Jharkhand HC Upholds Life Term For Man Convicted Of Killing Villager As He Took A Goat To Graze

The appellant challenged his conviction under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and sentence of life imprisonment, imposed by the Additional Sessions Judge-IX, Jamshedpur

The prosecution alleged that the appellant attacked the deceased with an axe in the morning, in the context of a land dispute.

The deceased’s wife (P.W.-2), P.W.-1 and P.W.-6 testified as eyewitnesses; the post-mortem evidence recorded head and chest injuries and attributed death to injuries caused by a hard and blunt substance.

The appellant disputed the reliability of the eyewitness evidence, the proof of the place of occurrence and the prosecution’s account of the motive, and relied on the non-recovery of the weapon.

Section 302 IPC applies where the prosecution proves the accused’s guilt for murder beyond reasonable doubt.

In assessing that burden, the Court considered the consistency and reliability of eyewitness testimony alongside medical evidence. Non-recovery of the weapon is not, by itself, fatal where the other evidence establishes the prosecution case and the accused shows no resulting prejudice.

The Court found P.W.-1 and P.W.-2’s accounts consistent as to the appellant’s assault with an axe and the time and place of the occurrence; it also accepted P.W.-6’s testimony that he arrived immediately after hearing a cry and saw the appellant assault the deceased.

The Court held that the post-mortem findings corroborated the eyewitness accounts and established homicidal death.

It accepted the I.O.’s evidence locating the body near the houses of the appellant, deceased and Agnu Mahato, and found the eyewitness evidence sufficient notwithstanding the weapon’s non-recovery.

It dismissed the appeal and directed that a copy of the judgment be furnished to the appellant and sent to the trial court.