer to do the job.

(e) Dhanaram (PW-1) was in such a state of shock that he was unable to give the details of the lost jewels to the Police. Hence, Bawarlal (PW-11), who also has a Pawn shop nearby, and is known to Dhanaram (PW-1), took stock of the items and reported that seven items weighing 48 grams were missing. When Bawarlal (PW-11) informed this, Dhanaram (PW-1) told him that from the Video recordings shown to him by the Police, it appears that the intruder has taken only the covering jewellery.

(f) John Arumairaj (PW-28) went to the scene of occurrence and in the presence of witnesses Vimal (not examined) and Muthu (PW-8), prepared an Observation Mahazar (Ex.P-18) and a Rough Sketch (Ex.P-19). Luckily for the Police, but unfortunately for the accused, CCTV cameras were installed in the shop, the presence of which has been referred to in the Observation Mahazar (Ex.P-18).

(g) PW-28 requisitioned the services of the Forensic Expert from the mobile unit of the Tamil Nadu Forensic Science Department for collection of clue materials from the scene of occurrence, namely, fresh blood collected with sponge; blood stained Bed-sheet (MO-12); yellow colour Hair Comb (MO-13); and blood stained Spectacle (MO-14) under the cover of the mahazar (Ex.P-20) in the presence of Muthu (PW-8) and Vimal (not examined). The Inspector (PW-28) noticed that the body of Gunaram was with cut injuries around his neck and the locker in the shop was found opened.

(h) Ramajayam, the Finger Print Expert came to the place of occurrence, but was not able to lift any chance finger prints therefrom.

The Inspector (PW-28) requisitioned the services of Balakumar (PW-9) CCTV Camara Tech