Case Note & Summary
The appeals arose from a conviction by the IInd Additional Sessions Judge, Aurangabad, in Sessions Case No. 246 of 1997, where the accused were found guilty under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to life imprisonment. The prosecution case, based entirely on circumstantial evidence, alleged that accused Milind and Sumanbai, having an illicit relationship, murdered Sumanbai’s husband Prakash Lahane near Hanuman Tekdi, Aurangabad, and threw his body there. On 29 January 1996, an anonymous call led police to a decomposed male body with a black thread around the neck. An accidental death inquiry was registered under Section 174 CrPC. The body remained unidentified for over 16 months despite extensive efforts. On 10 June 1997, the deceased’s brother, Bhagwan Lahane, came forward, identified the body from photographs and clothes, and implicated the accused. The police reopened the case, arrested the accused, and gathered additional evidence including medical papers and photographs showing the accused cohabiting. The trial court convicted them, holding that the chain of circumstances established guilt. In the High Court, the appellant’s counsel argued that the case rested only on circumstantial evidence and extra‑judicial confession, with no direct evidence; the identification of the decomposed body after a long delay was unreliable; there was no motive for the wife to kill her husband; and the confession alone could not sustain conviction, relying on Babubhai Udesinh Parmar vs. State of Gujarat. The provided judgment text ends during the submissions; therefore, the High Court’s analysis, ratio decidendi, and final decision are not included in the excerpt.
Issue of Consideration
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.81 OF 1999
Case Details
2017 LawText (BOM) (06) 92
Criminal Appeal No. 81 of 1999 and Criminal Appeal No. 106 of 1999
S.S. Shinde, S.M. Gavhane
A.K. Bhosale, A.S. Shejwal, P.G. Borade
Milind s/o Sahebrao Lahane (Criminal Appeal No. 106 of 1999) and Sumanbai @ Kalpana w/o Prakash Lahane (Criminal Appeal No. 81 of 1999)
Subscribe to unlock Case Details (Citation, Judge, Date & more)
Subscribe Now
Nature of Litigation
Criminal appeal against conviction for murder under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
Remedy Sought
The appellants (accused) sought to set aside their conviction and sentence of life imprisonment.
Filing Reason
The accused were convicted by the trial court on the basis of circumstantial evidence and extra‑judicial confession for the murder of Prakash Lahane.
Previous Decisions
The IInd Additional Sessions Judge, Aurangabad in Sessions Case No. 246 of 1997 convicted the accused and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
Submissions/Arguments
Learned counsel for accused Sumanbai submitted that there was no eye witness and the case was based on circumstantial evidence only; the chain of circumstances had not been established beyond reasonable doubt.
The prosecution case was based on extra judicial confession, which was unreliable due to contradictions and discrepancies in the evidence of prosecution witnesses.
The identification of the dead body by PW10 after a long gap was not conclusive.
There was no motive for accused Sumanbai to murder her husband.
Conviction cannot be based solely on confession without other material, relying on Babubhai Udesinh Parmar vs. State of Gujarat.
Judgment Excerpts
due to strangulation, death can be caused
both of them committed murder of Prakash Lahane
there was no eye witness to the incident
identification of dead body is not conclusive
Procedural History
On 29 January 1996, an anonymous call led to the discovery of a decomposed male dead body near Hanuman Tekdi, Aurangabad. An accidental death inquiry (A.D. No. 3/1996) was registered under Section 174 CrPC. The body was sent for postmortem; the cause of death could not be immediately determined. Despite extensive efforts, including publication of photographs, the body remained unidentified. On 30 June 1996, the police filed an 'A' summary report before the Chief Judicial Magistrate as the body was not identified. On 10 June 1997, Bhagwan Lahane (PW10) approached the police, identified the body as his missing brother Prakash Lahane, and implicated the accused Milind and Sumanbai. The police reopened the case, arrested the accused on 10 June 1997, and conducted further investigation. A charge sheet was filed under Sections 302, 201 read with Section 34 IPC. The case was committed to the Court of Sessions. The trial court framed charges and, after trial, convicted the accused under Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC and sentenced them to life imprisonment on 4 December 1999. The accused appealed to the High Court.
Acts & Sections
- Indian Penal Code, 1860: 302, 201, 34
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973: 174
