Judgment R. C. CHAVAN, J. ( 1 ) APPELLANT Daulat in Criminal Appeal No. 358 of 1994 was accused No. 3 and appellant Bhaskar alias chhagan in Criminal Appeal No. 377 of 1994 was accused No. 1 in Sessions Case No. 5 of 1992 tried before Shri P. S. Paranjape, additional Sessions Judge, Khamgaon. They were tried along with four others, out of whom one died and three were acquitted of offences punishable under sections 302, 498-A and 201 read with section 34 of the penal Code. Appellant Bhaskar was convicted of offence punishable under section 302 of the Penal Code and sentenced to suffer imprisonment for life. Appellant daulat was convicted of offence punishable under section 201 of the Penal Code and sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for three years. Aggrieved by their convictions and sentences, these two appellants have preferred the present appeals. ( 2 ) FACTS, which led to prosecution of these two appellants alongwith four others, discernible from the record, are as under : ( 3 ) THE incident took place in March, 1991. Deceased Karuna was married to accused No. 1 Bhaskar about 5 to 6 years prior to the incident. Accused No. 1 Bhaskar was having illicit intimacy with accused No. 6 Dhrupadabai. Accused Nos. 4 and 5 are parents of Bhaskar. Accused No. 2 Baldeo and No. 3 Shantabai were the cousins of accused No. 1. Accused Shantabai died during the pendency of the trial. On account of Bhaskars illicit intimacy with dhrupadabai, the appellants and the other co-accused used to ill-treat Karuna. Karuna had conveyed to her brother, sister as well as uncle about this ill-treatment, since her father had renounced the world. ( 4 ) ON 11-3-1991, Bhaskar reported to victims brother Pradnyanand that Karuna was missing since morning. On learning that Pradnyanand did not know whereabouts of Karuna, Bhaskar returned. A search for Karuna was made. Accused No. 3 Daulat had given a report that Karuna was missing on 11 -3-1991. On the next day, victims uncle Somaji reported to the police that accused No. 1 Bhaskar might have murdered Karuna. ( 5 ) ON 13-3-1991, the dead body of karuna was found in a field. After inquest, post-mortem examination was conducted, which revealed, according to the learned additional Sessions Judge, that the cause of death was asphyxia. On the next day, victims uncle Somaji reported to the police that accused No. 1 Bhaskar might have murdered Karuna. ( 5 ) ON 13-3-1991, the dead body of karuna was found in a field. After inquest, post-mortem examination was conducted, which revealed, according to the learned additional Sessions Judge, that the cause of death was asphyxia. In the course of investigation, a rope was recovered and it came to be referred to the Medical Officer for his opinion. On a report by P. S. I. Satdive, an offence was registered. In the course of investigation, the police examined the witnesses, collected incriminating material and on conclusion of the investigation, charge-sheeted these two appellants alongwith three others, before the judicial Magistrate, First Class, khamgaon, who committed the case to the court of Sessions. ( 6 ) THE learned Additional Sessions judge, Khamgaon, Shri K. N. Patil, framed charge of offences punishable under sections 498-A, 302 and 201 read with section 34 of the Penal Code against all the six accused persons. The accused persons were charged of having caused death of Karuna by administering poison to her and then tying a rope around her neck. The accused pleaded not guilty and hence were put on trial. In its attempt to bring home the guilt of the accused persons, the prosecution examined in all 14 witnesses. Upon consideration of the prosecution evidence in the light of defence of denial raised, the learned additional Sessions Judge Shri P. S. Paranjape held accused No. 1 Bhaskar guilty of murder of Karuna and accused No. 3 Daulat of lodging a false report in order to screen the real offenders and proceeded to sentence them, as aforesaid. The learned additional Sessions Judge acquitted the other accused of offences charged. Aggrieved thereby, these two convicts have preferred the present appeals. ( 7 ) WE have heard Shri R. J. Mirza appearing with Shri Z. A. Haq, the learned counsel for the appellants/accused, and shri D. B. Yengal, the learned Additional public Prosecutor for the respondent State. It was contended by the learned Counsel for the appellants that there was no evidence to indicate the complicity of the appellants in the death of Karuna. He, therefore, wanted both the appeals to be allowed. In this case, there is no direct evidence to show the manner in which the victim was done to her death. It was contended by the learned Counsel for the appellants that there was no evidence to indicate the complicity of the appellants in the death of Karuna. He, therefore, wanted both the appeals to be allowed. In this case, there is no direct evidence to show the manner in which the victim was done to her death. The dead body of the victim was found on 13-3-1991. It seems that one of the accused Shantabai, wife of appellant Daulat, was the first person to notice the dead body in the field, where wheat crop was standing. This can be seen from the Panchanamas of spot at Exhibit 42 and inquest at Exhibit 43. ( 8 ) THE inquest Panchanama at Exhibit 43 mentions that while inspecting the dead body, female panch Shashikalabai took out a chit from inside the blouse of the deceased. The chit is probably addressed by Karuna to her brothers Pradnyanand and jaiprakash. The contents of the chit have been incorporated in Exhibit 43. The chit itself is at page No. 63-A in a file of miscellaneous papers. This chit would show that karuna was to end her life and as is customary, sought last saree from her brothers. She had stated that the cause of her trouble was her father-in-law and not her husband. Thus, it is not that the chit exonerates all the accused persons. It does implicate appellant Daulat. Therefore, it is not likely to have been foisted. ( 9 ) IT seems from the document that the writing therein was marked as" Q1". Karuna was possibly literate and had given report to police, which had led to filing of a chapter case before naib Tahsildar and Executive Magistrate. P. W. 2 Riyaz Ahmed, tahsildar, had handed over three documents to police, which are marked as Articles A, B and Exhibit 36. They were the documents, which were received by him in chapter proceedings. P. W. 1 Dattatraya was a witness at the seizure of these documents from the custody of the Executive Magistrate. P. W. 14 A. P. I. Divase states having sent the documents to the handwriting expert. However, there is no reference to the report of the handwriting expert in the judgment or in the evidence of the Investigating Officer. P. W. 1 Dattatraya was a witness at the seizure of these documents from the custody of the Executive Magistrate. P. W. 14 A. P. I. Divase states having sent the documents to the handwriting expert. However, there is no reference to the report of the handwriting expert in the judgment or in the evidence of the Investigating Officer. ( 10 ) AS we saw the original chit referred to in Panchnama at Exhibit 43, we also noticed that three reports from the Forensic science Laboratory were in the file of miscellaneous papers at pages 51, 97 and 98 respectively. At the request of the learned counsel for the appellants and since the learned A. P. P. had no objection, these reports from the laboratory were permitted to be tendered as additional evidence under section 391 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Since these documents were covered by the provisions of section 293 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and could be read without any subjective proof, these documents have been marked as Exhibits A-l, a-2 and A-3 in the appeals. The report at exhibit A-1 is in respect of viscera of the victim. This would show that organo chloro insecticide Endosulfan was found in the viscera and the level was of the same order as that is found in fatal poisoning cases involving Endosulfan. Endosulfan was found on the clothes of the victim, the report in respect of which is at Exhibit A-2. The third report in respect of blood group does not throw any additional light on the case of the prosecution or the defence. ( 11 ) FINDING of Endosulfan in the viscera would give altogether different dimension to the prosecution case. Though the charge at Exhibit 26 did allege that the accused persons had administered poison to the victim and then tied a rope around her neck and though the learned Additional Sessions judge had framed Point No. 1 in his judgment, keeping the possibility of poisoning open, the finding given by him would show that the cause of death of Karuna was homicidal and she was murdered by being stran- gulated. This observation comes at the end of para 40 of the judgment. This observation comes at the end of para 40 of the judgment. ( 12 ) IT is indeed unfortunate that neither the learned APP conducting the case nor the learned Additional Sessions Judge before whom the accused were tried, felt it necessary to go through the entire record and at least have a look at the report from the Forensic Science Laboratory to find out as to what was the result of analysis of viscera, which had been sent to the Laboratory. It is equally unfortunate that P. W. 13 psi Satdive, who conducted investigation, stated having sent the samples to the Forensic Science laboratory, but did not disclose what was the result of analysis from the Laboratory. Exhibit 62 is the invoice challan and Exhibit 63 is the duty pass, under which P. W. 12 police constable shridhar had carried viscera to the Forensic Science Laboratory. At least after the evidence of P. W. 12 Shridhar was tendered before the Court, the Court ought to have enquired about the results of analysis from the Laboratory. Ignoring this, the Court came to the conclusion on the basis of evidence of P. W. 7 dr. Chaudhari, who conducted post-mortem examination, that karuna had died due to strangulation. ( 13 ) P. W. 7 Dr. Chaudhari stated that when the dead body was examined by him, maggots and flies had already formed and added that development of flies takes place within 4 to 5 days after the death. He stated that within 24 to 48 hours, peeling of skin starts, which would make it difficult to see abrasions and bruises on the skin. In spite of this, Dr. Chaudhari seems to have found ligature marks. He admitted that after the death, there is no possibility of administering poison. In this context, finding of endosulfan in the viscera contradicts the conclusions drawn by Dr. Chaudhari and the cause of death certified by him becomes doubtful. Incidentally, it may be mentioned that Dr. Chaudhari admitted that even in the case of death by poisoning, asphyxia would follow. He also admitted that there was no injury to larynx and trachea. ( 14 ) IN view of the finding of the learned trial Judge about strangulation becoming doubtful, discovery of rope at the instance of appellant Bhaskar in presence of P. W. 6 pritam becomes irrelevant. He also admitted that there was no injury to larynx and trachea. ( 14 ) IN view of the finding of the learned trial Judge about strangulation becoming doubtful, discovery of rope at the instance of appellant Bhaskar in presence of P. W. 6 pritam becomes irrelevant. ( 15 ) P. W. 3 Babytai, sister, and P. W. 4 pradnyanand, brother, of the victim have stated that their sister had reported to them ill-treatment, which she offered on account of illicit intimacy with Dhrupadabai P. W. 5 somaji, who gave report at Exhibit 10, too stated that Karuna had reported to him that on account of a woman, whom her husband had kept, she used to be ill-treated. Even if it is taken for a while that P. Ws. 3 and 5 correctly stated that Karuna was ill- treated on account of illicit intimacy of accused Bhaskar, it does not provide any motive for Bhaskar to commit the murder of Karuna, unless it is shown that there was some immediate cause, which necessitated elimination of Karuna. On the other hand, the chit, which has been referred to in Exhibit 43 inquest Panchanama would show the possibility of Karuna having committed suicide because of harassment at her matrimonial home. At the same time, it has to be borne in mind that the chit points an accusing finger to father-in-law, but does not implicate the husband. Since the harassment by father-in-law leading to commission of suicide is not the charge on which the appellants were put on trial, that part of the suicide note would be of no use. ( 16 ) APPELLANT Daulat has been convicted of offence punishable under section 201 of the Penal Code on the ground that he gave a false report to the police on 11-3-1991 at 10 a. m. This report is at Exhibit 67. The learned trial Judge has observed that this report at Exhibit 67 is falsified by the medical evidence. In this report at Exhibit 67, appellant Daulat had stated that on 11-3-1991 at about 4. 30 or 5 a. m. , he woke up and went to the field of Mustak Seth for agricultural operations and worked there till 12 noon. He states having learnt from his wife that his daughter-in-law had gone to a field for uprooting the grass, but had not returned. 30 or 5 a. m. , he woke up and went to the field of Mustak Seth for agricultural operations and worked there till 12 noon. He states having learnt from his wife that his daughter-in-law had gone to a field for uprooting the grass, but had not returned. He claimed to have searched for his daughter-in-law, but could not find her till evening and, therefore, gave a report to the police at 7. 30 p. m. The report has been discussed by the learned trial judge in para 24 of the judgment. The learned trial Judge has opined that Karuna was murdered either in the night of 10th or 11th or 9th or 10t. h of March, 1991 and that this fact was definitely known to other members of the family and, therefore, in order to screen Bhaskar from the charge of murder, Daulat had given false report. ( 17 ) THE learned trial Judge seems to have drawn this conclusion on the basis of evidence of Dr. Chaudhari (P. W. 7), who conducted post-mcrtem examination. According to Dr. Chaudhari, the death might have occurred about three days prior to the post-mortem. This is to be found in para 2 of his deposition. He had started post-mortem examination at 2 p. m. on 14-3-1991. Thus, three days, prior to 14-3-1991, would come to 2 p. m. On 11-3-1991, which would be consistent with theory of suicide by poisoning. Therefore, it is not clear as td how the learned trial Judge observed that the death ought to have occurred on the night of 10th or 11th or 9th or 10th of March, 1991. ( 18 ) IN any case, even if it is presumed for a while that the death occurred, as the trial judge believes on the night of 10th or 11th of March, 1993, it is not clear to us as to what made him feel that the murder, which was committed by Bhaskar, was within the knowledge of Daulat, when he gave report on the evening of 11th March, 1993. This link is missing. Therefore, in our opinion, the conviction of appellant Daulat for offence punishable under section 201 of the penal Code is totally inexplicable. ( 19 ) P. W. 8 Ramesh, P. W. 9 Supaji and p. W. 10 Maroti did not support the prosecution. This link is missing. Therefore, in our opinion, the conviction of appellant Daulat for offence punishable under section 201 of the penal Code is totally inexplicable. ( 19 ) P. W. 8 Ramesh, P. W. 9 Supaji and p. W. 10 Maroti did not support the prosecution. P. W. 11 Police Constable Anil and p. W. 12 Police Constable Shridhar had carried the property to the Forensic Science laboratory. As already stated, P. W. 13 PSI satdive and P. W. 14 API Deorao Divase conducted investigation in parts. Their evidence does not throw any additional light on the manner in which Karuna met with her death. The analysis of the evidence tendered at the trial would thus show that the possibility of Karuna having committed suicide had not only not been ruled out, but had not even been dealt with at the trial. Hence, the conclusions drawn by the learned Additional Sessions Judge cannot be sustained. ( 20 ) WE, therefore, allow both the appeals and set aside the conviction of appellant bhaskar alias Chhagan Daulat Sardar in criminal Appeal No. 377 of 1991 for offence punishable under section 302 of the Penal code and that of Appellant Daulat Sitaram sardar in Criminal Appeal No. 358 of 1994 for offence punishable under section 201 of the Penal Code and acquit them of the said offences. The bail bonds, if any, furnished by the appellants shall stand cancelled. Appeals allowed.