Deepesh vs State Of Rajasthan

Learned Public Prosecutor has chosen not to file reply to this application for suspension of sentences and proposes to argue the matter orally.

Heard learned counsel Shri Pradeep Shah representing the applicant appellant and the learned Public Prosecutor. Perused the impugned judgment and the material available on record.

The appellant applicant herein stands convicted and sentenced as below vide judgment dated 27.01.2020 passed by the learned Sessions Judge, Rajsamand in Sessions Case No.24/2017 (C.I.S. No.49/2017):

Offences

Sentences

Fine

Fine Default sentences

Section 454 IPC

3 Years' S.I.

Rs.2,000/-

2 Months' S.I.

Section 302 IPC

Life Imprisonment

Rs.10,000/- 6

Months' S.I.

Shri Shah, learned counsel representing the applicant appellant has moved the instant application seeking suspension of sentences awarded to the appellant by the trial court. Shri Shah vehemently and fervently urges that there is no eye witness of the incident pertaining to the murder of Smt. Sharda whose dead body was recovered from a residential house situated inside Govind Nagar, Housing Board, Kankroli. As per Shri Shah, there is no evidence on the record to satisfy the Court that the appellant had ever access to the house in question. He submits that the first informant Smt. Mukta was pressurised into lodging the First Information Report (Ex.P/1) and while deposing in the court as PW-1, she resiled from the report and did not support the prosecution case. Shri Shah further urged that the witnesses PW-4 Ganesh Lal and PW-9 Dileep Joshi (father and brother of the deceased respectively) did not give any evidence which can even remotely implicate the appellant for murdering Smt. Sharda. He further submits that the case set up by the prosecution that the appellant's motorcycle was found lying near the house where the deceased was living with Shailesh is falsified from the circumstance that no such fact is recorded in the site inspection plan (Ex.P/2). He further submits that the panch witnesses, who associated in various alleged recoveries, did not support the prosecution case and rather stated that the knife allegedly used for murdering Smt. Sharda was recovered from the place of the incident. Shri Shah submits that the appellant is in custody since March, 2017 and hearing of the appeal is likely to consume time. He thus implored the Court to accept the application for suspension of sentences and sought a direction for enlargement of the appellant on bail during pendency of the appeal.

Per contra, Shri N.S. Bhati, learned Public Prosecutor vehemently and fervently opposed the submissions advanced by Shri Shah. He contended that the deceased was married to the appellant six years ago. However, she was maltreated by him on which, she left the appellant and got into in a live-in-relationship with one Shailesh with whom, she resided in the house situated at Govind Nagar, Housing Board, Kankroli. The appellant bore a grudge that Smt. Sharda had ditched him and fueled with this motive, he went to the house where the lady was living with Shailesh and brutally stabbed her by multiple strokes of knife. The incident took place in the broad day light. The neighbouring people including the first informant Smt. Mukta (PW-1), saw the appellant making the assault upon the deceased and raised a hue and cry whereupon, the appellant abandoned his motorcycle, dropped some other articles at the place of incident and ran away in an attempt to escape. While running away, the appellant accidentally dropped his mobile phone, Voter I.D. Card and the R.C. of the motorcycle at the place of incident and also abandoned his motorcycle. These significant incriminating articles were recovered from the spot on the very day of the incident as is evident from the seizure memo (Ex.P/5) which was prepared on 04.03.2017 at 02.30 pm. The I.O. had neither any opportunity nor any reason to fabricate these recoveries because the appellant was arrested on 06.03.2017 whereas the seizures had already been made two days earlier. He urges that the accused, after being arrested, gave voluntary information to the I.O. in furtherance whereof, the knife used in the incident and his own blood stained clothes were recovered from his residential premises. These articles, upon being forwarded to the FSL alongwith the blood stained T-shirt of the deceased, were serologically examined and all tested positive for the presence of 'B' Group Blood which is that of the deceased. The appellant offered no explanation whatsoever as to how the blood of the deceased was found on his clothes. He therefore urged that there is ample evidence to connect the appellant with the alleged crime and sought dismissal of the application for suspension of sentences.

We have given our thoughtful consideration to the submissions advanced at bar and have gone through the impugned Judgment as well as the record.

Suffice it to say that the very fact that the deceased Smt. Sharda though married to the appellant was indulged in a live-in- relationship with Shailesh, was sufficient to fuel the appellant with a motive to murder the lady. The appellant went to the house where the lady was living with Shailesh on 04.03.2017. He was armed with a knife. He brutally stabbed Smt. Sharda causing her 4 injuries. The neighbours saw the incident and raised a hue and cry on which, the appellant panicked and ran away from the place of incident leaving behind his motorcycle and dropping his Voter I.D. Card, mobile phone and the R.C. of the motorcycle in the process. These three articles were recovered from the place of incident. The FIR (Ex.P/1) was lodged promptly on the basis of Parcha Bayan of Mukta (PW-1) who unfortunately appears to have been won over by the defence during the trial. Likewise, the other eye-witnesses also did not support the prosecution case and were declared hostile. However, the fact that the appellant was seen assaulting the deceased by a knife was recorded in the Site Inspection Plan (Ex.P/2) prepared on 04.03.2017 at 01.30 pm. In this site inspection plan, the number of the motorcycle of the appellant (RJ-30-SK-2874) is also mentioned. On the very same day, the I.O. recovered the mobile instrument, voter I.D. Card and R.C. of the motorcycle of the appellant vide seizure memo (Ex.P/5). The appellant was arrested on 06.03.2017 and on his information, the weapon of offence i.e. the knife and the blood stained clothes worn by him at the time of the incident, were recovered. The blood stained articles recovered at the instance of the accused appellant and the T-shirt taken off from the body of the deceased were forwarded to the FSL where Serological chemical examinations were carried out and resulted into a finding that all these articles tested positive for 'B' Group Blood.

In this background, we are of the opinion that merely because the eye-witnesses did not support the prosecution case, the appellant would not stand to gain anything. There are strong circumstances on record which are sufficient to connect the appellant with the crime. Observations made by us in this order shall not prejudice final decision of the appeal.

Based on the discussion made herein above, we find no justification to suspend the sentences awarded to the appellant by the trial court.

Accordingly, the application for suspension of sentences is dismissed.