O R D E R

1. The present appeal arises from the judgment and order dated 1st December 2016 passed by the High Court of Karnataka, Dharwad Bench, in Criminal Appeal No.2658 of 2012, whereby the acquittal of the appellant-accused recorded by the learned Sessions Judge, Bagalkot (in S.C. No.5 of 2011) was reversed. The High Court convicted the appellant of the offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced him to undergo life imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs.10,000/-, with a default stipulation of three months’ simple imprisonment.

Signature Not Verified Digitally signed by NEETU KHAJURIA Date: 2025.03.03 Reason:

2. Briefly stated, the prosecution case is that the deceased, wife of the appellant, had been married to him for about one year prior to the incident. Two months before the fateful day, she is said to have left her matrimonial home on account of alleged ill-treatment and assault by the appellant. She took shelter in her parental house in Sonna village (Bagalkot District). Despite requests from the appellant and his relatives to take her back, the complainant (PW-1), who is the father of the deceased, did not agree, allegedly because of the accused’s behaviour and also the fact that the deceased was pregnant.

3. On the night of 5th October 2010, the appellant is said to have visited the complainant’s house again, intending to take his wife back. The deceased and the appellant went to sleep in a separate room of the same house, while PW-1, his wife (PW-7), and other family members slept elsewhere on the premises.

4. According to PW-1’s version in the FIR, at around

3:00 a.m. on 6th October 2010, he and his wife heard noises or a “sound” coming from the room where the deceased and the appellant were sleeping. Further, when PW-1 and PW-7 went towards the room, they allegedly saw the appellant running out. On entering the room, they found the deceased lying in a pool of blood with a severe cut injury on the left side of her neck. A chopper (later marked as M.O.1) was reportedly found near the body. PW-1 lodged a complaint at about 9:00 a.m. that morning, leading to registration of Crime No.227 of 2010 at Bilagi Police Station for the offence punishable under Section 302 IPC.

5. The appellant faced trial before the learned Sessions Judge, Bagalkot. The prosecution examined twenty witnesses (PW-1 to PW-20) and exhibited various documents (Exs.P1 to P26[a]) and material objects (M.O.s 1 to 9). While the postmortem report (Ex. P18) confirmed that the deceased died a homicidal death, the Trial Court found that a crucial part of the prosecution case, namely, witnesses having seen the appellant running away from the room, was not substantiated by consistent testimony. Several witnesses turned hostile or did not corroborate the prosecution story in material particulars. Concluding that the chain of circumstantial evidence was incomplete, the Trial Court acquitted the appellant vide its judgment dated

31st December 2011.

6. Aggrieved by the order of acquittal, the State preferred Criminal Appeal No.2658 of 2012 before the High Court of Karnataka, Dharwad Bench. The High Court reappraised the evidence and held that the statements of PW-1 (the father) and the deceased’s brothers (PW-5 and PW-6), though partially hostile in parts, were sufficient to establish that the appellant was last seen with the deceased and that he ran away from the spot soon after the fatal attack. The High Court found that ignoring or discarding this evidence amounted to a perverse appreciation of the record by the Trial Court. Consequently, the High Court reversed the acquittal and convicted the appellant under Section 302 IPC, sentencing him to imprisonment for life, along with the aforementioned fine.

7. Aggrieved by the judgment of the High Court, the appellant has preferred the present appeal before this Court.

8. Having considered the material on record and the arguments advanced by both parties, the primary issue for our consi