IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA Cr. Appeal No. 142 of 2022 Reserved on: 11.11.2024 Date of Decision: 27.11.2024 Anil Kumar @ Shetty ..Appellant.

Versus State of H.P. ...Respondent Coram Hon’ble Mr Justice Vivek Singh Thakur, Judge.

Hon’ble Mr Justice Rakesh Kainthla, Judge.

Whether approved for reporting?² Yes For the Appellant : Mr. Manoj Pathak and Mr. Harsh, Advocates.

For the Respondent : Mr. S.D. Vasudeva, Deputy Advocate General.

Rakesh Kainthla, Judge The present appeal is directed against the judgment dated 29.03.2022 passed by learned Additional Sessions Judge, Rampur (learned Trial Court) vide which, the respondent (accused before the learned Trial Court) was convicted of the commission of offences punishable under Sections 302, 201, 404 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and order dated 01.04.2022 vide which he was sentenced as under:-

Under Section 302 of IPC To suffer rigorous imprisonment

1 Corrections carried out in the judgment vide order dated 29.11.2024.

2 Whether reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment? Yes.

	for life and to pay a fine of ₹2,00,000/- and in default of payment of fine to undergo further simple imprisonment for one year.
Under Section 201 of IPC	To suffer simple imprisonment for two years and to pay a fine of ₹5,000/- (five thousand) and in default of payment of fine to suffer further simple imprisonment for one month. Both the substances were ordered to run currently.3
Under Section 404 of IPC	To suffer simple imprisonment for one year and to pay fine of ₹5,000/- (five thousand) and in default of payment of fine to suffer further simple imprisonment for one month. All the substantive sentences have been ordered to run concurrently. 4

(Parties shall hereinafter be referred to in the same manner as they were arrayed before the learned Trial Court for convenience).

2. Briefly stated, the facts giving rise to the present appeal are that the deceased Kali Ram @ Kadi Ram had gone to the jungle to graze the sheep on 20.03.2018. He did not return. His dead body was found in a naked condition in the jungle. Nirmala Devi (PW3) informed the police. An entry (Ext. PW8/A) was recorded in the police station. ASI Jeet Ram (PW11), HC Vinod Kumar, HHC Inder Singh and HHC Roshan Lal went to the spot to

3 Deleted vide order dated 29.11.2024 4 Added vide order dated 29.11.2024

verify the correctness of the information. Jeet Ram found the dead body of Kali Ram lying naked in the forest. Many people had gathered near the dead body. Roop Lal-informant (PW1) made a statement (Ext. PW1/A) that deceased Kali Ram was his father. He had gone to graze the sheep on 20.03.2018. He was informed by Bhisham that the sheep were roaming in the jungle and there was no one with them. Roop Lal (PW1) called his father but the phone was switched off. Roop Lal requested Bhisham to bring the sheep to the home. He searched for Kali Ram on 21.03.2018 but could not trace him. Pyare Lal informed Roop Lal about the discovery of the dead body. Statement (Ext. PW1/A) was reduced into writing which was sent to the police station where FIR (Ext. PW14/D) was registered. Jeet Ram (PW11) conducted the investigation. The photographs (Ext. PW11/A1 to Ext. PW11/A15) were taken. Jeet Ram prepared the spot map (Ext. PW11/B). Roop Lal identified the dead body of his father Kali Ram. Memo (Ext. PW1/B) was prepared. Jeet Ram (PW11) lifted blood-stained soil and grass and put them in a plastic jar. The jar was sealed with a seal impression ‘H’. He also lifted the controlled sample soil from the spot and put it in the polythene packet. The Polythene packet was put in a cloth parcel and the parcel was also sealed with a seal impression ‘H’. These were seized vide memo (Ext. PW1/C). He recovered a pair of shoes (Ext. PG1) of the deceased at a distance of about 6 feet from the site of the recovery of the dead body. These were pu

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