Extra-judicial confessions must be reliable and corroborated by other evidence in order to be admissible in court.

J. M. MOHAPATRA, J.

( 1 ) THE appeal is directed against the judgment and order dated 15-10-1988 of the learned First Additional Sessions Judge, Cuttack convicting the appellant under Section 302, I. P. C. and sentencing him to undergo R. I. for life.

( 2 ) THE deceased was the wife of the appellant, and they were living in one house at the material time and were weavers of Pata cloth belonged to village Nuapatna, P. S. Tigiria, in the district of Cuttack. The occurrence took place in the night of 15/16-8-1987. It is alleged that the appellant during the day time of 15-8-1987 brought some meat and gave it to the deceased for preparing curry. But there being no spices, rice or oil, she refused to prepare meat curry, which enraged the appellant. The appellant then went out of the house and returned at about mid-day and when he wanted to have his meal, the deceased told him that meal could not be ready is there was no rice. At this the appellant became furious and threw away the meat he had purchased. Mid-day meal was ready at about 3 p. m. and at the request of the deceased the appellant took his food. Thereafter the appellant went for weaving and continued to remain at the loom. At about 9 O'clock in the night on the same day the appellant again asked the deceased to give him food. As the deceased did not respond, the appellant threatended to assault her by an axe. Thereafter on the persuasion of his sons the appellant took his meal, and thereafter roamed about in the compound of his house in a furious mood and then went to sleep in the room situated at the backyard of his house, while the deceased slept in the adjoing room. Next morning the deceased was found lying dead in a pool of blood with injuries on her neck and adjoining part. The appellant was not found in the compound of the house and remained untraced. Thereafter information was lodged at Tigiria P. S. by P. W. 1, the son of the appellant. P. W. 13, the officer-in-charge of the P. S. recorded the F. I. R. , registered a case against the a appellant, and investigated into the case. He proceeded to the spot, held inquest over the dead body of the deceased, sent the dead body for post mortem examination, examined witnesses, seized the blood stained Ketari M. O. III, blood stained earth and sample earth M. Os. IV and V, the saree of the deceased, M. O. VII and took steps to send those incriminating materials to Forensic Science Laboratory, Resuglarh for chemical and serological test. After completion of investigation he submitted charge-sheet against the appellant. The appellant being committed to the court of session, stood his trial for the offence of murder of his wife and was eventually found guilty of the offence and convicted thereunder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

( 3 ) THE plea of the appellant is a total denial of his complicity in the crime.

( 4 ) IN support of its case, prosecution has examined as many as 14 witnesses of whom P. Ws. 1, 6 and 12 are the sons of the deceased, P. W. 2 is the wife of P. W. 1, P. Ws. 3, 4 and 5 are the co-villagers deposing to the extrajudicial confession said to have been made by the appellant before them, P. W. 14 is the doctor conducting autopsy on the dead body of the deceased and P. W. 13 is the investigating officer, while the remaining witnesses are of formal character. There being no eyewitness to the alleged occurrence, prosecution case rests on the circumstantial evidence, namely, the prior strained relationship between the appellant and the deceased, the extra-judicial confession said to have been made by the appellant before P. Ws. 2, 3 and 5 and the corroborating medical evidence. The learned trial Judge on an appraisal of the evidence on record, the facts, circumstances and broad probabilities of the case has found the appellant to be the author of the crime, and convicted him accordingly.

( 5 ) MR. Sahu the learned counsel for the appellant has strenuously urged that the extra-judicial confession of the a