LAW FOR ALL

when the genesis and the manner of the incident is doubtful, the accused cannot be convicted= recovery of fire arm at the instance of appellant-accused was planted by the police and it could not have been relied upon. This Court, in a number of cases, has held that the evidence of circumstance simplicitor that an accused led a police officer and pointed out the place where weapon was found hidden, would be admissible as conduct under Section 8 of the Evidence Act, irrespective of whether any statement made by him contemporaneously with or antecedent to such conduct falls within the purview of Section 27 of the Evidence Act. In the above backdrop, it would be appropriate to quote the Forensic Report dated 25.06.1999 with regard to the alleged recovery of the country-made pistol recovered at the behest of the appellant-accused which is as under:- “Result of Examination 1. One .32 country made pistol (W/1) from packet ‘D’ is a serviceable firearm. 2. The examination of the barrel residue indicates that submitted .32 country made pistol (W/1) had been fired. However, the definite time of its last fire could not be ascertained. 3. Based on stereo and comparison microscopic examination it is the opinion that one .32 lead bullet (B/1) from packet ‘C’ has not been fired from submitted .32 country made pistol (W/1).” It is clear from the above that there is no material on record to connect that the gunshot injury suffered by the deceased was due to the shot fired from the firearm of the appellant-accused. It is also discernible that though the bullet was recovered but the same has not been connected with the weapon. Moreover, the prosecution is not able to prove the motive clearly. Though motive is not sine qua non for the conviction of the appellant-accused, the effect of not proving motive raises a suspicion in the mind. In the present case, it appears that the theory behind motive has been given after much thought process.= It is a well-settled principle of law that when the genesis and the manner of the incident is doubtful, the accused cannot be convicted. Inasmuch as the prosecution has failed to establish the circumstances in which the appellant was alleged to have fired at the deceased, the entire story deserves to be rejected. When the evidence produced by the prosecution has neither quality nor credibility, it would be unsafe to rest conviction upon such evidence. After having considered the matter thoughtfully, we find that the evidence on record in the case is not sufficient to bring home the guilt of the appellant. In such circumstances, the appellant is entitled to the benefit of doubt.=the evidence of PW-8. Since the same inspires no confidence at all, therefore, we are constrained to set aside the conviction and sentence awarded to the appellant.