PROJECT QUESTION

X is the Member of Parliament in the District of Murshidabad, West Bengal. He had two sons Y and Z. Q, a local mafia leader, is the member of different political party in the said district. There had been a long standing political rivalry between Q and Y. The latter was one of the local leaders of the party under which his father was elected as MP. One day Y was murdered due to political feud. A criminal case was initiated in which Q was the principal accused and Z, the younger son of X, was the main eye witness. At the stage of trial, Z was being threatened with dire consequences by some unknown persons in case if he would depose against Q in the trial. Z lodged several complaints before the local police station alleging inter alia that his life is in danger at the instance of Q. Accordingly a separate criminal case for criminal intimidation was also started against Q. A few days before the commencement of the trial, while Z was engaged in his daily works in the party office along with the other party members (A, B and C); he received a telephone call in the evening. The call was received by P, the assistant of Z, and the receiver of the phone was handed over to Z. Z had a conversation over phone with someone and thereafter he immediately left the party office citing personal reason to his colleagues (A, B and C). After few hours, one of the members received a phone call from the home of Z and he was informed that Z had not reached home. Thereafter, all the party members were trying to find out Z in several places where he used to visit generally but in vain. A missing diary was lodged before the local police station on the next day. In the process of finding out Z, one decomposed beheaded dead body was recovered after a couple of days from the nearby jungle. The condition of the said dead body was such that it was too difficult to identify. However, the family members of the Z and also A B & C who had last seen Z in the party office identified the body as the dead body of Z on the basis of the wearing apparels. Subsequently, DNA analysis confirmed that it was the dead body of Z. Police started a case under section 302 IPC where the prime suspect was Q. However, during the course of investigation, police came to know that Q was out of station for long time including the date when Z was missing and the date when the dead body was recovered. Police arrested three suspects namely; M N & O on the basis of the statement of R, the owner of a shop of a particular locality, who had seen three unknown persons forcibly taking away Z in the ambassador car, and heard the voice of Z saying Bachao Bachao. The place where he had last seen Z with those unknown persons was near to the jungle from where dead body of Z was recovered. After the arrest of M N & O, test identification (T.I.) parade was held and R identified M N & O during the T.I. parade. M, during interrogation confessed his guilt and from his statement it was disclosed that all on the

particular date he told Z over phone to come to the hospital immediately because his close friend, L, became suddenly ill and he was admitted in the hospital. When Z was on his way to hospital M N & O abducted him and took him away to the nearby jungle where they committed the murder of Z. After receiving the said call and on the basis of this confessional statement in custody, the weapon of assault and the other incriminating articles were recovered. The statement of M was corroborated with the statement of G, the wife of the deceased, to the extent that G stated in her 161 statement that after leaving the party office, deceased informed her over phone that he was going to hospital to see his friend (L) and he might return home at late night. N also during his interrogation by the police disclosed that under the instruction of W, wife of Q, all of them had committed the murder of Z. One mobile phone was recovered from the accused O and from the SIM card of such mobile the police came to know that at the time of the particular day when Z became untraceable, O had talked with W 4 times. Further, the statement of O under section 164 CrPC was also recorded at the instance of the police. On the basis of the said materials, police arrested W and from the mobile records of W it was revealed that on the particular date and time there was a conversation between Q and W on several occasions. The investigating officer made a prayer before the magistrate for administering narcoanalysis test upon W in order to ensure the involvement of Q in the instant case who was out of station at the time of offence. The learned advocate of W put serious objection before the court in respect of administering such test upon W but the learned Court allowed the prayer of the police for conducting the test upon W subject to the condition that such test should be conducted in the presence of the lawyer of W and the entire process of the test should be recorded by audio video electronic means. During narco-analysis test, W admitted that the entire scheme of the commission of murder of Z was the brain child of her husband Q and she had executed the scheme as per the instruction of Q. On the basis of the information recorded during the test, police arrested Q. Finally, the investigating officer submitted charge sheet u/s 302/34/120B of the Indian Penal Code against M, N, O, Q and W. At the time of trial, the charges were framed under the aforesaid sections on the basis of the following materials:1. 161 statement of A, B & C the party members in presence of whom the deceased Z received the phone call. 2. 161 statement of G, wife of the deceased. 3. 164 statement of O, one of the accused.

4. 161 statement of R, the shop owner. 5. Statements of W during the course of narco-analysis test and the CD of video recording of such test. 6. DNA test report in respect of the identification of the dead body. 7. Seizure list containing mobile phones of the accused persons, SIM cards, call records. 8. Seizure list consisting of weapon of assault and the other incriminating articles seized on the basis of the statement under section 27 of the Evidence Act. 9. Report of the T.I. parade prepared by the magistrate. 10. Copy of the FIR, post mortem examination report and the inquest report and the other documents including case diary. Prepare the case for the prosecution and also for the defence in the light of the relevant provisions of the Indian Evidence Act, CrPC and IPC.

Note 1. The project should consist of at least 3000 words. There is no maximum word limit. 2. The last date for submission is 15th March.