Holding

The High Court's acquittal is a plausible view and the appeal is dismissed.

Summary

The State of Uttar Pradesh appealed against the Allahabad High Court's acquittal of Atar Singh and six others who had been convicted for the murder of Ram Murti and assault of three others. The trial court had sentenced the accused under IPC sections 302, 323, 324 r/w 149, 147, 148 and 452, but the High Court set aside the convictions on grounds that motive was not proved, independent witness corroboration was lacking, the dying declaration was improperly recorded, and the prosecution failed to explain injuries on one accused. The Supreme Court examined whether an appellate court may revisit the evidence on an acquittal and whether the non‑explanation of injuries on an accused necessarily defeats the prosecution case. It held that while appellate courts can review evidence, interference is warranted only on compelling reasons, and the mere failure to explain injuries does not, by itself, invalidate the prosecution's case when the evidence is otherwise clear and credible. Consequently, the Court found the High Court's view plausible and dismissed the appeal, upholding the acquittal.

Issues considered

The appellate court's power to review evidence on a judgment of acquittal
Whether non‑explanation of injuries on an accused warrants setting aside an acquittal
Whether the dying declaration recorded by the investigating officer is admissible
Whether lack of proved motive and independent corroboration justifies acquittal

Legislation cited

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973s. 161
Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 147, s. 148, s. 149, s. 302, s. 323, s. 324, s. 452

Subjects

murdercriminal appealacquittalappellate reviewnon‑explanation of injuriesdying declarationmotiveevidence appraisalIPC sectionsCriminal Procedure Code

Judgment

1 _,
A STATEOFU.P.
v.
ATAR SINGH AND ORS.

NOVEMBER, 2007
B
[DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT AND D.K. JAIN,JJ.] ~
,..,.

Penal Code, 1860-ss. 302, 323 and 324rlw149, 147and148
and 452-Murder 452-Murder and injury caused-Three eye-
c witnesses-Conviction by trial court-Acquittal by High Court on the
grounds interalia that motive not proved, prosecution case not
corroborated by independent witnesses, independent eye-witness not
trustworthy and non-explanation of injury on one of the accused
creating doubt about prosecution case-On appeal, held: .Acquittal
D justified in view ofcumulative effect ofthe circumstances ofthe case-
--4
However non-explanation of the injury on the accused, in the facts, ~ .
would not affect veracity of the prosecution case.
Criminal Trial-Non-explanation of injury on the accused-
;
Effect of-On prosecution case.
E
Practice and Procedure-Criminal appeal-Against order of
acquittal-Review ofevidence-Permissibility.
Appeal-Appeal against ac:quittal-lnte1jerence with-Scope of

F Respondents-accused were prosecuted for having caused death .,~

1·
of on person and causing injuries was that sister of five of the
respondents had been abduct_ed by brother-in-law of PW-1, six
months prior to the incident. On the day of the incident exchange of
hot words and abuse took place between PWl and father of five of
G the accused 'D" in conneeti.on with the abduction. On intervention
of two persons, PW, 1 went to his house. Thereafter, 'D' alongwith
y-<
the appellants-accused entered the house of PWl. Two of the
appellants were armed with spears while rest were armed with lathis.
They assaulted he deceased, PW 1and3 and mother of PW-1 and
H 1018
STATE v. ATARSINGH 1019

3. Incident was also seen by PW-2. When Police reached the spot, A
he found the deceased and PWs 1and3 and their mother in inured
condition. Statement of the deceased was recorded by the Police.
Deceased died after 3 days of the incident accused 'D' died after
few days of the incident. Trial Court, convicted the respondents u/s
302, 323 and 324 r/w 149 and 452. Five of the accused were further B
convicted u/s 147 IPC and the rest two were further convicted u/s
148 IPC.

High Court acquitted the respondents. Acquittal was on the
grounds that the motive was not proved; that witnesses to the
exchange of hot words between 'D' and PW-1, were not examined C
to as to indicate the origin of incident; that prosecution version is
not corroborated by independent witnesses; evidence of PW-2 is not
trustworthy as his presence at the place of incident was not
established; that few persons whose names appeared in FIR as
witnesses were not examined; that statement of the deceased D
recorded by Investigating Officer would be a statement u/s 161
Cr.P.C. and the same could not be treated to be the dying declaration;
that no explanation was offered as to why the dying declaration was
not recorded in the presence of Magistrate even though the
deceased died 3 days after the incident; and that non-explanation E ·
of injuries on the person of one of the accused cast a doubt about
the actual time, place, number of assailants and weapons. Hence the
present appeal.

Dismissing the appeal, the Court
F
,.... '>- HELD: 1.1. There is no embargo on the appellate Court
reviewing the evidence upon which an order of acquittal is based.
Generally, the order of acquittal shall not be interfered with because
the presumption of innocence of the accused is further strengthened
by acquittal. The golden thread which runs through the web of G
administration of justice in criminal cases is that if two views are
"~ possible on the evidence adduced in the case, one pointing to the
guilt of the accused and the other to his innocence, the view which is
favourable to the accused should be adopted. The paramount
consideration of the Court is to ensure that miscarriage of justice is H
1020 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] 11 S.C.R.

A prevented. A miscarriage of justice which may arise from acquittal
of the guilty is no less than from the conviction of an innocent. In a
case where admissible evidtoce is ignored, a duty is cast upon the
appellate Court to re-appreciate the evidence where the accused has
been acquitted, for the purpose of ascertaining as to whether any of
B the accused really committed any offence or not.
[Para 10) [1025-G; 1026-A, B, CJ ~....
Bhagwan Singh and Ors. v. State of Madhya Pradesh, (2002) 2
Supreme567, relied on.
C 1.2. The principle to be followed by appellate Court considering
the appeal against the judgment of acquittal is to interfere only when
there are compelling and substantial reasons for doing so. If the
impugned judgment is clearly unreasonable and relevant and
convincing materials have been unjustifiably eliminated in the
process, it is a compelling reason for interference.
D [Para 10) [1026-C, D) _.. .
Shivaji Sahabrao Bo bade and Anr. v. State ofMaharashtra, AIR
(1973) SC 2622; Ramesh Babula! Doshi v. State ofGujarat, (1996) 4
Supreme 167; Jaswant Singh v. State ofHaryana, (2000) 3 Supreme
E 320; Raj Kishore Jha v. State of Bihar and Ors., (2003) 7 Supreme
152; State ofPunjab v. Karnail Singh, (2003) 5 Supreme 508; State
ofPunjab v. Pohla Singh and Anr., (2003) 7 Supreme 17; and V~
Ratheesh v. State ofKera/a, [2006] 10 SCC 617, relied on.
2.1. In isolation the circumstances highlighted by the High
F Court may not be sufficient to direct acquittal. Considering the
cumulative effect of circumstances which have weighed with the High
Court to direct acquittal, it cannot be said that the view taken by
the High Court is not a plausible view. Hence, the order of acquittal
is not interfered with. [Paras 11and14) [1026-F; 1029-B, C)
G 2.2. However, it cannot be said that in each and every case where
prosecution fails to explain the injuries found on some of the accused,
the prosecution case should automatically be rejected, without any
further probe. Any non-explanation of the injuries on the accused
by the prosecution may affect the prosecution case. But such a non ..
H explanation may assume greater importance where the defence
i
J
STATE v.ATARSINGH 1021

gives a version which competes in probability with that of the A
prosecution. But where the evidence is dear, cogent and
creditworthy and where the Court can distinguish the truth from
falsehood the mere fact that the injuries are not explained by the
prosecution cannot by itself be a sole basis to reject such evidence,
and consequently the whole case. Much depends on the facts and B
circumstances of each case. [Para 12] [1028-B, C]
Lakshmi Singh and Ors. v. State ofBihar, [1976] 4 SCC 394 and
Vijayee Singh and Ors. v. State of UP., AIR (1990) SC 1459, relied
on.
c
Mohar Rai and Bharath Rai v. The State ofBihar, [1968] 3 SCR
525, referred to.
2.3. Non-explanation of injuries by the prosecution will not
affect prosecution case where injuries sustained by the accused are
minor and superficial or where the evidence is so clear and cogent, D
I so independent and disinterested, so probable, consistent and
creditworthy, that it outweighs the effect of the omission on the part
of prosecution to explain the injuries. In the case at hand, trifle and
superficial injuries on accused are of little assistance to them to throw
doubt on veracity of prosecution case. E
[Para 13] [1028-D, E; 1029-B]
Ramlagan Singh v. State of Bihar, AIR (1972) SC 2593; Hare
krishna Singh and Ors. v. State of Bihar, AIR (1988) SC 863; and
Surendra Paswan v. State ofJharkhand, (2003) 8 Supreme 476, relied F
on.
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No.
54of2001.
From the final Judgment and Order dated 13.04.2000 of the High
Court of Judicature at Allahabad in Criminal Appeal No. 2124of1980. G
Ratnakar Dash, Sanjay Singh and Anuvrat Sharma for the Appellant.
Kusum Chaudhary for the Respondents.
TI1e Judgment of the Court was delivered by H
~
1022 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] 11 S.C.R.
--( _,
A DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J. 1. Challenge in this appeal is to the
judgment rendered by a Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court
which by the impugned judgment acquitted the respondents and set aside
the conviction recorded.by the learned Additional Sessions Judge in
.Sessions Trial No.316of1979. Each of the accused had been convicted
B by the trial court and sentenced to life imprisonment under Section 302
of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (in short the 'IPC') read with Section ~
·~
149 IPC, three months RI under Section 323 read with Section 149 IPC,
six months RI under Section 324 IPC read with Section 149 IPC and
two years RI under Section 452 IPC. Accused Jai Singh, Atar Singh,
c Mohan Singh, Beer Singh and Baburam were further convicted under
Section 147 IPC and sentenced to nine months RI. Accused Ramesh and
Lal Singh were however convicted under Section 148 IPC and sentenced
to one year's RI. All the sentences were directed to run concurrently. The
High Court reversed the judgment and directed acquittal in the appeal
filed by the accused persons.
D
-4,
2. Prosecution version as unfolded during trial is as follows: ~
-

'
One Ram Murti (hereinafter referred to as 'deceased') lost his life
in the incident whereas three others namely, Shyam Pal (PW 1), Sohan
E Pal (PW 3) and Katori Devi sustained injuries. The incident took place
on 4.5.1979 at about 6.30 P.M. in village Balli Nagla, Police Station
Qadarchowk, District Budaun. The report of the incident was lodged by
Shyam Pal (PW 1) on 5.5.1979 at 3.15 A.M. The distance of police
-station from the place of occurrence is 8 kms. The accused-respondents
Lal Singh and Ramesh were allegedly armed with spears whereas rest
F
had lathis. The accused-respondents Jai Singh, Atar Singh, Lal Singh, /
-~
---
Mohar Singh and Beer Singh are the sons of Dallu who also allegedly
participated in the incident but died after few days of the ir{cident. About
6 months before this incident, Durgapal-brother-in-law ofShyam Pal (PW ·'
1) had abducted Dhika daughter of Dallu. Accused-respondents began
G to l:iear ill will against him and his family members on this account. On 4-
5-79 at about 6.30 P.M., exchange of hot words and abuses took place r-1
between Shyam Pal (PW 1) and Dallu at the Chaupal ofNek Ram in
connection with abduction of Dhika Some persons intervened in the matter
and Shyan1 Pal went to his home. A little later, all the accused-respondents
H
f
t
STATE v.ATARSINGH [PASAYAT,J.] 1023

along with Dallu entered the house of Shyam Pal. As mentioned earlier, A
Lal Singh and Ramesh were armed with spears whereas rest had lathis.
Dallu asked the other accused persons to teach a lesson to Shyam Pal
and his family members for defaming him. All the accused-respondents
then started assaulting Shyam Pal (PW 1) and his brothers Sonpal and
Ram Murti who were present there. When their mother Katori Devi came B
to their rescue, she was also beaten up. Nathu Singh (PW 2), Ulnfat Irfan,
Prem Pal and others also arrived there. Shyam Pal (PW 1), Ram Murti,
Sohan Pal (PW 3) and their mother Katori Devi sustained injuries. Shyam
Pal (PW 2) with his nephew Prempal went to ftie police station and lodged
a report by oral narration on 5.5 .1979 at 3.15 A.M. which was taken C
down by head constable Baburam (PW 4). Investigation was undertaken
and on completion thereof, charge sheet was filed. Accused persons
pleaded innocence. In order to further accusations, prosecution examined
eleven witnesses. Learned trial Judge recorded conviction primarily relying
on the evidence of injured witnesses.
D
3. It was firstly noticed by the High Court that the motive assigned
by the prosecution agallt;t the accused respondents did not stand the test
oflogic. The incident of kidnapping and abduction of Dhika daughter of
Dallu by Durgapal-brother-in-law of Shyam Pal (PW-1) had taken place
about six months before. Even no FIR had been lodged against Durgapal E
from the side of accused persons regarding that incident. It was admitted
by PW-1 that even no Panchayat was convened. Further Shyam Pal
(PW-1) had admitted that at the time of exchange of hot words with Dallu
at the Chaupal ofNek Ram, two persons namely, Nek Ram and Urman
Singh were there who had intervened. None of them was produced by F
the prosecution to indicate the origin of the incident. Dallu himself was a
T.B. patient and the High Court found it hard to believe that after alleged
exchange of hot words at the Chaupal ofNek Ram, he with all his sons,
brother and nephew would have appeared in the house of PW-1 to assault
him and his family members. According!y, it was held that even there was G
no immediate motive for the alleged occurrence.
4. It was also noted that there was no corroboration to the
prosecution version by any independent witnesses. Nathu Singh (PW-2)
was resident of another village who claimed to be present at the place of
H
l \

1024 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] 11 S.C.R.

A occurrence. He stated that he had come to the village to meet his relative.
According to him the house of Raj pal was situated at a distance of 15-
16 paces from the place of incident. The High Court noted that the
existence of Rajpal's house in the vicinity of place ofoccurrence had not
been shown in the site plan. The High Court found that some parts of his
B statement could not he re-conciled with other parts eg. that he had reached
the village of incident at 6.30 a.m. and was present at the time of incident
which took place about 12 hours later. His statement was to the effect
that he had gone to his son.,. in-law Rajpal as the latter was about to go
to his father-in-law's house and he wanted to send some cows to his
C father-in-law. He wanted to send this information to his father-in-law but
his cousin-in-law was not available. He also stated that after some time
he had returned to his village. The High Court found his presence to be
not established. The High Court also noted that Sohan Pal (PW-3) who
claimed to be an eye witness was the brother of PW- I.
D
5. The High Court noted that even though in the FIR names of some
other persons have been noted as witnesses, none of them had been
examined. The High Court was of the view that statement of the deceased
recorded by the investigating officer under Section J.61 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1973 (in short the 'Cr.P~C. ') cannot be treated to
E be the dying declaration. The investigating officer (PW-11) noted that
when he reached the spot in the morning of 5.5.1979 subsequent to the
lodging of the FIR at about 3. l 5 a.m. he had found ·the deceased, Sohan
Pal and Katori to be lying there in injured condition. He recorded the
statement of the deceased {Exh.Ka. 20). The High Court referred to the
F bed head ticket of the deceased in which it was stated that his general
condition was noted low when he was admitted in the hospital on 5.5 .1979.
The High Court also noted the admitted position that the investigating
officer did not follow the instructions contained in Rule 115 of the U.P.
Police Regulations relating to recording of dying declaration. Reference
G was made to a decision of this Court in Palak Ram v. State of UP.,
AIR (1974) SC 2165 wherein it was noted that it would not be prudent
to base conviction on a dying declaration made to the investigating officer
which is not signed by the persons making it and has not been taken in
the presence of two witnesses.
H
}-
STATE v. ATARSINGH[PASAYAT,J.] 1025
,. ~

6. The High Court also noted that there was no explanation offered A
as to why the dying declaration was not recorded in the presence of the
Magistrate which is the usual course, though he died on 7.5.1979 at about
4.00 p.m. Therefore, the High Court treated the same to be a statement
recorded in terms of Section 161 of Cr.P.C. which cannot be treated to
be a dying declaration. ,B
1
~- 7. The High Court also noted another factor which according to it
was significant, i.e. the presence of large number of injuries on accused
Mohar Singh for which no explanation was offered. This according to the
High Court cast a genuine doubt about the actual time, place, number of
assailants and weapons for the injuries. The High Court noted that injuries c
on accused Mohar Singh were not superficial and some of them were
even incised wounds. The investigating officer had admitted that Mohar
Singh was ruTested on 6.5.1979. The High Court found it rather unusual
that he was produced for medical examination before a Doctor Shiv
,..__ Kumar Saxena (PW-5) on 5.5.1979 at 5.20 p.m. by a constable of the D
• Police Station. Therefore, the High Court noted that if there was no
explanation offered as to why he was not arrested on 5.5.1979, the FIR
was claimed to have been lodged at 3.15 a.m. on that day. The High
Court noted that though PW-1 and PW-3 were stated to be injured
witnesses in the background facts the prosecution version was highly E
improbabilised. The evidence of PW-2 was found to be not truthful. As
a cumulative result of the discussions the High Court found that the
prosecution has not been able to substantiate its version.
8. As noted above, the State has questioned correctness of the
F
/'-\ conclusions recorded by the High CoUI1. With reference to the evidence
of injured witnesses, PW-1 and PW-3 it is stated thatthey are injured
witnesses and their version was to be taken as credible and cogent. There
was no reason as to why the injured person would falsely implicate the
i1mocent person.
G
,, 9. None appeared for the respondents when the matter was called.
10. There is no embargo on the appellate Court reviewing the
evidence upon which an order of acquittal is based. Generally, the order
of acquittal shall not be interfered with because the presumption of
H
1026 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] 11 S.C.R.
,<
--{ --<

A innocence of the accused is further strengthened by acquittal. The golden
thread which runs through the web of administration ofjustice in criminal
cases is that if two views are possible on the evidence adduced in the
case, one pointing to the guilt of the accused and the other to his innocence,
the view which is favourable to the accused should be adopted. The
B paramount consideration of the Court is to ensure that miscarriage of
justice is prevented. A miscarriage of justice which may arise from ~
acquittal of the guilty is no less than from the conviction of an innocent.
---
In a case where admissible evidence is ignored, a duty is cast upon the
appellate Court to re-appreciate the evidence where the accused has been
c acquitted, for the purpose of ascertaining as to whether any of the accused
really committed any offence or not. [See Bhagwan Singh and Ors. v.
State of Madhya Pradesh, (2002) 2 Supreme 567]. The principle to
be followed by appellate Court considering the appeal against the
judgment of acquittal is to interfere only when there are compelling and
substantial reasons for doing so. If the impugned judgment is clearly
D _....
unreasonable and relevant and convincing materials have been unjustifiably
eliminated in the process, it is a compelling reason for interference. These
...
aspects were highlighted by this Court in Shivaji Sahabrao Bobade and
Anr. v. State ofMaharashtra, AIR (1973) SC 2622, Ramesh Babula!
Doshi v. State of Gujarat, (1996) 4 Supreme 167, Jaswant Singh v.
E
State ofHaryana, (2000) 3 Supreme 320, Raj Kishore .!ha v. State of
Bihar and Ors., (2003) 7 Supreme 152, State of Punjab v. Karnail
Singh, (2003) 5 Supreme 508 and State ofPunjab v. Pohla Singh and
Anr., (2003) 7 Supreme 17 and VN Ratheesh v. State ofKerala, [2006]
10 sec 617)].
F
--(~
11. As is rightly contended by learned counsel for the appellate-State
in isolation the circumstances highlighted by the High Court may not be
sufficient to direct acquittal. Two important factors which have been noted
by the High Court are (i) non explanation of injuries on accused Mohar
G Singh and (ii) the reason for his non arrest on 5.5.1979 when he had
appeared before the police officers and had been sent for medical
examination. r"
12. We shall first deal with the question regarding non-explanation
of injuries on the accused. Issue is if there is no such explanation what
H
STATE v. ATARSINGH[PASAYAT,J.] 1027

would be its effect? We are not prepared to agree with the learned counsel A
for the defence that in each and every case where prosecution fails to
explain the injuries found on some of the accused, the prosecution case
should automatically be rejected, without any further probe. In Mohar
Rai and Bharath Rai v. The State of Bihar, [1968) 3 SCR 525, it was
observed: B
" .. .In our judgment, the failure of the prosecution to offer ahy
explanation in that regard shows that evidence of the prosecution
witnesses relating to the incident is not true or at any rate not wholly
true. Further those injuries probabilise the plea taken by the
appellants." C
In another important case Lakshmi Singh and Ors. v. State of Bihar,
[1976] 4 SCC 394, after referring to the ratio laid down in Mohar Rai 's
case (supra), this Court observed:
"Where the prosecution fails to explain the injuries on the D
accused, two results follow:
(1) that the evidence of the prosecution witnesses is untrue; and
(2) that the injuries probabilise the plea taken by the appellants."
It was further observed that: E

"In a murder case, the non-explanation of the injuries sustained by
the accused at about the time of the occurrence or in the co·Jrse
of altercation is a very important circumstance from which the
Court can draw the following inferences:
t '~ F
( 1) that the prosecution has suppressed the genesis and the
origin of the occurrence and has thus not presented the true version;
(2) that the witnesses who have denied the presence of the
injuries on the person of the accused are lying on a most material G
point and, therefore, their evidence is unreliable;
(3) that in case there is a defence version which explains the
injuries on the person of the accused assumes much greateF
importance where the evidence consists of interested or inimical
H
1028 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] 11 S.C.R.
-( ~ ~

A witnesses or where the defence gives a version which competes
in probability with that of the prosecution one."

In Mohar Rai 's case (supra) it is made clear that failure ofthe prosecution
to offer any explanation regarding the injuries found on the accused may
show that the evidence related to the incident is not true or at any rate
B ~
not wholly true. Likewise in Lakshmi Singh 's case (supra) it is observed
that any non-explanation of the injuries on the accused by the prosecution •
may affect the prosecution case. But such a non-explanation may assume
greater importance where the defence gives a version which competes in
probability with that of the prosecution. But where the evidence is clear,
c cogent and creditworthy and where the Court can distinguish the truth
from falsehood the mere fact that the injuries are i:ot explained by the
prosecution cannot by itself be a sole basis to reject such evidence, and
consequently the whole case. Much depends on the facts and
circwnstances of each case. These aspects were highlighted by this Court
D in 'Vijayee Singh and Ors. v. State of UP., AIR (1990) SC 1459. ....(
~

13. Non-explanation of i~juries by the prosecution will not affect
prosecution case where injuries sustained by the accused are minor and
superficial or where the evidence is so clear and cogent, so independent
E and disinterested, so probable, consistent and creditworthy, that it
outweighs the effect of the omission on the part of prosecution to explain
the injuries. As observed by this Court in Ramlagan Singh v. State of
Bihar, AIR (1972) SC 2593 prosecution is not called upon in all cases
to explain the injuries received by the accused persons. It is for the
F defence to put questions to the prosecution witnesses regarding the injuries J_ -'
of the accused persons. When that is not done, there is no occasion for
the prosecution witnesses to explain any injury on the person of an
accused. In Hare krishna Singh and Ors. v. State of Bihar, AIR ( 1988)
SC 863, it was observed that the obligation of the prosecution to explain
the injuries sustained by the r<ccused in the same occurrence may not arise ~
G t
in each and every case. In other words, it is not an invariable rule that
y-(
the prosecution has to explain the injuries sustained by the accused in the
same occurrence. If the witnesses examined on behalf of the prosecution
are believed by the Court in proof of guilt of the accused beyond
reasonable doubt, question of obligation of prosecution to explain injuries
H
STATE v.ATARSINGH[PASAYAT,J.] 1029

sustained by the accused will not arise. When the prosecution comes with A
a definite case that the offence has been committed by the accused ~d
proves its case beyond any reasonable doubt, it becomes har~ly
necessary for the prosecution to again explain how and under what
circumstances injuries have been inflicted on the person of the accused.
It is more so when the injuries are simple or superficial in nature. In the B
case at hand, trifle and superficial injuries on accused are oflittle assistartce
to them to throw doubt on veracity of prosecution case. (See Surendra
Paswan v. State ofJharkhand, (2003) 8 Supreme 476).
14. Considering the cumulative effect of circumstances which have
weighed with the High Court to direct acquittal, it cannot be said that the C
view taken by the High Court is not a plausible view. That being so, we
are not inclined to interfere with the order of acquittal. The appeal deserves
to be dismissed which we direct.
K.K.T. Appeal dismissed. D

,'!