#SEction302 Archives - Prime Legal

TITLE : Santosh Gunaji Dudhmal v State of Maharashtra

CORAM : Hon’ble Justice Smt. Vibha Kankanwadi and Hon’ble Justice Abhay S. Waghwase

DATE : 19^th December, 2023

CITATION : Criminal Appeal No 152 of 2019

FACTS

An appeal was filed against the Additional Sessions Judge for the offence punishable under Section 302 of IPC and sentencing him to suffer life imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs. 1000 in default of set rigorous imprisonment of one month. The accused was alleged of murder on the instance because of a dispute that arose between the deceased and him. It was contended by the appellant that there is no convincing evidence and motive was not sufficient.

LAWS INVOLVED

Section 302 of IPC states that :

Whoever commits murder shall be punished with death or [imprisonment for life], and shall also be liable to fine.

ISSUES

Whether the Additional Sessions judge passed an order for conviction of murder through lack of evidence?

JUDGEMENT

The autopsy surgeon was considered to be the best witness and evidence. The doctor noted that the injuries occurred are not sufficient in ordinary course of nature to occur. It was also observed that the informant had contradicting statements as a witness. Further it was noted that the wife of the deceased herself was not cooperating with the narrative of the prosecution. However, the court held that reason for her hostility to be that of the shock of losing her husband. One of the independent witnesses were also in the vicinity of the location when the murder occurred.

In lieu all of the statements passed by the witnesses, the court dismissed the appeal claiming that there was sufficient evidence to prove the appellant has actually committed the act of murder.

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Written by- Sanjana Ravichandran

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TITLE : Vijay v The state of Maharashtra

CITATION : Criminal Appeal No of 84 of 2018

CORAM : Hon’ble justice Vibha Kankanwadi & Hon’ble Justice Abhay S. Waghwase

DATE: 6^th December, 2023

INTRODUCTION :

The appellant is challenging the sessions court in offences pertaining to Section 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code for murdering his wife and causing the evidence to disappear.

FACTS :

The deceased was married to the accused with two sons and one daughter. The daughter and one of the sons passed away earlier and the accused continuously abused the wife. He even doubted the chastity of his wife and assaulted her.

On one occasion the wife stayed at her brother in law’s house due to the continuous abuse. The next day after her return, she was found dead in a water barrel with her saree and hair floating in the tank.

The trial judge after hearing both the parties sent the accused to imprisonment for life and to pay fine of Rs.5000/- along with rigorous imprisonment for one year for the offence committed under Section 302 and rigorous punishment for another five years for the offence committed under Section 201 IPC.

COURT’S ANALYSIS

It has been submitted by the counsel of the appellant that the evidence was entirely circumstantial, and the chain of events must be proved beyond reasonable doubt. The forensic expert claimed that the exact cause of death cannot be found in the body. The prosecution’s cross examination and witnesses were not satisfactory to provide substantial evidence. The court opined that mere fact of the accused continuously abused the deceased does not mean that he is the killer. Additionally, since there was no sufficient evidence to conclude the prosecutor’s case, the court acquitted the accused from the charges of Section 302 and Section 210 of IPC.

Written by- Sanjana Ravichandran

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