JUDGMENT :

S.S. Mishra, J.

On a quiet day in the year 1995, a household was touched not by joy or laughter, but by an act of cruelty so sudden and senseless that it stilled a life before it had even learned to smile. The victim was an infant, just two months old whose world was no larger than the warmth of her mother’s arms and the simple rhythm of her own breath. In that sanctuary, where every child ought to be safest, the accused-appellant, in the heat of a trifling quarrel, struck the child with a stick and alas, the fragile life slipped away while still cradled in her mother’s embrace. The trial court, years ago, found the accused guilty of this act, yet the shadow of finality has not yet fallen; for this appeal, pending for nearly three decades, stands as a silent testament to the long journey of justice. Time may have blurred the voices of witnesses