JUDGMENT Vishnu Sahai J. - By means of this appeal preferred from jail, the appellant has impugned the judgment and order dated 22-1-1985 passed by the Additional Sessions. Judge, Pune, in Sessions Case No. 183 of 1984, convicting and sentencing him to undergo imprisonment for life for the offence punishable under Section 302 I.P.C. It needs to be mentioned that one Janku Bhimaju Navale was also prosecuted and tried with the appellant but he was been acquitted vide the impugned judgment as the solitary circumstance against him was recovery of a blood stained shirt on his pointing out and the same did not inspire confidence. The State of Maharashtra has not impugned his acquittal; rightly so in our judgment. 2. In short the prosecution case runs as under: The appellant the acquitted accused and the deceased Ramdas lived in village Utsal, within the limits of police station Junnar in District Pune. About 7 to 8 days prior to the incident the de ceased who was serving at Bombay had come on leave to village Utsal. On 9-4-1984 a Satyanarayan Puja was held at the house of the deceased who was to return to Bombay the following day. The same evening the appellant and the acquitted accused persuaded the deceased to consume liquor and brought, him to the house of Dulha Kashinath Borade. P.W. 3 situated near by a hamlet called Sonawalechi where Dulha Borade was running an illicit liquor den and all of them had liquor there. Thereafter the acquitted accused went to the house of Gramsevak Namdeo Girve, P.W. 2 for personal work. An altercation between him and Namdeo Girve ensued and he threatened to kill the latter in the manner in which he had just killed another person. It is said that the deceased did not return to his house that night and his corpse was found by the villagers next morning in the field of one Kama Shekhare with multiple injuries. One Prakash (not examined) thereupon went to village Shinderalegan to inform Govind, P.W. 1, the father of the deceased, who had gone to the said place in connection with agricultural operations. On receiving information Govind along with Prakash came to the field where the corpse of the deceased was lying. 3. One Prakash (not examined) thereupon went to village Shinderalegan to inform Govind, P.W. 1, the father of the deceased, who had gone to the said place in connection with agricultural operations. On receiving information Govind along with Prakash came to the field where the corpse of the deceased was lying. 3. On 20-4-1984 at about 10 a.m. police Patil of village Utsal made a report, Exhibit 30 to the Junnar Police Station to the effect that a corpse was discovered lying in the village. On the basis of the said report accident death case No. 15/84 was registered at the police station. Thereafter the investigation was entrusted to PHC Damodar Hiru Gavari, P.W. No 9 who proceeded to the spot where the corpse was lying; prepared the inquest panchanama of the corpse, Exhibit 17; drew panchanama of the scene of offence Exhibit 18; and handed over the corpse for autopsy. He then made enquiry with the parents and wife of the deceased and recorded their statements. On 23rd April 1984 he received the advance certificate of the cause of death, Exhibit 31, from the Medical Officer. Primary Health Centre, Aptala, and from its perusal concluded that it was a case of murder. He accordingly lodged an F.I.R. on the basis of which C.R. No. 35/84 under Sections 302 and 201 I.P.C. was registered at Junnar Police Station. 4. After lodging the FIR. PHC Damodar Gavari handed over the investigation to PSI Shivaji Rangrao Patil, P.W. 10. The same day he arrested the appellant and the acquitted accused in village Utsav under panchanama Exhibit 20. On 23-4-1984 the appellant made a statement that he could get the weapon of assault an iron bar recovered. The said statement was recorded under a panchanama. Exhibit 10. Thereafter the same day PSI. Patil along with the appellant, the public panch of recovery Gangaram Dalalu Bhagad. P.W. 4 and police personnel proceeded to the agricultural field of one Tanaji Hart Talpe. The appellant went to a spot on the bandh of the said field; by his hand dug the earth; and thereafter took of the iron bar, which was concealed beneath it. The said recovery was made under a panchanama. Exhibit 11. On 26-4-1984 the appellant showed is willingness to get his 15lood stained shirt recovered. The same was recorded under panchanama. Exhibit 27. Thereafter along with the appellant public panch Baban Tukaram Navale. The said recovery was made under a panchanama. Exhibit 11. On 26-4-1984 the appellant showed is willingness to get his 15lood stained shirt recovered. The same was recorded under panchanama. Exhibit 27. Thereafter along with the appellant public panch Baban Tukaram Navale. P.W. 8 and police personnel, PSI Shivaji Patil proceeded to the house of the appellant and the latter handed over the shirt which was hanging on the hook fixed to the wall on the southern side. On the front portion of the shirt there were faint blood stains and it appeared that the shirt was washed. The shirt was recovered under a panchanama. Exhibit 28. It is relevant to mention that the articles recovered from the appellant, and the acquitted accused along with the blood stained clothes of the deceased were sent to Chemical Analyst who found on them human blood bearing blood group "B". After completing the investigation PSI Shivaji Patil submitted a charge-sheet against the appellant and the acquitted accused for offences punishable under Sections 302/201 read with 34 I.P.C. 5. Going backwards the autopsy on the corpse of the deceased was conducted on 21-4-1984 by Dr. Subhash Sarvade, P.W. 5 who found on it the following four ante-injuries: (i) The upper part of the pinna of the left ear about 1/2" in length was found missing. (ii) An oblique incised wound 3" x 1/2" on scalp above the left ear brain matter was found coming out through this incised wound. (iii) Contused lacerated wound oblique 1" x 1/2" on the left side of the left eyebrow. (iv) Laceration on the right upper third of the leg 1" x 1/2" in size by palpation fracture of skull mandible and right maxilla." On internal examination the autopsy surgeon found fracture of the temporal and parietal bones coupled with the brain matter protruding out. He opined that internal injury No. 2 coupled with the corresponding internal damage was sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature and the said injuries could be caused by the iron bar (article 7) shown to him (the same iron bar which was recovered on the pointing out of the appellant). 6. He opined that internal injury No. 2 coupled with the corresponding internal damage was sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature and the said injuries could be caused by the iron bar (article 7) shown to him (the same iron bar which was recovered on the pointing out of the appellant). 6. In due course the case was committed to the court of Sessions where the appellant and the acquitted accused were charged for offences under Section 302 I.P.C. simpliciter; in the alternative under Section 302 read with 34 I.P.C. and 201 read with 34 I.P.C. They pleaded not guilty to the charges and claimed to be tried. Their defence was of denial. During trial in all the prosecution examined 9 witnesses. We may straight away mention that there is no eye7witness of the incident and the case rests on circumstantial evidence. After assessing the entire material on record the learned trial judge acquitted co-accused Janku Bhimaji Navale but convicted and sentenced the appellant in the manner stated in para 1 above. 7. We have heard Mr. S.B. Deshpande for the appellant and Mr. S.R. Borulkar for the respondent No.2 We may straight away mention that there was no necessity to implead the father of the deceased as respondent No.1. This happened on account of the circumstance that the appellant who preferred the appeal through jail was not aware of the intricacies of law. Hence without notice being served on respondent No. 1 we have decided the appeal. We have perused the deposition of the prosecution witnesses, the material exhibits tendered and proved by the prosecution, the statement of the appellant recorded under Section 313 Cr. P.C. and the impugned judgment. In our view this appeal deserves to be allowed. 8. As mentioned earlier the case rests on circumstantial evidence. It is well settled that circumstantial evidence can only be made a basis of conviction if: (i) The circumstances are firmly established; (ii) They conclusively lead to the inference of guilt; (iii) They are incapable of being explained on any other reasonable hypothesis except the guilt of the accused; and (iv) They are wholly incompatible with the inference of innocence of the accused. 9. A perusal of the para 18 of the impugned judgment shows that the learned trial judge has based the conviction of the appellant on two circumstances, viz. 9. A perusal of the para 18 of the impugned judgment shows that the learned trial judge has based the conviction of the appellant on two circumstances, viz. recovery of blood stained iron bar and blood stained Nehru shirt, on the pointing out of the appellant. In the earlier part of our judgment we have mentioned in detail the circumstances and the manner in which the said articles were recovered. We feel that it would not be safe and prudent to place reliance on these two pieces of recovery evidence. It would be pertinent to mention that the prosecution had also tried to establish the circumstance of the appellant and the acquitted accused having been last seen in the company of the deceased at the liquor den of Borade, P.W. 3. The evening preceding the day when the corpse of the deceased was recovered but failed to prove it because the said witness turned hostile. 10. We feel that the circumstance of recovery of blood stained iron bar on the pointing out of the appellant cannot be relied upon because in the recovery memo, Exhibit 11 the place from where the said recovery was made viz. near Kharnati tree has not been mentioned. This has been accepted during cross-examination in paragraph 14 by PSI Patili P.W. 10 and by the learned trial judge in para 21 of the impugned judgment. In view of the said infirmity in our judgment it would not be safe to accept the prosecution case that the recovery of iron bar took place on the appellants pointing out from near the Kharnati tree. Hence no reliance can be placed on this circumstance. We are neither inclined to accept the evidence of recovery of blood stained Nehru shirt on the pointing out of the appellant. The public panch examined by the prosecution in respect of it was Baban Tukaram Navale, P.W. 8. He turned hostile. After going through his evidence we find that the prosecution can take no benefit from the same. After eliminating his evidence there remains the solitary statement of PSI Shivaji Rangrao Patil, P.W. 10. It is true that there is no legal impediment in accepting the sole statement of a police officer but on the facts of this case we do not think it would be safe to do so. After eliminating his evidence there remains the solitary statement of PSI Shivaji Rangrao Patil, P.W. 10. It is true that there is no legal impediment in accepting the sole statement of a police officer but on the facts of this case we do not think it would be safe to do so. In our view it is extremely improbable that the appellant would have hung his shirt which contained blood stains in an open place like a hook fixed in the wall of his house. And the golden rule which courts follow is to prefer the probable as against the possible. 11. Mr. Borulkar, learned APP for the respondent State of Maharashtra strenuously urged that since on both the iron bar and the shirt blood of "B" group was found, which was also found on the clothes of the deceased, the said circumstance conclusively incriminates the appellant. There could have been some merit in his submission if two prerequisites had been satisfied: (i) the evidence in respect of recovery itself been credible; and (ii) it should have been established that the blood group of the appellant was not "B". In the instant case we find that pursuant to the arrest of the appellant the sample of blood was not taken and sent to the Chemical Analyst. Hence the possibility of the appellant's blood bearing "B" group cannot be eliminated. For the said reasons, in our view, the submission of Mr. Borulkar does not hold water. 12. Mr. Borulkar also contended the circumstance that in the opinion of the autopsy surgeon the ante-mortem injuries of the deceased were attributable to the iron bar recovered on the pointing out of the appellant also incriminates him. Again this circumstance would have only assumed importance had we 'placed reliance on the said recovery. Since we have not done that it also fails. 13. For the said reasons, in our view, it would not be safe to sustain the conviction of the appellant on the two circumstances mentioned above. 14. In the result this appeal is allowed. The conviction and sentence of the appellant for the offence under Section 302 I.P.C. is set aside. He is acquitted of the said offence. He is on bail. His bail bonds stand cancelled and sureties discharged. Before parting with the judgment we would like to record, our appreciation for the assistance rendered to us by Mr. The conviction and sentence of the appellant for the offence under Section 302 I.P.C. is set aside. He is acquitted of the said offence. He is on bail. His bail bonds stand cancelled and sureties discharged. Before parting with the judgment we would like to record, our appreciation for the assistance rendered to us by Mr. S.B. Deshpande, learned counsel for the appellant in disposal of this appeal. Inspite of the fact that he was an appointed advocate he was extremely well-prepared. We fervently wish that we have this experience more often. Appeal allowed. Conviction u/s. 302, I.P.C. and sentence set aside.