CRLA No.13 of 2012

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK

CRLA No.13 of 2012

Bhima Dash

….

Appellant

-versus-

State of Odisha

….

Respondent

Advocates appeared in this case:

For the Appellant

:

Mr. Nrusingha Nanda

Mahapatra, Advocate

For the Respondent

:

Mr. J. Katikia

Addl. Government Advocate

CORAM:

THE CHIEF JUSTICE

JUSTICE R.K. PATTANAIK

JUDGMENT

29.07.2022

Dr. S. Muralidhar, CJ.

1. This appeal is directed against the judgment dated 6^th April,

2011 passed by the Sessions Judge, Ganjam-Gajapati, Berhampur

in Sessions Trial No.427 of 2009, convicting the Appellant for the

offence punishable under Section 302 IPC and sentencing him to

undergo imprisonment for life.

2. The case of the prosecution is that on 22^nd June, 2009 at around

11.30 pm, the Appellant entered into the house of his father

(Ganesh Dash) at village Lochapada Bada Sahi, picked up a

quarrel with him and began assaulting him. The younger son of

CRLA No.13 of 2012

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Ganesh Dash and the brother of the Appellant, Raj Sekhar Dash

intervened following which the Appellant got incensed and

stabbed the deceased Raj Sekhar Dash with a knife, as a result of

which he sustained serious injuries on his chest and other part of

his body. The deceased was immediately shifted to the MKCG

Medical College & Hospital, Berhampur, but was declared

brought dead by the doctor.

3. The case of the prosecution further is that while in custody, the

accused led the police and witnesses to the place of concealment

of the weapon of offence and helped it get recovered. On

completion of the investigation, a charge-sheet was led against the

Appellant. The Appellant pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.

4. The prosecution examined eight witnesses whereas none was

examined by the defence.

5. The trial Court approached the entire case as one of

circumstantial evidence, without any eye witness. The following

circumstances were culled out by the trial Court as forming a

continuous chain and having been proved by the prosecution:

(i) The Appellant was last seen with the deceased and this was

proved by the evidence of Ganesh Dash (P.W.2) (the father of the

Appellant) and Urmila Dash (P.W.3) (the mother);

(ii) P.W.4, who was the post-occurrence witness, reached the spot

on receiving information from his father and saw the deceased

lying with injuries and took him to the hospital in his motorcycle

with the help of P.W.2;

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(iii) In terms of the disclosure made by the Appellant while in

custody, he led the police to get the weapon of the offence i.e. the

knife recovered from underneath a stone in the Agana (courtyard

of his house). This was witnessed by Mohan Patra and Anantaram

Behera;

(iv) The evidence of Dr.Geeta Sahu (P.W.1), who conducted the

autopsy on the deceased, found five external injuries and six

internal injuries. She opined that injuries 1 and 2 could have been

produced by a hard and blunt force impact and injuries 3 to 5 by a

sharp and pointed weapon. One of the external injuries was a

punctured lacerated wound of oval shape of size 1 cm x 0.75 cm

in the left chest cavity deep just below xiphisternum. The medical

evidence proved that the death was homicidal;

6. According to the trial Court, all of the above circumstances

formed a continuous chain and were proved by the prosecution

beyond reasonable doubt.

7. The conclusion was that it pointed out the guilt of the accused

and to no one else. On that basis, the trial Court found the

Appellant guilty of the offence punishable under Section 302 IPC

and sentenced him in the manner indicated hereinbefore.

8. Mr. Nrusingha Nanda Mahapatra, learned counsel appearing for

the Appellant makes the following submissions:

a. The versions of P.W