The main legal point established in the judgment is the requirement for reliable and corroborative evidence, especially in cases relying on the last seen theory, to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

JUDGMENT :

S.K. MISHRA, J.

1. In this appeal, convict appellant Sakir Ali has assailed his conviction under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (hereinafter referred to as the “Penal Code” for brevity) and sentence to undergo imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 10,000/- and in default, to further undergo simple imprisonment for six months recorded by the Additional Sessions Judge, Khatima, District-Udham Singh Nagar, in Sessions Trial No. 293 of 2011 (F.I.R. No. 119 of 2011, police station - Sitarganj, District - Udham Singh Nagar) as per the judgment dated 10.07.2014.

2. The case of the prosecution, in short, is that around the year 2000, appellant and the deceased were married; they were blessed with 07 (seven) children; about a year prior to the occurrence, the appellant developed illicit relations with one Sarla Begum, resident of village - Lalpur, police station - Kichcha; they eloped; the deceased was residing with her children in Sisaiya Bhatta and earning her livelihood by doing labour. The prosecution further alleged that the appellant was frequently visiting the house of deceased, situated at Sisaiya Bhatta along with his paramour - Sarla Begum and he used to assault the deceased in order to evict the deceased and their children from the house. However, the deceased continued to stay in that house along with her children. It is further alleged that the appellant was assaulting the children also and threatened that they should leave their house, so that he could reside with other woman therein. The appellant met the complainant (PW-6 Rifaqat) on 15.07.2011 in Kichcha and he gave a threat to the complainant (PW-6 Rifaqat) saying that he should take away his sister and her children from that house, otherwise, he would kill the deceased. On 20.07.2011, the appellant came to the house at Sisaiya Bhatta along with his paramour and on the next day i.e. 21.07.2011, in the morning, dead body of the deceased was found in the open field. Since the complainant, being the brother of the deceased, believed that the appellant has committed murder of the deceased along with his paramour, he submitted a report in Sitarganj Police Station.

3. On such report, an FIR No. 119 of 2014 was registered under Sections 302, 201, 120B of the Penal Code. The Investigating Officer took up the investigation of the case. During the course of investigation, he held an inquest on the dead body of the deceased; post mortem of dead body was conducted; he has examined the witnesses, who are relevant to the case; and, on completion of investigation, he submitted charge-sheet for the offences mentioned, supra, against the appellant and Sarla Begum.

4. The accused took a plea of simple denial and false accusation by the prosecution.

5. The prosecution in order to prove its case, examined ten witnesses on its behalf. PW-4 Km. Sayra, happens to be the daughter of the appellant and the deceased. She has stated about the presence of the appellant along with his paramour in their house in the night, preceding the recovery of the dead body of the deceased from the open field. PW-6 Rifaqat is the informant of the case. He told about the estranged relationship between the deceased and the appellant; assault on the deceased by the appellant. PW-2 Shahid Ali is the witness on whose evidence learned Additional Sessions Judge, Khatima, District-Udham Singh Nagar, has relied upon heavily to come to the conclusion that the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. He stated about the last seen of the appellant with the deceased at about 11:00 p.m. on 20.07.2011. PW-1 Chand Ali has stated that he saw the accused travelling in bus towards Kichcha. Rest of the witnesses are formal witnesses. PW-7 Lady Constable Beena Goswami is a witness of the inquest. PW-5 Dr. I.A. Khan has conducted post mortem examination on the dead body of the deceased. PW-8 Zahid Ali is also a witness of the inquest. PW-9 Dharm Singh is a Sub-Inspector. PW-10 Uttam Singh is the