D. N.ROY, J. :

Brijesh Kumar, aged twenty years, and Shiv Narain alias Shiv Charan, aged twentyeight, were charged along with one Lakhi with offences punishable under Ss. 302 and 201, I. P. C., read with S. 34, I. P. C. Lakhi has been acquitted. The other two have been sentenced to death under the first count and to two years rigorous imprisonment under the second count. They have appealed against their conviction and sentences. Along with their appeal there is the usual reference by the learned Sessions Judge for the confirmation of their death sentences.

2. The charge against the appellants was that on the night between the 19th and 20th of June, 1956, between 10 p. m. and 1 a. m. they committed, in furtherance of their common intention, the murder of Battu Mal somewhere in the jungle of village Duhai and they caused the dead body to disappear with the object of escaping punishment.

3. Briefly stated the prosecution story was as follows : Lala Battu Mal was a shopkeeper of Ghaziabad and was possessed of considerable property. He had brought up Brijesh Kumar and he proposed eventually to adopt him at the time of his marriage. Latterly, friction developed between the two bec