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1986 Supreme(Ori) 43

High Court Of Orissa
B. K. Behera, G. B. Patnaik
SUKURAM KHADIA - Appellant
Versus
STATE - Respondent
Jail Criminal Appeal 208  Of  1982
Decided On : 03/19/1986

Advocates Appeared:
Indrajit Ray, Sunakar Mohanty

Headnote:(i) Indian Penal Code, 1860 -Section 304, Part II-The order of conviction under Section 302 passed by trial court based on the evidence of the son of the deceased, P.W. 3, aged about 13 years, who had figured as a witness to the occurrence - This witness was examined on the day of occurrence itself - The medical evidence and the recovery of weapon corroborate his evidence - Whether evidence of this child witness is worthy of credence? (Yes) (Para 3)

       (ii) Indian Penal Code, 1860-Sections 302 and 304 - Appellant convicted under Section 302 by trial court-Appeal - Appellant and the deceased both brothers were in a state of drunkenness - A sudden quarrel between them over repayment of a loan of Rs. 20/- Appellant is alleged to have killed the deceased by shooting an arrow on his chest - No motive established Whether the appellant would be guilty of the charge of murder or would be guilty of commission of the offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder?

       Held, the act of the appellant would come within the purview of the second part of Section 304 of the Code. (Para 4)

       Result-

       Appeal allowed in part.

       

BEHERA, J.

( 1 ) THE appellant stands convicted under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (for short, the Code) and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life for having committed the murder of his brother Uttam Khadia (hereinafter to be referred to as the deceased) by shooting an arrow (M 0. I) on his chest on May 31, 1981, at village Loharen Bereni in the district of Sundagarh, after a sudden quarrel over the repayment of a loan of Rs 20/- said to have been incurred by the deceased, when both the appellant and the deceased were in a drunken state. The order of conviction has been based on the evidence of the son of the deceased, namely, Birju Khadia (P. W. 3.), who had figured as a witness to the occurrence besides his mother Parbati Khadia (P. W. 2) whose evidence has been discarded by the trial court for the reasons recorded in the judgment. The judicial confession made by the appellant has not been relied on as according to the learned trial Judge, section 164 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure had not been complied with. The extra-judicial confession said to have been made by the appellant admitting to have killed the deceased has not been relied on having been made before a Grama Rakshi (P. W. 1), who is a police officer. The learned Sessions Judge has repeatedly made a reference in the judgment that P. W. 6 had identified MO. I sticking to the chest of the deceased which had been extracted by the doctor conducting autopsy as belonging to the appellant. On a perusal of the evidence of P. W. 6, we notice that it is an error of record as P. W. 6 had not identified MO. I as the arrow belonging to the appellant. Reliance has been placed on the conduct of the appellant in asking the co-villagers to take him to the police station and on his production of a bow and an arrow. There is, in addition, the medical evidence which conclusively establishes that the death of the deceased was homicidal in nature and could be caused by shooting of an arrow. The arrow (MO. I) sent for chemical and serological examination contained human blood.

( 2 ) MR. Mohanty, appearing for the appellant, has contended that the evidence of P. W. 3 is not worthy of credence and if his evidence is discarded, there is no other evidence pointing to the guilt of the appellant. But, as rightly submitted by Mr. Indrajit Ray, the learned Additional Government Advocate, the evidence of P. W. 3 reads well and has been corroborated by sufficient other evidence. No doubt, P. W. 3 has been characterised by the trial court as a child witness who was aged about 14 years at the time of his deposition and thus was aged about 13 years at the time the occurrence took place and as is well-known, the evidence of a child witness is dangerous unless the statement is available immediately after the occurrence and before any possibility of coaching. In the instant case, however, it has clearly been testified by P. W. 3 that after a sudden quarrel, the appellant shot an arrow at his father which resulted in his death. This witness had immediately gone and informed P. W. 5 about what he had seen naming the appellant as the assailant of the deceased. As his evidence would show, there had been no delay in the examination of this principal witness in the course of investigation and he had been examined on the day of occurrence itself. Thus his statement with regard to the occurrence naming the appellant as the assailant was immediately available. The medical evidence and the recovery of MO. I which contained human blood would certainly corroborate his evidence. We are at one with the learned trial Judge that the evidence of P. W. 3 is worthy of credence.

( 3 ) THE next question is as to whether the appellant would be guilty of the charge of murder or would be guilty of commission of the offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder coming within the first part or second part of section 304 of the Code. As already indicated the appellant and the deceased were both in a

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