Bombay High Court: A Division Bench comprising of S.S. Shinde and A.S. Gadkari, JJ., allowed a criminal appeal filed against the judgment of the trial court whereby the appellant was convicted for murder under Section 302 IPC.
The appellant and the deceased were living in a live-in-relationship. Both were married to different spouses. The allegation against the appellant was that on the fateful day, he attacked the deceased with a hammer on her head and this resulted in her death. It was alleged by the prosecution that the appellant was fed up by the frequent bickering between him and the deceased as she did not allow him to meet his wife and children. Thus, the appellant attacked the deceased and murdered her. The appellant was tried and convicted by the trial court under Section 302. Aggrieved thereby, the instant appeal was filed.
The High Court, at the outset, noticed that appellant’s conviction was based on circumstantial evidence. It was reiterated that for basing a conviction on circumstantial evidence, it is necessary that all the circumstances must point towards guilt only of the accused and nothing else. Furthermore, the main ground for the conviction was that appellant failed to rebut the presumption under Section 106 Evidence Act exclusively within his knowledge. The Court made reference to Shambhu Nath Mehra v. State of Ajmer, AIR 1956 SC 404, wherein it was held that Section 106 is not a substitute for the burden of proof that rests upon the prosecution. It was noted that in the instant case there was no evidence on record even to remotely suggest that the appellant was in fact last seen in the company of the deceased either at the time of noticing the dead body or prior thereto. In absence of such evidence, the Court held that the failure of the appellant to offer any explanation under Section 106 could not be used against him to base his conviction. The Court further held that the case of the prosecution was based on mere presumption the appellant being in the same room with the deceased at the time of her death. In view of the aforesaid appellant’s conviction was set aside, and the appeal was allowed. [Ulhas Sudam Gorhe v. State of Maharashtra,2018 SCC OnLine Bom 3389, decided on 12-10-2018]
