Judgment

BY THE COURT: (PER HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE VINIT KUMAR MATHUR)

1. The present Criminal Appeal has been preferred under Section 415 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, by the accused-appellant, namely, Virender Kumar, assailing the legality and validity of the judgment and order dated 13.11.2024 passed learned Additional Sessions Judge No.2, Raisinghnagar, District Anoopgarh (Sri Ganganagar Jurisdiction) (hereinafter referred to as “the learned trial court”) in Sessions Case No.22/2023, whereby the learned trial court has convicted and sentenced the accused-appellant for the offences as under:-

2. As per the prosecution case, on 29.11.2020, PW-1 Pramod Kumar lodged a written report (Ex.P-1) at Police Station Jaitsar, stating therein that he is a resident of 10 GB Dhani. It was alleged that on the date of the incident, at about 4:00 PM, his cousin Sanjay Kumar had gone along with his son, Mohit Kumar, to the agricultural field of Krishna Lal Meghwal for collecting green fodder (Hara Chara). It was further stated that at the same time, accused-appellant Virendra Kumar had also gone to the said field along with his sister, Sugana Devi, for collecting fodder.

According to the complainant, at about 4:30 PM, he received a telephonic call from Dinesh Kumar, who informed him that while Sanjay Kumar and his son Mohit Kumar were returning from the field carrying bundles of green fodder, and Sanjay Kumar was walking ahead, accused-appellant Virendra Kumar fired a gunshot from behind, which hit Sanjay Kumar, resulting into his death on the spot. It was further alleged that about 8–9 months prior to the said incident, an altercation had taken place between deceased Sanjay Kumar and Krishna Lal, father of the accused-appellant, and owing to the said previous enmity, the accused-appellant committed the murder of Sanjay Kumar.

Upon receiving the said information, the complainant immediately reached the place of occurrence and found the dead body of Sanjay Kumar lying in the agricultural field of Rajnarayan Patwari, situated near the field of Krishna Lal Meghwal. Green fodder was found lying near the dead body, while another bundle of fodder was lying at a distance of about 10–15 feet from the body. At the spot, Dinesh Kumar and Shiv Kumar Dehdu, uncle of the complainant, who were irrigating their fields nearby, were found present and they claimed to have witnessed the aforesaid occurrence.

3. On the basis of the aforesaid written report (Ex.P-1), a formal FIR No.289/2020 (Ex.P-18) came to be registered at Police Station Jaitsar for the offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code.

4. After completion of investigation, the police filled the charge-sheet against accused-appellant Virendra Kumar for the offences punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 3/25 and 27 of the Arms Act before the Court of Judicial Magistrate, Sri Vijaynagar. Thereafter, the learned Magistrate took cognizance of the offences and the case being exclusively triable by the Court of Sessions, committed the same to the Court of learned Additional Sessions Judge No.1, Raisinghnagar, whereupon the Sessions case came to be registered in accordance with law. Subsequently, pursuant to the order passed by the learned