Circumstantial evidence must establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt; lack of conclusive evidence requires acquittal.

1. This appeal arises out of the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 26.08.2011 passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, District Durg, in S.T. No.68/11 convicting the accused / appellant under S.450 and S.302 (on two counts) of IPC and sentencing him to undergo R.I. for 10 years with fine of Rs.50/- and imprisonment for life with fine of Rs.50/- plus default stipulations respectively.

2. In the present case, there are two deceased namely Smt. Maktula Bai and Ku. Pawan Rekha. It is said that accused / appellant and deceased Ku. Pawan Rekha were having affair, however, the same was objected by the family members of Ku. Pawan Rekha and, therefore, she stopped talking to the appellant. The accused / appellant could not tolerate this behaviour of Ku. Pawan Rekha and on the date of incident i.e. 30.09.2010, he made an attempt to talk to Ku. Pawan Rekha and when she refused to have any talk with him, the accused / appellant went to the house of Ku. Pawan Rekha carrying sickle and knife in his hand and there he committed murder of Ku. Pawan Rekha by causing severe injuries to her and thereafter he also killed Maktula Bai, maternal grand mother of Ku. Pawan Rekha. After commission of offence, accused / appellant fled from the spot and on 01.10.2010, after consuming some poisonous substance, he had gone in front of Sub-Jail, Balod and knocked the door of Jailer, thereafter he was immediately taken to hospital and his MLC is Ex.P / 32. At the instance of Mangal Ram (PW / 1), father of deceased Pawan Rekha, merg intimation was recorded on 30.09.2010 at 4.20 and 4.35 p.m. vide Exs.P / 1 and P / 2 respectively followed by FIR (Ex.P / 3) on the same day at 4.45 p.m. under S.302 of IPC, against unknown person. On 30.09.2010, inquest on the bodies of deceased Maktula Bai and Pawan Rekha was conducted vide Exs.P / 6 and P / 7 respectively, and bodies were sent for post - mortem examination to Govt. Hospital, Balod where Dr. Babulal Ratre (PW / 6) conducted post - mortem examination on the body of deceased Maktula Bai and gave his report Ex.P / 22 noticing one incised wound of 7 x 7 x 2" cm below left scapular region. Post - mortem examination on the body of deceased Ku. Pawan Rekha was conducted by Babulal Ratre (PW / 6) who gave his report Ex.P / 23 noticing two incised wounds, one abrasion and two lacerated wounds of different sizes over right forearm, left chest, left elbow, right arm, shoulder, left post parietal, right occipital area, left back of chest, right back of chest and lower part of lungs. The Autopsy Surgeon opined the cause of death of deceased to be shock due to excessive heamorrhage from vital organ.

3. On 02.10.2010, memorandum of the accused / appellant (Ex.P / 11) was recorded, based on which, one knife, sickle and one plastic bag were seized vide Ex.P / 12. One T - shirt, black colour full pant and one Intex cell phone were seized vide Ex.P / 11 - A. From the spot, one pair of slipper and sickle were seized vide Ex.P / 14, which was allegedly identified vide Ex.P / 26 by Sonu, father of the accused / appellant. Seized articles were sent for its chemical examination to FSL, Raipur vide Ex.P / 28 and as per unexhibited FSL report, presence of blood on articles i.e. plaster (A and C), sickle (E), slipper (F), shirt, skirt and inner - wear (G1, G2, G3, G4) of deceased Ku. Pawan Rekha, saree (H) of deceased Maktula Bai, knife, sickle, T - shirt and full pant (I, J, K, L) of the appellant, was confirmed, however, there is no serological report on record to confirm its origin and blood group. Komanlal Deshmukh (PW / 10) was a witness before whom the extrajudici