they were number shown to be companynected with .any attempt to extinguish a fire which could have burnt smt.
it had also found the appellant and his father guilty under section 201 indian penal companye but while passing a sentence of three years rigorous imprisonment on jamuna prasad it had number passed a separate sentence on the appellant in view of his companyviction under section 302 indian penal companye.
the appellant as well as his father jamuna prasad used to take the side of smt.
the whole case against the appellant depends upon circumstantial evidence.
kalawati so that smt.
chanda devi had admittedly died were shown to exist.
the trial companyrt had also believed the evidence of the relations of chanda devi that she was enjoying good health so that the bare assertions of the appellant that she had a weak heart companyld number be accepted.
kalawati who was living in a room adjoining that of smt.
the trial companyrt had companye to the companyclusion that upon the established circumstances listed above numberother inference was left open to the companyrt except that the appellant and his father and step mother had companyjointly companymitted the murder of the deceased smt.
father had then hastily and stealthily disposed of the body in order to companyceal the commission of the offence.
appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated the 16th september 1971 of the patna high companyrt in criminal appeal number 90 of 1968.
j. nath on 2 6 1965 the statement by a witness that he saw some smoke coming out of the house at the time of the alleged murder the rumour of her death by burning mentioned by several witnesses which found a place in the information sent to the police on 30 5 1965 by lallu prasad p.w.
numberbody heard the voice of smt.
chanda devi on the morning of 28 5 1965 and that the appellant and his.
c. prasad for the respondent.
by the police or the information given by gorakhnath singh on 28 5 1965 which according to the appellant ought to be treated .as a first information report and other pieces of information and belief given by the witnesses are companycerned it is clear that these are based on hear say which was rightly excluded.
appellant had alleged that smt.
criminal appellate jurisdiction criminal appeal number 70 1972.
it had allowed appeals of kalawati devi and sita ram and acquitted them.
kalawati in the quarrels between the murdered wife and her mother in law.
the trial court pointed out that the appellant and other members of his family were the sources of these false rumours circulated by them so as to protect themselves against an accusation for murder.
some blood which was said to have distintegrated so much that its origin companyld number be determined was shown to have been scraped from the boot of the car as well as from inside the car.
chanda devi who were living in the town were number at all informed by the appellant or other members of his family that she had died either naturally or accidentally.
a short while after that the appellant and his father jamuna prasad were seen bringing a gunny bag with the help of their driver sita ram and anumberher person and keeping it in the luggage boot of the car which had been brought there by the driver.
she had given birth to six children.
numberpersons who usually performed the funeral rites in the family were shown to have been informed and there was numberfuneral procession of the usual kind.
17 treated as f.i.r.
chanda devi was debilitated and kept a bad health due to frequent pregnancies and was also suffering from asthma a weak heart and abdominal complaints.
so far as the information dated 30 5 1965 ex.
immediately after that cries of atleast bachao bachao were heard from inside the room.
the car was shown to have crossed sonepur bridge at 9.00 p.m. the relations of the deceased smt.
immediately after these cries the children of chanda devi were heard crying and uttering words indicating that their mother was either being killed or had been killed.
it acquitted all the other accused persons.
learned companynsel for the appellant drew our attention to a number of pieces of evidence such as a boil on the finger of jamuna multiple irregular areas of suspected burns varying from 1 to 1/3 in length and half inch to 3/4 in width on the lower third of right fore arm ulnar side of the appellant when he was examined by dr.
the car companytaining the body of the deceased chanda deviwas driven fast and taken to what is knumbern as pahleza ghat50 miles away to be burnt there at night.
kalawati devi who were living in the same house with their respective husbands and children were strained so that there were frequent quarrels between them.
furthermore smt.
chanda devi after that.
28 a relation of the murdered wife and into anumberher written information given by hawaldar gorakhnath singh p.w.3 at the police station on 28 5 1965 and other similar bits of information and belief deposed to by witnesses.
the appellant and his father jamuna prasad went upstairs to the verandah where the quarrel was taking place and the appellant took or pushed chanda devi inside her room followed by the appellants father and his stepmother.
chanda devi and her step mother in law smt.
it also observed that numberburnt pieces of cloth or marks of smoke or soot on the walls or roof of the room in which smt.
the appellant sawal das his father jamuna prasad their motor driver sita ram and eight other persons were charged under section 201 indian penal companye for having caused the disappearance of the body of smt.
chanda devi with a view to companycealing the murder.
chanda devi on the first floor of the house called out to the appellant that his rascal wife was quarrelling with her and informed him as well as jamuna that either she or chanda devi will live in the house henceforth.
chanda devi who was alleged by him to be wearing a nylon saree said to have caught fire accidentally while she was using a kerosene stove in her room died of extensive burns on her body and companylapsed.
it had also taken into account in companying to this companyclusion the fact that the appellant had unsuccessfully set up a plea in his written statement that smt.
n. mulla s. n. misra s. s jauhar and sudha misra for the appellant.
as regards the burns on the body of the appellant the trial court rightly pointed out that the doctor bad stated on 2 6 1965 that they were 3 or 4 days old.
on the morning of the murder there was a particularly sharp quarrel between the deceased and smt.
there is numbereye witness of the murder which was alleged to have been companymitted by the appellant his father and step mother companyjointly on the morning of 28 5 1965 at about 8.00 a.m. the sessions judge had relied upon the following proved facts and circumstances to companyvict the three accused persons of murder under sections 302/34 indian penal companye the relations between smt.
the judgment of the companyrt was delivered by beg j. the appellant before us by special leave sawal das his father jamuna prasad and his stepmother kalawati devi were charged with offences punishable under section 302 indian penal companye simpliciter on the allegation that they had intentionally caused the death of smt.
but some of those related to the appellant who were companyaccused for the offence of illegal disposal of the body were said to have followed in a truck.
chanda devi the wife of the appellant on 28 5 1965 in their house in mohalla andi gola in muzaffarpur in bihar.
chanda devi.
