Nallabothu
Venkaiah Vs. State of Andhra
Pradesh [2002] Insc
356 (20 August 2002)
Y K
Sabharwal & H K Sema.Sema, J
The
appellant along with 15 other accused was put to trial before III Additional
Sessions Judge, Guntur in Sessions Case No. 18 of 1994 to
answer the following charges:
"Charge
No. 1: - That you A1 to A16 at about 5.30 p.m. on 13th day of October, 1992 on
the highway between Sattenapalli and Macherla in between 38/2 and 38/4 K.M.
Stone after crossing Pakalapadu major canal, formed into one group and were
members of unlawful assembly and did in prosecution of the common object of
such assembly viz., of killing the deceased person R. Venkateswarlu son of
China Bapaiah, 35 years, V.A.O. of Tondapi village, and rioting and at that
time you were armed with deadly weapons like country made bombs, axes, spears
and knives which are dangerous in nature and thereby committed an offence
punishable under section 148 of the Indian Penal Code and within my cognizance;
Charge
No. 2: - That you A-1 to A-16 at about the same time, date and place and in the
course of same transaction as mentioned above; charged the deceased R.Venkateswarlu
son of China Bapaiah, 35 years, V.A.O. of Tondapi village while he was coming
on the motor cycle and when he reached the spot, all of you emerged from the
bushes on either side of the road and that A10, A12, A8 and A16 hurled bombs
and when the deceased fell down all of you surrounded him and that A-1, A-9 and
A-10 of you axed on his head and that A-1 and A-2 of you cut the throat of the
deceased with axe and long knife and that A-4, A-6 and A-7 of you stabbed him
with spears on abdomen and lower portion and that A-5 stabbed him with spear on
abdomen and that A-3 axed him near right ear, A-8 stabbed with spear on his
neck;
A-10
axed on the fore-head of him, A-11, A-12 and A-13 with spears and A-14 and A-16
with axes attacked the deceased indiscriminately and A-15 with knife stabbed on
his neck resulting in his death instantaneously and thereby committed an
offence punishable under section 302 read with 149 of the Indian Penal Code and
within my cognizance;
Charge
No. 3: - That you A-8, A-10, A-12 and A-16 of you at about the same time, date
and place and in the course of same transaction as mentioned above; hurled countrymade
bombs at the deceased R. Venkateswarlu in order to kill him while in possession
of the Explosive Substances which are dangerous in nature which bombs exploded
and thereby committed an offence punishable under sections 3 and 5 of Explosive
Substances Act and within my cognizance." The substance of the above
charges is that on 13th October, 1992 at about 5.30 p.m. accused 1-16 formed
themselves into an unlawful assembly and caused the death of one R. Venkateswarlu
by hurling bombs and causing bodily injuries by axes, knives and spears.
During
the trial accused No. 2 expired and the trial against him stood abated. After
concluding of the trial, the trial judge found that accused Nos. 1, 3, 4, 5, 7,
8 and 10 were guilty of the offence punishable under Section 302 read with
Section 149 I.P.C. They were convicted and sentenced to suffer imprisonment for
life and also to pay a fine of Rs. 500/- and in default to suffer simple
imprisonment for 3 months. They were further sentenced to undergo Rigorous
Imprisonment for one year each for the offence under Section 148 I.P.C. Both
the sentences were ordered to run concurrently. The trial judge, however, found
that accused Nos. 8, 10, 12 and 16 were not guilty of the offence under
Sections 3 and 5 of the Explosive Substances Act and they were, accordingly,
acquitted under the said charge. Rest of the accused, i.e. accused Nos. 6, 9
and 11 to 16 were not found guilty of the offences, for which they were
charged.
Being
aggrieved, accused Nos. 1, 3 and 4 preferred Criminal Appeal No. 555 of 1998
and accused Nos. 5, 7, 8 and 10 preferred Criminal Appeal No. 556 of 1998 in
the High Court.
The
High Court, by the impugned order dated 31st January, 2000, reappreciated the evidence and
acquitted accused Nos. 3 and 4 in Crl. A. No. 555 of 1998 and their appeal was
allowed to that extent.
The
High Court also allowed Criminal Appeal No. 556 of 1998 and acquitted accused
Nos. 5, 7, 8 and 10 and their conviction and sentence under the aforesaid
sections of law was set aside. The High Court, however, confirmed the
conviction and sentence of accused No. 1, ( in Crl.Appeal No.555 of 1998) under
Section 302 I.P.C. (simpliciter).
The
present appeal has been preferred by accused No. 1 (Nallabothu Venkaiah), the
appellant before us. No acquittal appeals have been preferred by the State.
Before
we advert to the points urged we may, at this stage, point out that the High
Court has acquitted accused Nos. 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 10 on the ground that P.Ws.
1-3, who were the eye-witnesses to the occurrence were inimically disposed to
the accused persons and their evidence was unreliable. The High Court also
disbelieved the evidence of P.W.1 as he falsely deposed that his scooter bear
the registration No.APG 2253. While acquitting the aforesaid accused, the High
Court discarded the evidence of P.Ws. 1, 2 and 3 eye- witnesses by rendering
the following reasons:
"The
investigation further discloses that the vehicle bearing registration number
APG 2253 is a tractor, which was owned by the Commissioner of Guntur Municipality
and under these circumstances, we hold that whatever evidence is given by P.W.1
is not in fairness. He went to make involvement as many accused as he can do.
The evidence of P.W.1 discloses that there has been party faction in the
village. He has been accused in number of cases, which were filed by the
deceased and his party.
To
this effect a clear admission is given by him in the cross-examination.
Therefore, we are not prepared to believe the evidence of P.W.1 as a whole.
P.W.2
is a pillion seat driver. He has stated in his evidence, what all stated by
P.W.1 but while making individual involvement P.W.2 has stated accused Nos. 1,
10 and 9 hacked the deceased on his head with an axe. It means P.W.2 did not
involve accused Nos. 2 and 3 in the incident. They came for the first time and
hacked the deceased but A1 appears to be common when the deceased was attacked.
P.W.3
also claimed to be an eye-witness to the incident.
He has
come with a different story altogether. P.W.3 was a pillion seat driver of the
motor cycle of the deceased.
He
stated in his evidence when he had seen the accused hurling bombs at him he
requested the deceased to slow down the scooter. Then he jumped from the motor
cycle and went towards bushes. He further stated that the deceased went to some
distance and fell down. Then A1 hacked the deceased on his neck with an axe and
thereafter, he made involvement of A2, A10, A5, A7, A6, A3, A8 and A15.
This
witness is also an accused in a number of cases along with P.Ws. 1 and 2.
Therefore, it is very much clear from the evidence of P.Ws. 1, 2 and 3 that
there has been a party faction and cases after cases were filed against each
other.
Considering
the evidence of important eye witnesses, we are convinced that A1 was
definitely present at the scene of offence and the presence of the other
accused is doubtful because of inconsistency in the evidence of P.Ws. 1 to 3.
Therefore, we are of the considered view that the other accused may be entitled
for the benefit of doubt." The contention that the eye-witnesses P.Ws. 1,
2 and 3 were inimically disposed to the accused has been rejected by the Trial
Court by assigning cogent reasons and considering the medical and other
corroborative evidence. The trial judge critically discussed the evidence of
eye-witnesses, namely, P.Ws. 1, 2 and 3 and also analytical description of the
part played by each of the accused in causing murderous assault on the deceased
and accepted the eye- witnesses account as natural and reliable. P.W.1 stated
in his evidence that on the fateful day, he went to Sattenapalli to purchase
pesticides. After purchasing pesticides, he came to the centre, where P.W.2 was
also standing and both of them started on his scooter to go to the village.
When both of them were going on the scooter, they saw the deceased and P.W.3 Muppalla
Ramaiah at a medical shop.
When
they were proceeding, P.W.3 and the deceased also followed them. He stated that
after passing Pakalapadu Major canal, they suddenly heard the sounds of
explosion of bombs. Then P.W.2, pillion rider on the scooter of P.W.1, informed
him that the bombs had been hurled against the deceased and asked him to stop
the scooter.
Then
he stopped the scooter and saw P.W.3 Muppalla Ramaiah jumping from the motor
cycle of the deceased and running towards northern side fields. P.W.3 was the
pillion rider on the motor cycle of the deceased. He further stated that at
that time, the deceased - Rayidi Venkateswarlu was driving the motor cycle
slowly. Then accused Nos. 8, 10, 12 and 16 hurled bombs. Accused Nos. 1 to 3
came opposite from southern side armed with axes and hacked on the head of the
deceased. Then the deceased fell down. Accused No. 1 hacked the deceased on his
neck. A.10 hacked on the head of the deceased with an axe. A.2 hacked on the
neck of the deceased with a knife.
A.4 to
A.7 stabbed the deceased on his stomach with spears. P.W.1 further stated that
A.1 and A.10 chased them and then they ran towards the scooter and the accused
ran away towards south. P.W.1 also stated categorically that at that time, he
had a scooter bearing No.
A.P.G.
2253, which he took from one Narasimharao, but he did not get it registered in
his name. He admitted that himself, deceased and P.Ws. 2 and 4 were figuring as
accused for assault of a woman and A.1 is one of the witnesses in that case. He
also admitted that himself and PWs. 2 to 4 are shown as accused in the murder
case of Rachakonda Chandraiah. It, therefore, clearly indicates party factions
in the village.
P.W.2
stated in his evidence that on the day of the incident, he went to Sattenapalli
to purchase a washer of his motor and in his return, he met P.W.1 and both of
them started on the scooter of P.W.1 to go to the village. He further stated
that when they reached Five Lamps Centre, they found deceased and P.W.3
purchasing medicines and when they crossed Major canal, they heard explosion of
bombs and saw P.W.3 jumping from the motor cycle of the deceased. He also
stated that accused Nos. 8, 10, 12 and 16 hurled bombs. He further stated that
the deceased was proceeding on his motor cycle by escaping the bombs. He
categorically stated that accused Nos. 1, 9 and 10 hacked on the head of the
deceased with axes. A.2 hacked on the neck of the deceased with an axe. A.10
hacked on the fore-head of the deceased with an axe. A.2 stabbed on the neck of
the deceased with a knife. A.4, A.5 and A.7 stabbed the deceased with spears on
his stomach. P.W.2 also stated that A.1 and A.10 chased them for a distance.
P.W.2 also admitted about the cases pending against him along with other
witnesses.
P.W.3,
who accompanied the deceased on a motor cycle also deposed about the specific
overt acts played by each and every accused. He repeated the stories narrated
by P.Ws. 1 and 2, as we have referred, earlier. He gave a graphic description of
each and every overt act of the accused in causing murderous assault on the
deceased. He was a pillion rider of the deceased motor-cycle.
Immediately
after the bomb was hurled, he ran towards the bush and watched the entire
incident from there. The witnesses and the accused are all from the same
village.
Dr. G.
Vijaya Saradhi, Civil Assistant Surgeon, Government Hospital, Sattenapalli, P.W.9, conducted
Post Mortem Examination of the deceased and found the following injuries:
"1.
An incised wound with clean cut edges and tapering both ends of 6 x 0.5 cms. x
bone deep over the back of the right side of the occiput.
2. An
incised wound of 5 x 0.5 cms. x bone deep over right occipital region. Anterior
to injury No. 1. Edges are well defined and contused.
3. An
incised wound 7 x 0.5 cms. x bone deep over right parietal area extending to
right temporal with tapered edges well defined and clean cut.
4. A
cut laceration 3 x 0.5 cms. of right ear pinna rediating to neck.
5. An
incised wound 4 x 1.5 cms. x bone deep over the middle of fore-head edges
inverted and contused.
6. A
cut incised 5 x 1.5 cms. x bone deep above the left-eye- brow, the edges
dragged and contused.
7. A
cut incised wound (chopped) of 3 x 1.5 cms. irregular and bone deep fractured
the mandible over right side crushing the structures underneath the root of the
tongue with distortion of the face.
8. A
cut laceration 2.5 x 0.5 cms. below the left ear with left side of the mouth.
9. A
cut incision 5 x 2 cms. x muscle deep, the irregular and inverted edges
transversely present over the front of the neck below the thyroid cartilage
cutting the underneath neck structures, fractured the Hyoid cut the trachea,
larynx and oesophagus.
10. A
cut incised wound 5 x 2 cms. x muscle deep with ragged edges just below the
injury No. 9 cutting all the neck structures underneath the injury.
11. A
punctured wound, vertical, clean edges inverted of 2 x 1 cms. x cavity deep
over the left side of the neck.
12. A
cut laceration transversely present of 2 1/2 x 1 cm x cavity deep over the
medial end of left collar bone.
13. A
stab injury 2.5 x 1 cm. x cavity deep over shaped over the left laoin area anteriorely.
14. A
laceration 15 x 5 cms. with charred edges and nail over the lateral aspect of
left side of the thorax.
15. A stab
injury 3 x 0.5 cms. with inverted and ragged edges of cavity deep over the left
side of the spigastrium with stomach area.
16. A
stab wound 4 x 0.5 cms x cavity deep with intestines. Seen out side above the umblicus
transversely present.
17. A
stab wound 3 x 0.5 cms. x cavity deep with clean and inverted edges over the
right side of the umbilcus.
Obliquely
present.
18.
Multiple abrasion with charred edges over the lateral aspect of left upper arm.
Fore arm of about 0.25 to 1.5 cms. x 0.25 x 1 cms.
19. Multiple
abrasions red with charred edges over the lateral aspecty of left thigh of 0.2
to 10 cms.
20.
Multiple abrasions 0.5 x 1 cm x 0.2 to 1 cm. Over the lateral aspect of left
side of the abdomen.
21. A
cut laceration 2 x 0.5 cms x 1 cm. over the right hand at the root of the
thumb."
The
contention of the counsel for the accused that evidence of P.Ws. 1 to 3
(eye-witnesses) cannot be accepted as they are chance witnesses and highly
interested and P.Ws. 1 and 2 are also related to the deceased and that they are
inimically disposed to the accused has been rejected by the Trial Court by
assigning cogent reasons. The Trial Court has accepted the evidence of P.Ws. 1
to 3 as natural, reliable and truthful. After scanning their deposition with
care and caution, the trial judge has held that admittedly all the accused and
the prosecution witnesses are from the same village and there is a faction in
the village between the parties for the reasons that the deceased Rayidi Venkateswarlu,
who was President of the village, was selected as Sarpanch and later on
26.2.1992, he resigned from the Presidentship. Then, A.1, who was the
Vice-President, assumed charge as President of the Village and since the
deceased was popular in the village and became the Village Administrative
Officer, the appellant was facing difficulties in getting quorum in the
village. P.Ws. 1, 2 and 3 also admitted that there were criminal cases
involving both the parties. In such a situation, the trial judge held that it
will be difficult to get unbiased and independent witnesses and, therefore, the
eye-witness account of P.Ws. 1 to 3 cannot be thrown out on account of they
being interested witnesses, if otherwise there is no infirmity in the
depositions of P.Ws. 1 to 3 and their statements are reliable and creditworthy.
We accept the view taken by the Trial Court as correct appreciation of the
evidence of PWs 1 to 3, in the facts and circumstances of the case.
The
contention of the counsel for the accused that the evidence of P.W.1 cannot be
accepted as he gave false evidence with regard to the registration number of
his scooter has also been rejected by the Trial Court.
In his
statement, P.W.-1 stated that he had a scooter and it bears the registration
No. A.P.G. 2253. It is the contention of the counsel that the registration No.
cited by the P.W.1 belongs to a tractor and not to a scooter and therefore, the
statement of P.W.1 that he is owning a scooter bearing registration No. A.P.G.
2253 is false and his evidence is not reliable. The High Court has erroneously
accepted this submission. The factum of P.W.1 driving a scooter on that day has
been proved by P.Ws. 2 and 3. It is immaterial which registration number the
scooter bears. In his cross- examination, P.W.-1 stated that he took the
scooter from Narasimharao and he did not get it registered in his name. He also
denied the suggestion that he had no scooter. The incident had happened on
13.10.92 and the witness was examined on 17.11.97 after a gap of almost five
years. It must be remembered that human memories are apt to blur with the
passage of time, more so, when P.W.2 stated that the scooter was not registered
in his name at that time.
We
have already quoted the reasoning rendered by the High Court acquitting accused
Nos. 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 10. The aforesaid finding has been rendered by the High
Court without discussing the depositions of P.Ws. 1 to 3 and by a cryptic
order. The witnesses are inimically disposed to the accused alone would be no
ground to throw away their otherwise reliable, natural and credit worthy
statement. The test, in such circumstances, as correctly adopted by the Trial
Court, is that if the witnesses are interested, the same must be scrutinized
with due care and caution in the light of the medical evidence and other
surrounding circumstances. Animosity is double edged sword and it can cut both
sides. It can be a ground for false implication. It can also be a ground for
assault. We are constrained to deprecate the manner in which the High Court
threw away the eye-witness accounts of P.Ws. 1 to 3 on ground of animosity
albeit without any discussion.
The
Trial Court found from the deposition of PWs that the village Tondapi is a
faction ridden village where criminal cases are instituted involving both the
prosecution and accused parties and it is difficult to secure unbiased and
independent witnesses and after thorough scrutiny accepted the evidence of P.Ws
1-3 as truthful and reliable.
It
must be borne in mind that criminal justice system must be alive to the
expectation of the people. The principle that no innocent man should be
punished is equally applicable that no guilty man should be allowed to go
unpunished. Wrong acquittal of the accused will send a wrong signal to the
society. Wrong acquittal has its chain reactions, the law breakers would
continue to break the law with impunity, people then would lose confidence in
criminal justice system and would tend to settle their score on the street by
exercising muscle power and if such situation is allowed to happen, woe would
be the Rule of Law. What is apparent from the aforesaid discussion is that the
acquittal of the accused recorded by the High Court was clearly contrary to the
evidence on record and on the basis of mis-appreciation of eye witnesses
account. It is unfortunate that acquittal appeals are not before us.
Two
questions of law are raised before us. Firstly, whether the appellant could be
convicted under Section 302 I.P.C. (simpliciter) without aid of Section 149
I.P.C. in the absence of substantive charge under Section 302 I.P.C.? Secondly,
whether the appellant could be convicted under self same evidence on the basis
of which other accused are acquitted? Mr. A. Subba Rao, learned counsel
appearing for the appellant submits that since no separate substantive charge
has been framed against the appellant under Section 302 I.P.C., the conviction
of the appellant is bad. This question has been decided in a catena of
decisions of this Court.
In Subran
and Ors. v. State of Kerala (1993) 3 SCC 722 (deciding review petition No. 1394
of 1993) six accused were arraigned for offences punishable under Sections 302,
324, 323, 341, 148 read with Section 149 I.P.C. Accused No. 1 Subran alone was
convicted under section 302 IPC(simpliciter) by the Trial Court and confirmed
by the High Court on appeal. The three-Judge Bench of this Court reviewing its
earlier judgment substituted paragraphs 10 and 11 of the previous judgment as
under:
"Appellant
1, Subran, had rightly not been charged for the substantive offence of murder
under Section 302 IPC. Subran, appellant 1, was not attributed the fatal injury
or identified as the person who caused the fatal blow. According to the medical
evidence, none of the injuries allegedly caused by appellant- Subran either
individually or taken collectively with the other injuries caused by him, were
sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death of Suku. There is no
material on the record to show that the injuries inflicted by Subran, with the
chopper, were inflicted with the intention to cause death of Suku. Under these
circumstances, the conviction of the first appellant, Subran, for an offence
under Section 302 IPC simpliciter was neither desirable nor appropriate. The
High Court, it appears, failed to consider the scope of clause (3) of Section
300 IPC in its proper perspective. In the facts of the present case, the
intention to cause murder of Suku, deceased could not be attributed to the said
appellant as the medical evidence also unmistakably shows that the injuries
attributed to him were not sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause
death of the deceased. Appellant 1 Subran, therefore, could not have been
convicted for the substantive offence under Section 302 IPC and his conviction
for the said offence cannot be sustained. That Suku died as a result of
cumulative effect of all the injuries inflicted on him by all the four
appellants stands established on the record. The question, therefore, arises
what offence did the four appellants commit?" In Atmaram Zingaraji v.
State of Maharashtra (1997) 7 SCC 41 nine persons were arraigned as accused
before the trial court under Section 149/302/326 IPC. No other person, named or
unnamed, alleged to have participated in the crime. All the other 8 accused
were acquitted by the High Court. However, the appellant was convicted under
Section 302 IPC with the aid of Section 149. On appeal, this Court held:
"In
either of the above situations therefore the sole convict can be convicted
under section 302 IPC (simpliciter) only on proof of the fact that his
individual act caused the death of the victim.
To put
it differently, he would be liable for his own act only. In the instant case,
the evidence on record does not prove that the injuries inflicted by the
appellant alone caused the death; on the contrary the evidence of the
eyewitnesses and the evidence of the doctor who held the post-mortem
examination indicate that the deceased sustained injuries by other weapons also
and his death was the outcome of all the injuries. The appellant, therefore,
would be guilty of the offence under Section 326 IPC as he caused a grievous
injury to the deceased with the aid of a jambia (a sharp-cutting
instrument)." In Krishna Govind Patil v. State of Maharashtra 1964 (1) SCR
678 a four-Judge Bench of this Court has laid down that when four persons are
tried on a specific accusation that only they committed a murder in furtherance
of their common intention and three of them are acquitted, the fourth accused
cannot be convicted with the aid of Section 34 IPC for the effect of law would
be that those who were with him did not conjointly act with the fourth accused
in committing the murder.
In Nethala
Pothuraju and Ors. v. State of Andhra Pradesh (1992) 1 SCC 49 the appellant was
called upon to face the trial along with other six accused for offences under
Sections 149, 141, 34 and 302 IPC. The trial court convicted more than five
persons under Section 302 r/w Section 149 IPC. The High Court acquitted some of
the accused resulting in reducing the number of the accused to less than five
and thus rendered section 149 inapplicable. On appeal this Court, having regard
to the murderous attack by the appellant, as disclosed by the eye-witnesses and
the number and nature of injuries sustained, converted the conviction as one
under Section 302 Section r/w Section 34 IPC.
In Marachalil
Pakku and Anr. v. State of Madras AIR 1954 SC 648 seven accused were charged
under Section 302 r/w Section 149 IPC.
The
trial court convicted two appellants along with five others of having
constituted an unlawful assembly and committed murder and they were convicted
under Section 302 r/w Section 149 IPC. The High Court, on appeal, gave benefit
of doubt to five accused and acquitted them. In the appeal before this Court,
it was argued that the said five accused having been acquitted and in the
absence of a charge that five other unknown persons constituted an unlawful
assembly, the two appellants could not be held members of the unlawful assembly
which had the common object, the three Judge Bench of this Court said:-
"We have not been able to understand how the High Court could acquit these
persons having held that the evidence of P.Ws. 5 and 6 as to how Kannan was
murdered by accused 1 and 2 stabbing him and the others holding him by his
hands and legs, was true. It also said that with regard to participation of
accused 3 to 7 they could not say that the prosecution evidence was unreliable.
On these findings, in our opinion, no scope was left for introducing into the
case the theory of the benefit of doubt. We think that accused 3 to 7 were
wrongfully acquitted.
Though
their acquittal stands, that circumstance cannot affect the conviction of the
appellants under section 302 read with section 149, I.P.C." In Achhey Lal
v. State of U.P. AIR 1978 SC 1233 as many as 15 named persons had taken part in
the assault on the deceased. 14 accused had been acquitted by the High Court
but the conviction and sentences awarded to the appellant by the Sessions Judge
were upheld. This Court held that there is no finding by the High Court that
after acquittal of the accused the unlawful assembly consisted of five persons
or more, known or unknown, identified or unidentified, the provisions of
Sections 149 and 147 cannot be invoked for convicting the sole accused as no
individual act was assigned to him.
Analytical
reading of catena of decisions of this Court, the following broad proposition
of law clearly emerges:
(a)
the conviction under Section 302 simpliciter without aid of Section 149 is
permissible if overt act is attributed to the accused resulting in the fatal
injury which is independently sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to
cause the death of the deceased and is supported by medical evidence;
(b) wrongful
acquittal recorded by the High Court, even if it stood, that circumstance would
not impede the conviction of the appellant under Section 302 r/w Section 149
I.P.C.
(c) charge
under Section 302 with the aid of Section 149 could be converted into one under
Section 302 r/w Section 34 if the criminal act done by several persons less
than five in number in furtherance of common intention is proved.
We
have already held that accused Nos. 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 10 have been wrongly
acquitted by the High Court discarding the natural and reliable evidence
tendered by three eye-witnesses P.Ws. 1 to 3. If that is so, the acquittal of
accused Nos. 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 10 would not affect the conviction of the
appellant under Section 302 with the aid of Section 149 though their acquittal
stood because specific overt acts have been attributed to the appellant by
eye-witnesses, corroborated by medical evidence, which are independently
sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause the death of the deceased.
The
consistent evidence of P.Ws. 1 to 3 is that after the bomb was hurled at the
deceased, the deceased was driving his motor-cycle slowly.
P.W.3,
who was a pillion rider of the motor-cycle of the deceased, jumped out of the
motor-cycle, rushed to the bush and watched the whole incident under the bush.
He specifically stated that after the deceased fell down accused No. 1 hacked
axe blows on the neck of the deceased. The same is the statement of P.W.-1, who
was riding a scooter on the same road at that particular time. The same is the
statement of P.W.2. P.W.2 was a pillion rider on the scooter of P.W.1. The
witnesses and the accused are from the same village and the incident had
happened on 13th October, 1992 at about 5.30 p.m. There cannot be any scope of
mistaken identity of the accused.
P.W.4
stated that he knew all the accused and the deceased. On the day of the
incident, while proceeding on his tractor on the Pakalapadu major canal he saw
all the accused armed with axes, spears and knives were going on the road.
Dr. G.
Vijaya Saradhi was examined as P.W.9. He conducted post mortem examination of
the deceased and found as many as 21 injuries, as referred to in the earlier
part of the judgment. Injury Nos. 7, 9 and 10 are incise wounds. On internal
examination, the doctor found, "neck shows upper air passes were cut. Left
castrotid vessels were cut, muscles were cut.
Haematoma
present on left side of the neck. This corresponds to injuries 9 and 10."
The doctor opined that "the patient would appear to have died of
hemorrhage and shock, and injuries to upper air passages, manor vessels, and
vital organs liver, kidney, resulting from multiple injuries." From the
overt acts attributed to the accused appellant by P.Ws. 1 to 3, corroborated by
medical evidence, it is apparent that the appellant has caused murderous
assault resulting in the death of the deceased.
The
next contention of Mr. Subba Rao, learned counsel for the appellant that on the
self same evidence, the other accused had been acquitted and, therefore, the
appellant could not have been convicted relying upon the same evidence. This
contention deserves to be rejected. Firstly, because we have already held that
the acquittal of the other accused, rendered by the High Court, was wrong and
based on misappreciation of evidence. Secondly, as pointed out, eye-witness
version is supported by the medical evidence attributing specific overt acts to
the appellant. The ocular and medical evidence on record clearly establish the
guilt of the appellant beyond reasonable doubt for causing the death of the
deceased.
For
the reasons aforestated, there is no merit in this appeal and it is accordingly
dismissed.
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