R. S. SODHI, J. ( 1 ) CRIMINAL Appeal No. 60 of 2001 seeks to challenge the judgment and order dated 2. 12. 2000 of the Additional Sessions Judge, Karkardooma Courts, Delhi, passed in Sessions Case No. 1/1999, arising out of FIR No. 485/98, Police Station Trilok Puri, whereby the learned Judge has held the appellant guilty for the offences punishable under Sections 302/324/506 (ii)/397 IPC but acquitted the appellant for the offence punishable under Section 499 IPC. The learned Judge vide his separate order of sentence of the same date has sentenced the appellant to undergo imprisonment for life and a fine of Rs. 2,000/- and in default whereof further rigorous imprisonment for two months for the offence under Section 302 IPC; rigorous imprisonment for two years for offence under Section 324 IPC; rigorous imprisonment for three years for offence under Section 506 (ii) IPC; rigorous imprisonment for seven years and a fine of Rs. 1,000/- and in default whereof further rigorous imprisonment for one month for offence under Section 397 IPC. All the sentences were directed to run concurrently. Benefit of Section 428 Cr. P. C. was also given. ( 2 ) BRIEF facts of the case, as have been noted by the learned Additional Sessions Judge in the impugned judgment, are:"this case pertains to incident that took place in the night between 5. 7. 1998 and 6. 7. 1998 in House No. US-136, Chander Vihar, Mandavli, Delhi. In the incident, one person, namely, Bhagwan Dass, was murdered and his wife Smt. Asha received simple injuries by sharp object. Smt. Asha was threatened with dire consequences. Her earrings weighing about half tola and cash amounting to Rs. 1,200/- was taken away. The offender was armed with knife at the time of commission of offence. Someone informed the police. Police came at the spot and removed the deceased as well as his wife to SDN Hospital. Next morning, statement of injured/wife of deceased was recorded on which a case u/s 356/380/506/302/324 IPC was registered. During investigation, the scene was got photographed. Petticoat of injured, chappals of the accused, broken bangles of complainant, broken bulb, cot, favra, bed sheet, pillow cover, T-shirt of son of deceased, underwear and banian of the accused and earth control was seized. Post mortem was got done. The accused was arrested on 30. 7. 1998 from bus stop, Loni on the basis of secret information. Petticoat of injured, chappals of the accused, broken bangles of complainant, broken bulb, cot, favra, bed sheet, pillow cover, T-shirt of son of deceased, underwear and banian of the accused and earth control was seized. Post mortem was got done. The accused was arrested on 30. 7. 1998 from bus stop, Loni on the basis of secret information. He made a disclosure regarding concealment of the earring and got the same recovered from his house in Aman Vihar. The blood of the deceased and his clothes were handed over by the Doctor who conducted the post mortem which, along with favra seized from the spot and the blood stained earth, was sent to RSL. Investigation was completed and challan was filed. 2. Copies were supplied to the accused. The case was committed to the Court of Session. Arguments on charge were heard. A prima facie case for offence u/s 449/302/324/506/392/397 IPC was found by the Ld. Predecessor of this court and charge was framed. The accused pleaded not guilty and claimed trial. " ( 3 ) THE case in hand hinges primarily on the testimony of Smt. Asha, the injured witness and wife of the deceased. She has been examined as PW-6, She states that on 5. 7. 1998 at around 5. 00 p. m. , Kali Charan, accused herein, had come to her house. Kali Charan is her nephew and resides in her native village, Bada Gaon, Thana, Sahawar, District Etta. This witness welcomed Kali Charan. She has further deposed that her husband, late Shri Bhawan Dass, was running a shop in his house. Kali Charan was dining at the house of this witness and made inquiries in respect of their daily earnings from the business. He was told that Shri Bhagwan Dass earned about Rs. 1,200/- per day. The witness goes on to narrate that in the night her husband was sleeping in the courtyard along with the child of the family, Munish, aged 7 years, and Kali Charan was on the adjoining cot besides Shri Bhagwan Dass. This witness was sleeping inside the room along with her daughter, Meena, and son, Sunish. The outer gate of the house was locked from inside by this witness but the light of the courtyard and the room were kept on. At about 2. This witness was sleeping inside the room along with her daughter, Meena, and son, Sunish. The outer gate of the house was locked from inside by this witness but the light of the courtyard and the room were kept on. At about 2. 00 a. m. in the night, she heard a cry of pain from her husband which startled her and she saw that Kali Charan was assaulting her husband with a knife. The witness rushed out and saying kya kar raha hai. Kali Charan pushed this witness aside. In the meantime, Kali Charan picked up a phawra lying nearby and assaulted Shri Bhagwan Dass on the neck. This witness tried to resist at which Kali Charan threw the phawra and attempted to give a knife blow to Asha who, in order to save herself, raised her hands as a result of which she received cut injuries on her hands. Kali Charan, thereafter, dragged this witness into the room all the time threatening her not to raise alarm. In the process he also snatched away the gold earrings of Asha weighing about half tola. Kali Charan also took out the money of Rs. 1,200/- from the suitcase which had been kept in the suitcase in the presence of Kali Charan. Thereafter, the accused ran away and broke the bulb in the courtyard before jumping the wall. ( 4 ) ASHA raised hue and cry at which neighbourers gathered and someone out of them informed the Police. A PCR van arrived and took Bhagwan Dass to the hospital. This witness was also taken to the hospital where she was medically examined. In the hospital, she came to know that her husband had died. She came back home where her statement was recorded by the Police. The statement was also thumb marked which the witness identified as Ex. PW-6/a. Photographs were taken of the scene of occurrence, blood stained earth was taken into possession, broken pieces of bangles, the cot on which the deceased laid, the blood stained bed-sheet, chaddar and phawra were also taken into possession. Blood stained pillow cover was also part of the pulanda. A pair of chappals of the accused which he left behind was also taken into possession. Blood stained shirt of Munish and petticoat of this witness was also collected. Blood stained pillow cover was also part of the pulanda. A pair of chappals of the accused which he left behind was also taken into possession. Blood stained shirt of Munish and petticoat of this witness was also collected. Pieces of broken bulb and other items were collected by the Police vide seizure Memo Ex. PW-6/b, PW-6/c, PW-6/d, PW-6/e, PW-6/f, PW-6/g, PW-6/h, PW-6/j, PW-6/k, PW-6/l and PW-6/m, which this witness identified. The site plan was prepared in the presence of this witness. Parcels were opened in her presence and this witness identified all these articles. ( 5 ) THIS witness was subjected to a lengthy cross-examination which, by and large, was directed at her re-stating the case as had been done in the examination-in-chief. The cross-examination itself demolished the defence taken by the accused that on the fateful day at around 5. 00 p. m. he was with his brother-in-law, DW-1, at Bulandshahar. The cross-examination further fortified the Prosecution's case that Kali Charan was present in the house late at night when he had dinner with the deceased. Attempt was made by learned counsel for the appellant to show that the earrings had been deliberately introduced by this witness and that the witness is not wholly truthful. But we find from a re-evaluation of her statement-in-chief as also the nature of the cross-examination directed at this witness, that the witness is a truthful one and has rightly been relied upon by the trial court. This witness's statement finds corroboration from the medical evidence of the injuries sustained by her in her effort to escape the onslaught by the appellant. ( 6 ) PW-2, Hari Kishan, is the brother of the deceased. He has deposed that on 5. 7. 1998 at about 3. 00 a. m. he was informed that his brother had been injured. Upon this, he reached the house of the deceased and came to know that Bhagwan Dass had expired. He went to the Hospital and identified the dead body vide Ex. PW-2/a. He received the dead body on 7. 7. 1998 vide Ex. PW-2/b and continued to assist the Police. On 30. 7. 1998 he was told by the Investigating Officer that whereabouts of Kali Charan had become known through a secret information. The accused was taken into custody at the bus stop at 2. 00 p. m. and searched. The accused made disclosure statement. 7. 1998 vide Ex. PW-2/b and continued to assist the Police. On 30. 7. 1998 he was told by the Investigating Officer that whereabouts of Kali Charan had become known through a secret information. The accused was taken into custody at the bus stop at 2. 00 p. m. and searched. The accused made disclosure statement. ( 7 ) OTHER witnesses - PW-3, Jawahar Lal, is the Duty Officer who proved copy of the FIR, Ex. PW-3/a, PW-5, Dr. Brijesh Kumar, identified the dead body of Bhagwan Dass, PW-7, Radhey Sham, is the eye witness to the secret information which led to the arrest of the accused, PW-8, Constable Kanwar Partap, is the photographer. He took the photographs and exhibited the negatives as Ex. PW-8/p1 to Ex. PW-8/p8 as also the positives as Ex. PW-8/p9 to PW-8/p15. Dr. K. L. Sharma, is PW-9 who conducted post mortem on the dead body of Bhagwan Dass. He found two incised punctured wounds one below the other on lower front of right side neck and opined that the cause of death was asphyxia due to chocking of the wind pipe with blood clots consequent to stab injuries. PW-10, SI Mahesh Kumar, is the Draftsman and PW-11, Ved Ram, is the brother of the complainant who is a witness to the extra judicial confession. It is before him that Kali Charan is stated to have admitted that he murdered Bhagwan Dass. This witness does not inspire confidence. His testimony is full of contradictions which are material. PW-13, Devender and PW-17, HC Ram Kumar are the witnesses to the recovery of earrings at the instance of the accused. PW-14, Dr. V. P. Arya examined the complainant, Asha. He proved the MLC, EX. PW-14/a. He deposed that Bhagwan Dass was brought in a dead condition, as stated in Ex. PW-14/b. The witness admitted that there was no injury on the ears of Asha. He also admitted if the name of the assailant had been mentioned to him, he would have noted it in the MLC. ( 8 ) COUNSEL for the appellant strongly relied upon the absence in the MLC of the name of the accused and submitted that in the first instance, PW-6 would have, in the normal course, told the Doctor the name of the assailant. ( 8 ) COUNSEL for the appellant strongly relied upon the absence in the MLC of the name of the accused and submitted that in the first instance, PW-6 would have, in the normal course, told the Doctor the name of the assailant. The non mention of the assailant in the MLC goes to show that the appellant has been falsely implicated in this case as an afterthought. ( 9 ) WE have considered this submission and given our careful consideration to it. It is, no doubt, true that the Doctor has stated that he would have mentioned in the MLC the name of the assailant if told to him. But it is not the case that the Doctor asked for the name of the assailant which was not revealed. Even otherwise, the FIR, which is the contemporaneous document, names the assailant as that to be the appellant. Further, there is ample evidence on record by way of cross-examination of this witness to establish that the appellant was present in the house at the time when the deceased came in late at night. The explanation sought to be given by the accused of alibi is falsified inasmuch as the time when the accused was supposed to be in Bulandshahar was the same time when he, in his cross-examination, suggests that he was with PW-6. Further, it is quite likely that at the time when PW-6 was being medically examined, she was more concerned about her husband who had received grievous injuries and overlooked to inform the name of the assailant. In any event of the matter, looking at the broader picture that has emerged from the evidence on record, we are not inclined to give undue importance to the absence of name of the assailant in the MLC of PW-6. Corroborating the statement of PW-6 are the recoveries of earrings at the instance of the accused. ( 10 ) IT was argued by counsel for the appellant that had the earrings been snatched, this witness would definitely have sustained injuries. This argument, in the first flush, appears to be attractive. However, from the evidence it is borne out that PW-6 herself has stated that she received no injuries in the process of snatching of the earrings which is also supported by the MLC. Injury on PW-6 would depend on the nature of the hook holding the earring. This argument, in the first flush, appears to be attractive. However, from the evidence it is borne out that PW-6 herself has stated that she received no injuries in the process of snatching of the earrings which is also supported by the MLC. Injury on PW-6 would depend on the nature of the hook holding the earring. It has been noted by the trial court that the hook broke with the jerk and one of the ear rings produced in court had a broken hook. In that view it is possible that no injury may result on snatching of the earring. Injury, at the highest, can only be a further corroborative factor of the earrings being snatched, but the absence of injury does not, in any way, wash away the fact deposed to by PW-6. ( 11 ) HAVING given our careful consideration to the material on record as also the evaluation of the material by the trial court and its reasoning while arriving at its conclusion, we find no infirmity therewith. Having independently gone through the material on record, we are satisfied that the Prosecution has been able to bring home the guilt of the accused to the charges framed against him under Sections 302/324/506 (ii)/397 IPC. Consequently, we uphold the order of conviction and confirm the order of sentence. Criminal Appeal No. 60 of 2001 is dismissed.