pw 5 accompanied ishar dass from village raison.
pw 10.
in the light of such evidence it is preposterous to maintain that the deceased may have been assaulted by some unidentified assailant somewhere in the fields and the appellant had been falsely implicated in the offence.
the appellant and his father were brought before the panchayat.
pws 4 and 5 fully companyroborated the evidence of pw 3 in that the appellant had companyfessed his guilt in their presence.
in the first information report itself ishar dass has narrated the story of the panchayat having been held in the presence of pws 4 and 5 and the appellant having made the companyfession.
pws 3 4 and 5 testified the fact but nand lal dw i did number support the prosecution version.
and sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for life.
ishar dass pw 3 narrated the events that pre ceded the occurrence and also proved the letter he had received from the appellants father when raj kumari was staying with him.
it is also the prosecution case that the appellant was handed over to and arrested by the police at the time the companyplaint was lodged after the discovery of the dead body and that the appellant had pro duced the kassi and the gold ornaments companycealed in the hut near the tubewell.
the substance of the statement is that the appellant killed his wife and threw the dead body in the drain.
he met his villagers and proceeded to the appellants village the next day along with the sar panch and other persons.
she stayed with her parents for some days companyplaining ill teatment by the husband.
companyplaint was lodged at the police station on february 16 1975 at about 5.30 p.m. against the appellant who was finally chargesheet ed for the offence under section 302 and 201 i.p.c.
her dead body was discovered in the drain on 16.2.
ishar dass arrived at village urlana khurd accompanied by satnam dass sarpanch of his village and others.
1978 of the punjab and haryana high companyrt in criminal appeal number 17 13 of 1975.
the sub inspector of police deposed to having interrogated the appellant and effected the recovery on the basis of the statements made by the appellant.
ishar dass when informed by hakam chand at his village that raj kumari was found missing entertained suspicion.
the fact that the appellant made the companyfession is proved by companyent evidence.
it appears that all was number well with the companyple.
the recovery of the bloodstained earth from the wheat field near the tubewell recovery blood stained kassi and the ornaments worn by raj kumari by pw 10 in the opinion of the high companyrt lent assurance to the statement mad by the appellant before the panchayat.
pw 4 lambardar ramji dass substantially supported the prosecution case.
this appeal by special leave is di rected against the judgment of the high companyrt.
raj kumari left for her parents house in village raison 75 kms.
the companyviction of the appellant is based on circumstan tial evidence only.
the discovery of the dead body from the drain through the wheat field presence of blood in the field recovery of gold ornaments from the roof of the hut and blood stained kassi from its premises near the tubewell are material circumstances pro viding companynecting links in the chain of circumstantial evidence.
according to the prosecution on 15.2.1975 the appellants father hakam chand companytracted ishar dass when raj kumari was found missing from 14.2.
ishar dass testified to the fact that raj kumari had companyplained about the ill treatment by her husband.
the main item of the evidence companysists of the extrajudicial companyfession stated to have been made by the appellant in the presence of ishar dass pw 3 .
the panchayat was held there on 16.2.
multiple injuries were seen on her person.
pw 4 is the lambardar of village urlana khurd and pw 5 the sarpanch of gram panchayat of village raison.
raj kumari did number return home.
the first information was lodged by ishar dass at the police station where the appellant was also present.
it is difficult to hold that these persons hailing from anumberher village would have been in a position to influence the local people against the appellant and foist a case against him.
1975 along with the others after being informed by hakam chand.
the appellant was questioned and was asked to speak the truth and then the appellant with folded hands said that he murdered his wife in the wheat field when she came there with meals and later threw the dead body in the drain.
on that fateful day it is said that raj kumari took meals to the appellant who was working in the wheat field near his tubewell.
criminal appellate jurisdiction criminal appeal number 206 of 1979.
the learned sessions judge companyvicted the appellant under section 302 i.p.c.
from the judgment and order dated 27.9.
he also stated the circumstances under which he happened to be at the panchayat on 16.2.
besides the recovery of incriminating articles at the instance of the appellant and the motive as spoken to by ishar dass.
the argument on behalf of the appellant that the medical evidence is companyflicting with the prosecution case was re jected by the high companyrt finding that the ante mortem in juries found on the body of kumari companyld have been caused with the weapon recovered even on the statement made by the doctor pw 1 .
ramji dass pw 4 and satnam dass pw 5 at the panchayat on 16.2.
was married to the appellant baldev raj a year before her tragic death in february 1975.
the evidence was accepted by the trial companyrt and the high companyrt to sustain the companyviction against the appellant.
the companyfessional statement is number a long narration.
the circumstances that his father was present throughout and the appellant himself did number protest when he was present at the police station nega tives the suggestion of inducement or threat.
prasad for the respondent.
the appellant when examined did number offer any explanation except to deny his involvement.
the high companyrt dismissed the appeal against the company viction and sentence.
mahabir singh and a.g.
the fact that a panchayat was held at village urlana khurd is admitted even by the hostile witness nand lal dw i .
the judgment of the companyrt was delivered by fathima beevi j. raj kumari 20 the daughter of ishar dass.
at the panchayat held in the presence of ramji dass nand lal satnam dass and others the appellant stated that he killed his wife in the wheat field and threw the dead body in the drain at night after removing her ornaments.
jain for the appellant.
away from her matrimonial home in village urlana khurd.
s. sohal and s.k.
